CrapRefs.com

Irish referee, George Clancy gave 4 penalties against Italy at scrum time on their own put in.

There was another highly questionable penalty call against the Italians at a ruck penalty call against them on the 25 minute mark, which resulted in 3 points to the All Blacks, taking the margin to 13.

Even the kiwi commentators thought it was harsh – always a tell-tale sign that the referee got it wrong.

Then, Italy were unlucky with a penalty kick o their own that fell just short 2mins before the break that would have made it 13-6, a better psychological prognosis going into half time. 13-3 flattered the All Blacks who only showed glimpses rather than genuine signs of ascendency.

In the second half, Italy chose against a kick at goal. If earlier refereeing calls had gone their way (and the margin a lot closer), Italy would surely have taken the kick and who knows where the game could have been at that point.

To be seriously competitive, weaker teams need to possess several key characteristics
1. Strong Kicking
Tactical, line kicking, goal kicking and drop-goals
2. Strong set pieces

Between these two elements, teams can stay competitive and even win games

3. Defend like their lives depended upon it
This is the real key for many teams and something Italy had for 75% of the game.

Superior desire wins rugby games at every level.

Then, to really threaten, weaker teams also need:
4. More than their share of the 50-50 calls – Italy got maybe 20% of these (if they were lucky).
5. Some penetration – Italy had 2-3 genuine moments that unfortunately did not result in tries
6. Some luck

While they didn’t have a lot of bad luck, they didn’t get any good luck either.

A penalty was (correctly) awarded for a defensive player being taken in the air from an attacking bomb that was the Italians best opportunity for a try.

If they had a bit of luck, they would have scored from this.

Bottom line: This was a very solid Italian performance that they would have been even better had the referee not been guessing at scrum-time. With a little luck, it could have been a very close game.

Tags: All Blacks, George Clancy, Italy
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