Saracens-bound, Bath star, Alfie Barbeary, has taken to social media to share his frustration with a refereeing decision
Bath lost the game 38-26, but several refereeing decisions and a lack of involvement from the TMO left many fans frustrated and pundits bemused.
In the 42nd minute, Bath were attacking when 24-12 behind. Alfie Barbeary, the Bath number eight, made one of his powerful carries, and Maxime Lucu tackled the back rower from a high position.
Despite clear head-on-head contact, the tackle was not reviewed, and no sanction was given. At the very least, the laws would dictate a yellow card in this situation if not a 20-minute red. Bath received no penalty, and there was no card for the Bordeaux captain. It took Bath another eight minutes to break down Bordeaux and score. A UBB player in the sin bin, never mind one as important as Lucu, could have made all the difference.
What did Alfie Barbeary say?
Barbeary took to his Instagram to share a picture of the incident with the caption “French Kissing”.
The still image initially shared by the For Love of Rugby account shows the severity of the contact and how there should have been some TMO involvement. Lucu is at full height, and his head makes contact with the top half of Barbeary’s head.
The original post from the podcast account of Ben Youngs and Dan Cole also made reference to the fact that “French TV directors seemingly have no replays available.” This may be an attempt to find a reason why the TMO wasn’t involved in any of the decision-making.
Outcome of the match
It took just over five minutes from this point for Bath to score and bring the score within five.
In the 67th minute, Bath picked up their own yellow card. Ewels brought down the maul, Bordeaux looked as if they had scored, but the ball was lost forward. The referee went back, giving the penalty and the yellow card. He looks like he wouldn’t have if the try were given. Bordeaux went on to score in the next phase, and Bath may have been better off conceding by the original try. They conceded once more in the yellow card period and, despite a late consolation try, lost the game by 12.
