How Sam Warburton influenced the referee to save Lions Series

Garces was too easily influenced here

[@Splotched]

Perfect advert why Farrell shouldn't be anywhere near Lions captaincy.

[@harrybaines9422]

the video states he went to create tension, at no point was he going to do that and there was no evidence it literally looked like he was going over to listen. farrel also pushes the team along and plays a vital role in England so not saying he should the lions captain but defintely shouldnt be ruled out

[@aaronnorcott3348]

I’m English and I think this is proof why he should be nowhere near England captaincy. The way he reacted to Pascal against Wales is another advert

[@MagicBrianTricks]

I don't like Farrel but it's obvious he's not a good captain

[@samt9462]

Farrell top points scorer on lions tour. cool under pressure. better than celts.

[@mollyoko]

@@samt9462 you surely don't mean, multiple nominated Johnnie Sexton world player of the year and far superior 10 to both Bigger and Russell, that Gatland of little emotional intelligence didn't pick cos he still has a chip on the shoulder with the IRFU? lol

[@Rich.Newell]

You can even hear him instruct the team to set for the quick tap, did Farrell learn nothing from such a great skipper?

[@harryhughes6739]

I know right?! If Farrell had the captaincy skill of SW in the Wales game those try’s might not have stood. He needs to work on himself

[@osr4152]

@@harryhughes6739 If you are talking about Adams' try it is not comparable. Farrell was told by the ref to talk to his team about discipline so called them in for a huddle.

[@osr4152]

@Patrick Chestnutt come on, you cant ask a winger to run in to the posts then blow the whistle without giving him time to get set again. Nigel Owen's commented on this and said the ref was wrong. I think he knows what he is talking about.

[@harryhughes6739]

@@osr4152 I’m talking about after the try was scored. Farrell was shouting at the red which is no way to challenge hi decisions

[@benvaughan3392]

@Patrick Chestnutt 'it is fair farrell is stupid' what a terrible argument lol. His captaincy skills are poor but those trys should not have stood in the first place

[@adamhaycock7982]

Warren Gatland specifically changed o’mahoney for warburton as captain once warburton was fit enough precisely because of his ability to influence the referee. This is the exact reason Farrell will not be captaining the lions 2021

[@tomnaylor5761]

Neither will itoje now

[@rh5466]

@@tomnaylor5761 For what reason do you say this?

[@tomnaylor5761]

@@rh5466 he wont be captain because of his discipline, look at how clean warburtons game was compared to itojes. Gatland wont take risks on his discipline in the game.

[@dafyddcoleman4413]

Who ever thought Itoje would captain the lions? It'll be AWJ.

[@nathan._.h]

@@dafyddcoleman4413 you must be joking if you think he's getting picked

[@mrman8541]

I never noticed this before but the subtleties are so great! You can even see Read doing his own tricks when he realises what Warburton is doing, he moves up so he is ever so slightly in front of Warburton when Poite turns around, yet Warburton pushes him away when they are walking so he is in Poite's eyeline for longer. Even better when Warburton distracts Farrell from disrupting the plan by bluffing that the Lions were going to get a pen. Smart to remove the provocative element from the situation.

[@anthonyr587]

The funniest bit is the absolute shock on Reid's face about what he just saw unfold. Like someone had walked into his house on Xmas day and robbed all his kids toys.

[@BANGKING24]

What a lot of people a missing here is the great captaincy of being ready for anything. You can hear when Faz is saying he’s not talking that Warburton is telling him to set the team for a tap. He doesn’t know the decision at that point but he’s making sure his team won’t be caught out

[@AlexPTO2]

I think that was part of his attempt at putting doubt in the decision, he made sure the ref heard him say that. NZ were never going to tap anything then

[@rhyswilliams4893]

Faz was doing his job and bugging Read so Warbs had the ref to himself.

[@briantimmons4615]

One of the greats of modern professionalism, fantastic captain and fantastic rugby brain. Always felt a sense of doubt when he faced us (Ireland) in the 6 nations. Garland got a lot of stuck for picking him as his captain even when perhaps his performances weren't going too well but as you can see from that clip, that type of leadership is invaluable to a team.

[@james925]

The rules definitely need to change, Ken Owens taking the ball there isn't an act of foul play, it's more instinct than anything

[@GoldenbanjoDJ]

Good point. It's not really cheating is it. Penalties for foul play, offsides etc but if someone catches a ball from a knock on it's completely different. Might as well give penalties for forward passes if the receiver catches it

[@rodneylowe9526]

Its a penalty if there is an intent to play the ball in an offside position, a scrum if accidentsl. I think we were lucky here a Owens catches the ball and then throws it away. If it had just bounced off him easy call, but think we got away with the series here.

[@Ray-wy4kq]

@@rodneylowe9526 What are the criteria for "accidental"?

[@rodneylowe9526]

@@Ray-wy4kq aaah, the great bit about rugby laws, when they say to the referee "over to you!" Accidental or unintentional is a judgement call perfectly highlighted by the Owens incident. Did he mean to play the ball or did it strike him, and he couldnt prevemt that. Eventually Poitre thought the latter, Im not sure myself, but thats the beauty of laws, always open to interpretation.

[@leonrobinson2053]

Instinctive foul play 😂😂😂. We've all been taught not to let it bounce and he didn't.

[@gunmonkey1185]

I love Gatland slight smile/smirk at the end.

[@eoinh3816]

Poite not garces

[@colmitch]

Watch this with captions.. too good

[@chrisparrott3547]

The real issue with this is that the ball travels backwards not forwards. Williams is pushed back in the air, further than the ball, but the ball also travels backwards just not as far as Williams. Therefore there is no knock-on & no offside.

[@Kyrelel]

Except that the ball clearly travelled forwards and #16, who was offside, instinctively caught it and then quickly dropped it, knowing he was offside.

[@oisinheffernan6438]

Being honest he probably had 0 effect on that decision. They would have checked it anyway bc it was such a big call

[@harryryan368]

They would’ve checked it and made the correct call? A scrum was not the right call in this situation he clearly effected it. All you have to do is look at the difference between the way Reid speaks to Poite and the way warburton does.

[@jackmurray3885]

@@harryryan368 it was the right call, accidental offside, scrum down New Zealand, the player didn’t deliberately play the ball, it came to his hands he instinctively caught it then gave it up as soon as he caught it, they checked it anyway and confirmed

[@symeremeyers4148]

Owen farrell being a knob as usual

[@argyledart85]

a knob thats achieved more than you ever will and more than any welshman has achieved !

[@bot8628]

@@argyledart85 still a knob tho

[@argyledart85]

@@bot8628 you’ve never met him 😂

[@gaurasrspublishing]

@@argyledart85 I've never met Hitler but I'm fairly certain he was a knob too!

[@joeybell9262]

@@gaurasrspublishing I mean someone who plays rugby and a someone who committed mass genocide are not really 2 people you can compare let’s be honest

[@joebell4013]

Kieran Read was offside from the kick off anyway so the Lions should’ve had a penalty on half way

[@louisowen8509]

Reid wasn’t in a realistic position to challenge for the ball in the air, he just took the catcher out. Penalty should have been awarded to the lions. In my opinion only.

[@JackMatt-le8ur]

What an absolute hero!!!

[@richardharrold8777]

Reid takes out Liam Williams in the air. Foxy sees it and throws his hands up in protest. Clearly illegal. Equally clearly, dangerous. Yet Reid is not even cautioned. Should have been a penalty to the Lions and a possible further sanction against Reid. Admittedly, it would have been a brave decision by a ref to yellow card the ABs' captain in a Lions Test decider. But Poite is among the world's best referees and one wonders why he dodged this call.

[@cliff9136]

Reid clearly challenges legally for the ball in the air.

[@Martin-pb7ts]

@@cliff9136 his feet hardly leave the ground, he is nowhere near in a position to compete for the ball. The reason he gets away with it is that the B&I Lions forwards are holding the jumper so he didn't flip over. Truth is most other countries the player in Read's position would have been yellow carded.

[@timothywilkinson6745]

He was also indisputably offside at the kick off, should have been a penalty at half way for the lions. Reid is lucky they didn't go back and check that.

[@richardharrold8777]

@@timothywilkinson6745 Offside doesn't apply to the All Blacks captain. Witness Ritchie McCaw's entire career. On occasion, some Welsh players would go through a whole game assuming he was on their team but just with an exceptionally muddy jersey!

[@RedWazzies]

Farrell... a great player, but not a great captain. Sam W was such an influential Lions captain.

[@frankodea9471]

He’s bang average at international level especially when playing at 12

[@christycullen2355]

He really isn't world class though. Had one good season a few years ago

[@samt9462]

farrell was top scoring lining tests and whole tour. more than all celts

[@samt9462]

farrell top scorer for the lions. all 12 points in second test

[@RedWazzies]

@@samt9462 Oh dear.... Let's not make this a race thing ;)

[@samt9462]

farrell top scorer for lions on this tour

[@FAonYoutube]

"Will you check that Jerome"... except that's Romain Poite, not Jérôme Garcès... he never said that lol

[@studebaker3293]

The referee is Romain Poite, not Jérôme Garces ! So, Warburton can't say that !

[@Martin-pb7ts]

I've always felt Kieran Read should have been penalised for what happened. He hardly jumped. He knew he wasn't in a position to compete for the ball and simply ran into the player that was jumping for the ball. The reason that player didn't tip over or go flying was because he had support holding him in place but it was enough to knock the ball out of his hands and cause the knock on. I've never respected Read as a captain. He was a great no. 8 but the truth is and as bitter a taste it leaves in my mouth to say it, the All Blacks would not have drawn that series if McCaw was on the field. He knew how to get the players to pull together and make something happen out of nothing. Instead the All Blacks tried a sketchy move that looked completely unplanned and ran out of space and the game ended in the most lame way possible.

[@Ghhyuttgg]

If McCaw led my pub team they would beat the Lions, he is after all probably the best player in the history of the game...

[@jack9315]

And he was in front of the kicker

[@Martin-pb7ts]

@@jack9315 lol, that too.

[@bitchoflivingblah]

Farrell butting in where he isn't needed. Here after the Wales-England slaughter 2021. And the ball went backwards.

[@dannywestern831]

Farrell is having a bad time currently I’ll give you that, but you don’t become a bad player overnight AND it was forward , even Nigel Owens said it

[@bitchoflivingblah]

@@dannywestern831 We'll never know for sure because the England player kicked it forwards, you know after it travelled backwards onto his foot - him being behind Zammit and all.

[@corny165]

Warburton was a great player and a great captain but he gets credit for a non existent intervention here. Poite knew the second he blew his whistle it was an important decision and the series hinged on it. He was always going to take his time and make the right decision. That's his way in general. He likes going to the TMO and he didn't need Warburton's advice to check with him. He's also completely unflappable as a referee and to suggest Farrell had the ability to fuck things up is an incredible leap. You can hear Poite say 'Oui Jerome' after the TMO tells him to stick with the penalty. In the seconds following, Jerome Garces (the touch judge) gets in his ear and tells him it was accidental offside. That's the man influencing the referee. The players, all of the players, Farrell, Reed and Warburton were irrelevant in the decision. Warburton is a nice chap and as I say a great leader but it's just fanboy stuff to give him credit here.

[@bristolrovers27]

Absolutely, I find it hard to believe that anyone can credit any of the players here You can see an example of how to treat a ref from Sam and how not to from the other two

[@racingspoon]

Apparently Farrell to blame originally and then he almost ruins all of Warburton’s good work. That’s an interpretation with an agenda for sure. 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@vonteflon]

@@racingspoon Perhaps. But it’s true. Darrel antagonises referees; Warburton ALWAYS seemed to have a good rapport with them. I actually think some of it is down to tone of voice and even accent. Warburton’s got their naturally friendly, soft Welsh lilt, whereas Farrell could be reading out a bus timetable and sound like he wants to kick your head in. Much more to it too, like body language, timing, knowing when to shut up, etc. Warburton was a master of al this, which is why Gatland always relied on him as captain.

[@racingspoon]

@@vonteflon totally agree with many if not all of those points. However this is not an example that highlights this.

[@harryryan368]

@@bristolrovers27 you just proved yourself wrong, even if it’s by the smallest of margins speaking to the ref properly instead of just shouting “ Romain, Romain. Like read does is vital in keeping the ref on your side

[@moderncaligula359]

As an Aussie this was a massive crock of shit, kiwis got robbed, bloke literally caught the ball, how can you accidentally catch something? Such bullshit, so many lions fans have tried to justify it, absolute rubbish. Should have been penalty goal to win the series. European ref had no balls to call it.

[@kemuse1]

Warburton does literally nothing here.

[@johnstrinati9390]

And the TMO confirmed anyway, so the decision was already made anyways

[@kemuse1]

@@johnstrinati9390 Yeah. Taking nothing away from Warbs as an awesome player though.

[@johnstrinati9390]

@@kemuse1 legendary player, gotta love em!

[@rhyswilliams4893]

I think Faz intentionally went in to provoke Read distract him from the ref.

[@marcusadamiak9149]

It's not Garces, it's Poite

[@jamesrobinson8233]

it was offside you can tell by the way the lions player threw he ball down he knew as soon as he caught it he was offside

[@James-rc6qq]

There's no debate whether Ken Owens was offside or not it doesn't take a genius to figure that out. But it's whether it was deliberate or not. Ken Owens throwing the ball away doesn't change whether it was accidental or deliberate.

[@biggest23]

@@James-rc6qq .....Are you saying that catching a ball perfectly two handed is a thing you regularly observe front row forwards doing by accident while lumbering about? It’s completely deliberate and also an appalling error of judgement, which he reveals by immediately going in to hot potato mode when he realise what he’s done, but still entirely deliberate. The attempts to explain away this act like some pipe smoking, nod-gurning, herd of self trimming harrumphers clumped together in some Victorian men’s club in this comment section is fuggin unreal. A NH ref blatantly acted against the clear laws of the game that we all know and it swayed a series for the benefit of a team that was about to lose it. The mental contortions that people put themselves through in order to digest their own schidtt never ceases to amaze.

[@joedennehy386]

@@James-rc6qq it doesn't matter, if a prop catches the ball then drops it like a hot potato he knows what he has done, but I'm not bitter ...........

[@Ray-wy4kq]

@@biggest23 Did Owens catch the ball in front of where Williams made contact with it? It's not clear. If you look at the events in sequence, it appears that Owens thought it went lateral as he was arguably in line with where Williams made the jump, but changed his mind when Williams landed closer to the Lions' try-line, having been pushed by Read, which made it seem like a knock-off AFTER the fact.

[@biggest23]

@@Ray-wy4kq .....Law number 10 outlines this situation clearly. At no point is Williams in line with Owens let alone behind him, therefore he can not touch the ball as he has not re-established himself in an onside position.. The ball does not need to be knocked forward for him to be regarded as offside, he just needs to have been in front of the last member of his team to have played the ball and not to have re-established himself as onside before catching it, which he did rather deliberately, watching it all the way in to his arms. The ref & TMO really phuqqed this one up, Reado knew it, everyone that's being honest knew it and Owens knew it the mostest. Cost the AB's a series win and reminds me of that appalling pre tour test the Lions played against Los Pumas at Twickenham back in 2005. The Pumas were ahead and only had injury time left to play (pre full time hooter days). They asked the ref how many minutes of injury time there was and he could clearly be heard telling them three minutes. So, after three and a half minutes, they take their chance to kick it in to touch. Ref says take the lineout, Pumas show some confusion. They manage to regain possession after some time and kick it out again. The ref says play the lineout.... again. This went on and on, lineout after lineout, for more than nine minutes until the Lions team were far enough in to the Pumas half to kick a penalty and sure enough, the whistle was blown, the kick was made, the Lions went ahead and the ref immediately blew again for full time. The Lions went on the records as victors and is one of the most deliberate displays of biased refereeing I've seen favouring a BIL's team, but this let off for Owens & the BIL's runs it close.

[@brentmeistergeneral6074]

There’s wasn’t even a knock on. The ball didn’t go forwards... it went sideways and Owens went backwards to touch it! People missing the lost important piece 🤦‍♀️

[@bhupendrasolanki663]

They were lucky. It was a penalty but I was glad it was reversed

[@melmc3306]

Well according to the captions, this video has ‘accidental Arab’ and ‘sperm from behind’ issues 🤣🤣🤣

[@red-onecpasmoijetaitentrai3400]

🤔

[@samt9462]

New Zealand 15 points v owen farrell 15 points

[@Friends-jl3lp]

Kiwis are the worst type of fans. When they win they're terrible and when they lose they literally cant take it.

[@AlexPTO2]

This is Romain Poite, not Jerome Garces

[@Emjaygee1950]

This again shows why Farrell should not be the captain of England. He's just a surly, confrontative lout !

[@davidcoughlan3619]

Farrell shouldn't be nearnear Lions squad for now, his form in 6N was abysmal and far too much lip to refs

[@samt9462]

farrell top points scorer on tour and in tests

[@joedennehy386]

Great captaincy warburton, shocking refereeing incomprehensible decision, cost us the series, and still no apology from world rugby, but I'm not bitter.......

[@cliff9136]

Neither

[@Martin-pb7ts]

Have a look at the person trying to catch the ball and what Kieran Read does. He doesn't jump for the ball at all, simply runs into the player in the air and gets away with it. If anything I think the All Blacks should have been penalised.

[@joedennehy386]

@@Martin-pb7ts i watched it, i agree with the referee, he was after the ball in my opinion. He has won games for nz by winning the ball in that exact situation, anyhow, im not bitter.........

[@jeffrey89095]

@@joedennehy386 the ball wasnt knocked on it shouldnt have even been a scrum. William's knocks the ball backwards but he is knocked even further backwards by the impact so it creates an initial look of the ball moving forwards, Owens is coming back and more than entitled to take that ball. Also historically saying reid has won aerial challenges is redundant, one jump could win a great ball amd the exact same jump could take a man out in another game and depending on how he lands could be a red card. In this instance reid is nowhere near the ball and but for stander supporting William's it would have been a nasty fall and potentially a card.

[@joedennehy386]

@@jeffrey89095 whstever mental gymnastics you apply to this, the relevant play was the prop catching and quickly dropping the ball. The referee bliwing the whistle for offside. The tmo agreed then his fellow french touch judge talked him into changing his decision, which he shouldn't have done, but I'm not bitter.......

[@WGTNmarineLife]

Bitter kiwis 😂🤣

[@argyledart85]

yawn more owen bashing

[@samt9462]

Farrell's contribution 5 kicked penalties. warburtons giving away penalties, tip tackling master

[@sufiyanbelmour7648]

It wasmt garces it was romain

[@mikeclements4548]

Is stating facts influencing the ref 🤔

[@Srioll]

No, but the way you say those facts can have a very different impact on the ref. The way Warburton does it there makes the ref consider it because he's so calm and polite, while the way other captains do it (Farrell and Sexton are the ones that come to mind) by entering with aggression will make the ref instantly switch off and not listen. They could be saying the exact same thing and it could be completely true, but Warburton would get the ref to listen to him and Faz and Sexton wouldn't.

[@viewer3091]

Read dangerous challenged the Man in the Air = = Should have been a Penalty to the Lions ! !

[@rogerdeiss4172]

Am French and I watched the game live at a friend of mine...who s English and in all honesty, I think Romain Poite, and not Jerome Garces, made a mistake. The ABs should have got a penalty kick.

[@pds1624]

So who will be captain then.............please don't say Wyn Jones.......

[@pauldavies7251]

Alun wyn not wyn Jones 👍

[@TheFrenchSquid]

Wyn Jones

[@richardharrold8777]

Wyn is a promising prop, and he deservedly won MotM against Ireland. But he hasn't captained his country yet. It would be a very strange decision to make him captain of the Lions. I would imagine on current form it will either be Alun Wyn Jones or Hoggy.

[@danedwadd62]

@@richardharrold8777 he is joking he is on about awj lol

[@STEOKEO]

Disgraceful Refereeing.

[@WiresFanDrew]

Whole thing is wrong just by being Rugby Union.... #CmonTheWires