World Rugby’s silence on Rennie’s rant stinks

Wallabies coach Dave Rennie broke World Rugby’s rules in publicly attacking the performance of the referee in his team’s defeat to Wales. In the four days since, there hasn’t been a word from World Rugby, the same World Rugby that banned Rassie Erasmus for publicly having a rant at a referee. The prejudice is in their silence, writes Mark Keohane.

I agree with everything Dave Rennie said about the referee performance in Australia’s 80th minute defeat to Wales. Equally I have consistently agreed with everything Rassie Erasmus had to say about Nic Berry’s performance in the Springboks first Test defeat against the British & Irish Lions.

Erasmus was indignant, but when his leaked 62-minute video condemning Berry went viral, Rennie was among those who condemned Erasmus for breaking with World Rugby protocols and publicly criticising a referee.

Equally, Eddie Jones, who a year earlier had blasted New Zealand’s Ben O’Keefe for being Wales’s ’16th man’ in a Test England won.

Every coach took aim at Erasmus and none of game’s international coaches were strong or brave enough to rally behind Erasmus at what has been consistently appalling match officiating.

Now Rennie, in blasting referee Mike Adamson in the post match media conference, has done exactly what Erasmus did. However, there has only been support for Rennie and very little condemnation.

The northern media have reported his comments but had little to say about him breaking protocols.

World Rugby’s leadership has been as silent.

Erasmus, after that video, became a target for World Rugby’s old boy’s club and it took them four months to deliver a ban, which just happened to be delivered, by way of a media statement, three days before the Springboks played England.

The timing was obvious to disrupt the Springboks and also to prejudice their Test match preparations.

But the outrage from World Rugby that followed Erasmus’s blast of Berry, has been replaced by absolute silence on Rennie.

‘It’s important I spoke my mind … I’ve never gone in the media and had a crack at a referee,’ Rennie said. ‘But I felt I had to.’

To use the Erasmus case, Rennie’s act was premediated. He knew what he was doing and he knew he was breaking World Rugby’s archaic rules when it comes to referees and match officials.

If the banned Erasmus is the precedent for those coaches speaking out publicly against incompetence, biased or cheating referees, then Rennie must face a similar sanction. If Erasmus was found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute, then Rennie walking into a media conference and taking aim at the match officials, is bringing the game into disrepute.

Again, match officials remain the most under performing and protected species in the game. They continue to influence Test matches with so many wrong calls. But they remain untouchable.

Not so any coach who vents publicly.

Erasmus got banned but all Rennie will get is another apology that his team was wronged.

World Rugby’s leadership has not been shy in showing their bias towards Erasmus and the Springboks but they will be very shy when it comes to Rennie because there is no integrity in those who govern the game and it seems even less from those who get paid to work for World Rugby.