Referee Nic Berry takes flight with Reds after penalty led to Brumbies win

The definition on an awkward moment? Referee Nic Berry having to catch the same charter flight as the Queensland Reds.

Tom Cusack celebrates a Brumbies try from a rolling maul against the Reds. Picture: Getty Images

The definition on an awkward moment? Referee Nic Berry having to catch the same charter flight back to Brisbane on Saturday night with the Queensland Reds after awarding a penalty against them after full-time in Canberra for the Brumbies to grab a 22-20 victory.

Reds coach Brad Thorn had just given a press conference at which he had absolved flanker Fraser McReight of any blame even though he had seemingly forced Berry’s hand by taking out Brumbies halfback Issak Fines without the ball. “Debatable, mate, from my point of view,” said Thorn.

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He may have been right, though perhaps not for the right reason. Late on Saturday night, replays of the incident started appearing on Twitter. They showed McReight clearly had interfered with Fines but that he was propelled into the Brumbies halfback by a Brumbies forward, lock Nick Frost, who had entered the ruck from the Queensland side, bound onto McReight and then driven him forward into Fines. It was a bizarre incident and a curious one on which to turn an epic match.

Whatever, Berry was shaking his head ruefully at McReight as he awarded the penalty, which young Brumbies replacement Mack Hansen then coolly converted for a dramatic win. Clearly the referee had not wanted to play a central role in deciding the game but felt he had been left no choice.

The fact that he then had to catch a flight north with the aggrieved Queensland players was anything but desirable. It was – as if we needed any further proof – evidence that these really are unusual times in which we live.

In the first instance, let’s celebrate the fact that ball-in-play time in the match was 43 minutes. That’s an extraordinary figure by Australian or even world standards, a full seven or eight minutes of rugby above the norm. It’s the reason why even those Queensland fans who felt aggrieved at the outcome were still celebrating the rugby played by both teams.

Brumbies coach Dan McKellar took a dim view that I had criticised the fact that his side scored all but three of their points from driving maul tries. Driving maul tries are sanctioned by the laws of rugby and – given that northern hemisphere countries are partial to them – probably always will be. So, get used to them.

My view is unchanged. Any tries that are scored by a team where the ball-carrier is shielded from the opposition by as many as 10 teammates constitutes obstruction, in my view. Philosophically, I cannot see how obstruction can be penalised in every other instance in which it occurs in the game – or, rather, that’s what the laws allows – but in this one specific instance teams are giving licence to basically form a driving wedge and power their way over the line.

And when was the last time you saw a referee refer a driving maul try to the TMO to make certain all was in order? That players, for instance, had not bound onto the driving maul in a position ahead of the ball-carrier, which would be an infringement. No, the second the hooker flops over the line, he automatically puts his arm in the air to signal a try. I’m not suggesting that the Brumbies are doing anything illegal but Berry certainly didn’t have any qualms about referring two Reds tries to the TMO.

McKellar did, however, make a very valid point. The Crusaders have not had a driving maul try scored against them in three seasons, to his memory. The Brumbies in the same period have conceded only two. So it is possible to defend against them.

Unquestionably the Reds would have done lots of work on their driving maul defence but perhaps they should have done more. Yes, they have a window of around five seconds from the time the lineout jumper returns to earth to fracture the driving maul. Otherwise, once the maul is formed there is no way of stopping it other than “swimming’’ through the mass of tightly-bound forwards to get at the ball-carrier. Since Rory Arnold – an ex-Brumby, one notes – went off to London Irish following the World Cup, there has been no real expert at this art, although Rebels lock Trevor Hosea is showing signs of developing into an effective maul-stopper, as is Angus Blyth of the Reds.

Far better rugby minds than mine have taken issue with the driving maul. World Cup-winning coach Rod Macqueen has always insisted that the simplest solution is to allow defending teams to collapse the maul, stopping it in his tracks. Safety is always raised as an issue whenever this solution is proposed but in Macqueen’s opinion, no one ever got seriously injured bringing one down.

His skipper, John Eales, who has opposed the driving maul since at least 2003 when he came out against England’s use of it, believes the tactic should be banned. Australia’s other World Cup-winning coach, Bob Dwyer, insists it should be retained but only if the ball-carrier moves from the rear of the maul to the front where possession can be contested.

Rugby Australia’s director of rugby Scott Johnson has proposed simply banning backs from entering the driving maul. At least that way it is eight on eight, not eight on 11 as the defending side suddenly finds itself swamped as backs pour into the contest. Often, as I indicated, illegally taking up positions ahead of the ball-carrier.

It brings to mind a famous quote from legendary French fullback of the 1960s and 1970s, Pierre Villepreux: “We spend too much time coaching backs to be forwards. We should be coaching forwards to be backs.”

Certainly the Reds forwards played with the enterprise of backs on Saturday night with Harry Wilson proving that he should be the Wallabies No 8 this season. But the Brumbies have also proven themselves capable of doing likewise. Indeed, it could be said that they played too much rugby against the Reds and opened themselves up to the prospect of losing by not kicking enough.

It might seem inconsistent on my part to be lobbying for the appointment of McKellar as Wallabies forwards coach while at the same time arguing against one of his main areas of expertise.

But I am nothing if not a realist. As McKellar says, the driving maul isn’t going anywhere. It’s here to stay. Or at least by the time World Rugby does get around to doing something about it, I will be past caring. So in that event, let’s get the Wallabies so annoyingly good at it that the rest of the world will band together to have it banned.