Australia’s narrow loss to Ireland in the Lansdowne Cup has been shrouded in controversy, with Israel Folau contentiously sin-binned and a dubious last minute referee decision.
The Aussies and Irish were neck-and-neck in the 30th minute of the match at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium on Saturday, with both teams sitting on six points.
The game took a sudden turn when Folau went in for a mid-air tackle on Ireland’s Peter O’Mahony.
A match official’s contentious decision in the Australia-Ireland game has sparked controversy, as Wallabies player Israel Folau (pictured) was sin-binned over a problematic tackle
Folau appeared to knock Irish flanker Peter O’Mahony as both players went for the ball, resulting in the Wallaby being issued a yellow card and sent to the sin-bin
As both players jumped for the ball, an airborne collision caused O’Mahony to flip backwards and land on his head.
The worrying incident resulted in the Irish flanker being carted off the field on a stretcher – and when a television match official reviewed the collision, Folau was handed a yellow card and sent to the sin-bin for ten minutes.
Not everyone agreed with the decision, however, as former Wallaby Matt Giteau declared that the third official is ‘ruining the game’.
Sports writer Iain Payten agreed that the official’s call was unjustified, and that Folau wasn’t to blame for O’Mahony’s injury.
‘That’ll do me,’ he tweeted. ‘How about the bloke who lifts him, holds him. Ridiculous.’
Not everyone agreed with the decision, however, as former Wallaby Matt Giteau declared that the third official is ‘ruining the game’
Sports writer Iain Payten agreed that the official’s call was unjustified, and that Folau wasn’t to blame for O’Mahony’s injury
Another questionable call ruffled feather later in the match when the official failed to declare that Irish player Jacob Stockdale had deliberately stuck out his hand to stop Bernard Foley passing to a handful of Wallabies players on the wing.
While Stockdale’s deliberate intervention seemed blatant to many, the television match official judged there was not sufficient evidence to overrule the on-field decision.
It was a decisive call that ultimately saw the Wallabies losing the game and the series, and one that stoked the ire of the online community.
‘What rubbish Wallabies robbed by dud ref,’ wrote one Twitter user.
‘French rugby referee and TMO all need glasses. Wallabies robbed again!’ tweeted another.
Ireland won the match with a 20-16 lead over the Wallabies, winning the Landsdowne Cup series 2-1.
Folau of the Wallabies is shown a yellow card by referee Pascal Gauzere on Saturday night