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Mon 8 Feb 2016 | 02:56
New Zealand snatch 7s victory with 8 men on the field

19
Comments

One of the biggest talking points of the Sydney 7s weekend was New Zealand snatching a draw at the death against hosts Australia, but with an extra man on the field. World Rugby are reportedly investigating the embarassing incident.

World Rugby have stated that the result will stand but disciplinary action could follow, pending an investigation into what was the second week running that the All Black Sevens team have won a crucial match due to questionable officiating.

Video footage shows that there were eight players on the field in the lead up to Ardie Savea's winning try that levelled the pool match 17-17, and helped them progress to the next round.

"World Rugby can confirm that it is investigating an apparent breach of Law 3 (number of players on the field if play) by the New Zealand sevens team," the governing body said in a statement.

"In accordance with Law 3.2 the result of the match will stand, but World Rugby is currently reviewing the matter to determine if any disciplinary action is warranted. No further comment will be made until the outcome of the investigation."

New Zealand topped Pool A on points difference and went on to meet Australia again in the cup final, winning 27-24 with another late try.

Ironically referee Craig Joubert was in charge at the time, the same referee that controversially awarded Australia a penalty late in the quarter final against Scotland at the Rugby World Cup.

Australian 7s coach Andy Friend says that World Rugby need to act quickly to ensure that the debut of 7s at the Olympics isn't marred by these type of controveries.

"The question is how can that happen? In an Olympic year, if that comes down to a gold medal game, well what’s the point?" he said. "Our boys, when they came off, they said they couldn’t understand how they had the numbers out there.

"What we have to make sure is that those simple mistakes don't happen in a big tournament."

He added that the governing body need to take a closer look at the sanctions for the eight-man breach, as currently it appears to only be an on-field penalty.

credit: devenZA

Posted By: Grant Constable

19 Comments

  • weejockmcplop
    6:05 PM 14/02/2016

    This is complete nonsense. IRB need to sort the before they become a laughing stock and rugby ends up dumped out of the Olympics before it even get started.

    NZ should have been disqualified if this transpired after the game as it is cheating and bringing the game into disrespect

  • benny
    4:48 PM 10/02/2016

    If Sexton could kick under pressure, Ireland win.

  • danknapp
    11:12 PM 09/02/2016

    I'd lay off the reefer if I was you, mate.

  • eddie-g
    5:56 PM 09/02/2016

    I've seen it happen in rugby before, and I've seen it in soccer. To be sure, I've never seen it done deliberately, but it obviously shouldn't happen.

    The issue here for me though is that an extra bloke on the field in 7s represents a much bigger advantage than say a 16th guy in normal rugby. It frankly would have been a shock had NZ not managed to score a try with 8 guys on the field.

    Anyway, big picture, we're heading to the Olympics this year, so World Rugby better have a process in place for dealing with this if it happens again. What the ref does if he sees it, what the post-match decision is if he doesn't.

    And the penalties need to be hefty, more than enough to make sure no-one thinks about gaming the system.

  • gonzoman
    4:27 PM 09/02/2016

    The post-game ruling was that Australia could choose to take a win for that game. Australia declined, because finishing second gave them a better draw for the playoffs - effectively avoiding facing NZ in the semis, and instead meeting them in the final.

  • 2:16 PM 09/02/2016

    Plain and simply the law allowing this victory to stand must be repealed, this farcical situation is an embarrassment to world rugby. In American football teams never get away with having extra players on the field and are even penalized when an extra player doesn't make it to the sideline. And the average play lasts about 5 seconds, and with so many players and formations it's more excusable. It is so simple to note an extra player in 7s. How could this not have been caught by either of the assistants, ref or TMO?

    I have never seen this happen in any other sport.

    Cmon world rugby get your act together.

  • katman
    10:24 AM 09/02/2016

    In rugby news, New Zealand won the inaugural Eights tournament in Sydney after all their opponents failed to field full teams throughout the weekend.

  • danknapp
    6:40 AM 09/02/2016

    This result simply should not stand. It's intolerable.

  • ando
    2:38 AM 09/02/2016

    You guys really expect Kiwis to be able to count to seven correctly?

  • larry
    1:35 AM 09/02/2016

    Why am I not surprised? And regarding the WC call, I still think, after watching the vid several times, that an Aussie hand made contact with the ball when it was knocked forward by the Scot player into the other Scot's hands further upfield.

  • larry
    1:32 AM 09/02/2016

    I'd agree. At least one forward pass in the dying seconds of that Ireland international in November of 2013 comes to mind, the #10 passing to #16. That pass was forward. If called, Ireland win.

  • larry
    1:31 AM 09/02/2016

    Not eight, but 16

  • larry
    1:30 AM 09/02/2016

    People in Wales thought the same thing in December of 1972 and November of 1978.

  • alasdairduncan3
    9:18 PM 08/02/2016

    The guy at the bottom of the frame isn't on the field. He's just on the sidelines.

  • eddie-g
    8:32 PM 08/02/2016

    That's complete bull. An extra man on the field in 7s makes a huge difference, there's no way this can go unpunished. In future, it should result in disqualification from a competition - no ifs or buts, the impact of this type of "mistake" on the game is immense.

    I'm not sure if it's the ref or one of his assistants who is responsible for monitoring substitutions, that has to be looked at too; but it is the team, foremost, that is to blame, and there really isn't an acceptable excuse.

  • jonnyenglish
    7:26 PM 08/02/2016

    I've always said New Zealand always get the most lenient officiating but this is bloody ridiculous. There is no way the result should stand, if that's the case then let's stand fielding the whole squad in all types of the game, who cares if the result is legitimate whether you one team has a permanent advantage? Takes the contest out of the sport and makes us a laughing stock.

  • katman
    5:49 PM 08/02/2016

    They had 8 guys on the field last week in Wellington too. One of them even had a whistle.

  • danknapp
    5:46 PM 08/02/2016

    I wonder how far Joubert ran once he realised he'd done this.

  • tphillipsstl
    4:59 PM 08/02/2016

    Joubert again?? This guy is reeling!

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