We Wuz Robbed - There Is No Other Verdict

I am an entertainer – I sing for charity,

for Oxfam and for Shelter and for those worse off than me,

I've sung for Help the Aged, and although I don't get paid,

It does feel good to know, I've done my bit for Christian Aid,

But, of all the concerts that I've done, for worthy charities,

My favourite one of all of them was not for one of these

But for a home in Ireland, nestling in the trees,

A sunshine home in Dublin for blind Irish referees.

 

 

Written by Mac Boyce in the 1970s – and today, some 50 years on, blind Irish match officials are still a blight on the game. How he couldn't see that ball on the ground, only Mr McNeice can explain.

We Scots should be well-used to being shafted by Irish officials: John Lacey, George Clancy, Frank Murphy and Andrew Brace, to name but four serial offenders, have felt the wrath of crowds at both ends of the M8 for many years now. After yesterday, we can add Brian McNeice to the Hibernian Roll of Dishonour. It was almos as if he had a reverse Eureka moment, when, after saying he had seen the ball roll of the grounded French player's boot to nestle on the goal line, he had to back track hurriedly to find some way – any way, to deny Scotland that winner.

Of course, the final call didn't lie with him, but with Nic Berry, maybe not Irish, but an official with a lengthy track record of getting things wrong. Berry, like many so-called top referees, when push comes to shove, will always favour the team which is ranked higher and expected to win, so, yesterday, when he made that wrong call, it favoured France, quelle surprise.

I am getting fed-up dredging-up this quote when reflecting on Scotland games, but, this was another cursory example of the truth of that remark by Jock Stein, about not giving a referee the chance to make a decision which could hurt you. Once again, Scotland were not precise enough so that they did not get their due reward for some very-good play in this game.

Scotland v France 2024 will therefore be filed under: One That Got Away.

My original plan for this post was to reflect on the whole day, as I saw it from my seat in front of the television. But, that was before that heart-break on the final whistle. So after that rant at the start, here we go.

Other than to remind us who are the bosses – and mindful of the fact (1) ITV have the rights to England home games, but don't appear to want to use their greatest Captain; and (2) he's a bloody good analyst, but, do we really have to have Martin Johnston covering Scotland games? Same applies to Sam Warburton.

John Barclay continues to impress as an excellent talking head, but, what has happened to Ryan Wilson? He was a breath of fresh air at the start of the season, but, he appears to have vanished from the ranks of the former players talking about the game. OK, he started on TNT, but, the rest of the TNT team, apart from the “beige” Stuart Hogg, have been all over the Guinness Six Nations coverage on other stations – why no Wilson, he's better than some we have to listen to.

It was good to see Lee McKenzie on-duty at Murrayfield. Bobby's Girl is a class act.

I notice, this season is is the Away team that has to change when there is a colour clash – another sad case of Rugby Union following Football's lead. They slipped that one unannounced, what next – will the Captains actually have to wear arm bands?

Great to see “Semmit and Drawers” aka John Rutherford and Roy Laidlaw delivering the match ball. The great due looked in good form, but, what a missed opportunity, they ought to have been interviewed in the build-up.

As to the game itself, a very-close affair, which never became the spectacle it might have been, probably because of the conditions. One or two of the expected star turns were slightly off on the day, but young Harry Paterson, thrown in at the deep end t the 11^th hour, when Kyle Steyn's wife went into Labour, certainly grabbed his chance with both hands.

One thing which struck me was Nic Berry's interpretation of the Advantage Law. About ten minutes in, he called penalty advantage to France, about 30 metres from the French line. They then went through seven phases, advancing to within five metres of the Scottish line, before play broke down and back they went for the penalty.

Now, to me, a 20-plus metres territory gain does appear to be a decent advantage, so why pull the play back for a kick?

Right at the end of the first half, he allowed France eight phases in which to get Gael Ficku over for their opening try – consistency, that's all we ask.

I still recall, back in the early 1990s, we organised an impromptu sweepstake in the Press Box at Somerset Park. To win, all you had to do was forecast how long it would take Robert Reilly, playing for Stirling Albion gainst his old club, Ayr United, to get booked.

The Bill McLaren Media Gallery equivalent would be to forecast, at which scrum Zander Fagerson would concede his first daft penalty – such a pity, yesterday he chose an attacking Scotland scrum, right under the French posts.

Highlight of the first half was that Scotland try, by Ben White, from Rory Darge's pick-up of a loose ball to get us going forward, to Huw Jones' sumptious off-load to White, Scotland at their best.

Sadly, the game went off the boil in the second half, although that crucial French try was a highlight – before that awful climax.

Another talking point was George Turner's temporary removal, courtesy of the new smart gum shields, a tremendous safety innovation.

Well, in the end, we wuz robbed. But, onwards and upwards, with Them up next.