England won back the Calcutta Cup by the narrowest of margins following Finn Russell’s late missed conversion, but Scotland were left questioning two key decisions that went England’s way.
Rory Darge, the Scotland co-captain, admitted afterwards that he felt some of the decisions were harsh, and the focus of their frustration fell on two key decisions by referee Pierre Brousset and his assistants; Tommy Freeman’s try for England, and later a penalty against Scotland at the breakdown for lifting Ben Curry in the air.
Here is how the incidents played out.
The Freeman try
What happened?
After England’s forwards battered Scotland’s line for 12 phases, Alex Mitchell opted for a quicker pass, hitting his Northampton team-mate Freeman running on to the ball at pace.
Brousset quickly changed his direction so he could get a view of the grounding as Freeman was tackled going over the line by Russell and Tom Jordan, with Pierre Schoeman and Darge coming in later on to try to hold Freeman up.
Brousset quickly gave the try on the field while the players wrestled on the floor. As Freeman stood up, Russell’s hands were under the ball, trying to emphasise to Brousset that the ball had been held up.
The multiple replays shown by ITV were largely inconclusive and failed to show the ball on the ground.
What was the reaction?
Speaking afterwards, Freeman, when asked if he had definitely scored, said with a sheepish grin: “Yeah. Referee said I got it down. I felt like it went on the ground. [He gave it quickly] so he must have seen it on the ground.”
When pressed, Freeman later added: “The referee awarded it – therefore I grounded it. He awarded it, so that’s the end of it really, so I’m not going to say anything different.”
Gregor Townsend, the Scotland coach, was asked about the Freeman try and revealed that one of his coaches in the box had suggested it was not a try.
“No, I didn’t really look at it. I heard the coaches say it wasn’t grounded but I was on to the next thing. I think I heard ‘it’s not a try’.”
Was it the right call?
The referee had the best view and given the angles provided did not clearly show that Freeman had been held up, it becomes tricky to go against the referee and the try should have stood. Even if Freeman’s sheepish reaction suggested it might have been tight.
The penalty against Darge
What happened?
Fin Smith impressively booted over a long-range penalty to stretch England’s lead to 16-10 on 70 minutes, three points that proved to be decisive.
The offence that led to Smith’s strike was a penalty against Darge for lifting Ben Curry at a ruck, as Curry was attempting to win a turnover following a tackle by Fin Smith on Matt Fagerson. England’s players could be heard appealing “Sir!” before Brousset gave the penalty.
Darge and Tom Jordan came in from both sides to lift Curry in the air away from the ruck before turning him and dropping him to the floor. Brousset then told the England captain Maro Itoje that it was only a penalty because Curry landed on his back. He then told Scotland co-captain Russell that “you cannot release him, you have to bring him to the ground”.
What was the reaction?
Speaking afterwards, Townsend said that he did not believe the incident was a penalty.
“I did feel the decision that counted against us for the winning three points, where we cleared someone out of the ruck, I just don’t know how that’s a penalty,” Townsend said.
“We’ve moved someone off the ruck, they’re two feet off the ground, there’s no moving legs or [past the] horizontal. So many big collisions in the game, that’s an interesting call for us to go six points behind.”
Townsend also went on to praise Brousset for how he handled the game, which was the Frenchman’s Six Nations debut.
“I thought the referee refereed well, it was a very good game to watch, which would mean the referee’s had a big part to play in that. Sometimes you’re going to get those decisions and sometimes you’re not.”
Was it the right call?
Townsend was surprisingly vocal with his frustration over the decision but at the same time there is no doubt that Darge and Jordan failed to bring Curry safely to ground. And as Brousset explained to Russell, that was the reason for the penalty.
