Phil Gifford: Public apology to Quinn Tupaea would go a long way

Quinn Tupaea of New Zealand leaves the field injured during the Australian Wallabies v New Zealand All Blacks Bledisloe Cup rugby union test match. Photo / Photosport.co.nz

OPINION:

It won't help Quinn Tupaea much, but the reputation of rugby itself would be improved if, even at this late stage, Wallaby Darcy Swain, or his coach Dave Rennie, publicly apologised for the disgraceful act that we now learn will keep All Black Tupaea out of rugby for at least nine months.

At the time Swain was carded in Melbourne, Rennie was overcome with a case of "what aboutism", as in, "what about what this All Black and that All Black did?" To be blunt, even if he's 100 per cent right that other cards should have been dished out, it doesn't make what Swain did, driving into the side of Tupaea's exposed leg and wrecking his knee, any less disgusting.

What's truly galling is that Tupaea faces a huge spell on the sideline, and months of rehabilitation. On the other hand, given how vigorously Rennie supported Swain ("I'm not convinced about Darcy's yellow card. It was certainly not intentional"), there's every chance Rennie will select him again as soon as Swain's six week suspension is over.

All Black Quinn Tupaea. Photo / Getty Images

A round of applause for the slapdown of Bernard Foley by French referee Mathieu Raynal.

In a perfectly-timed piece of Gallic insouciance, the French named Raynal their referee of the year, and he then took the opportunity to make it crystal clear it was Foley's mistake which led to an All Blacks test win in Melbourne.

Discussing controversies, as Raynal did so trenchantly, while highly entertaining for us sideline observers, isn't something that local referees are famous for. But their apparent reticence certainly isn't because they shy away from being criticised.

After Super Rugby and NPC games, all coaches are sent a timeline in which the referee, after video analysis, runs through every penalty awarded in a game.

"We put our hand up," says New Zealand Rugby's head of referees, Chris Pollock. "They say, 'these are the ones I believe I got right, and this is why. These are the 50-50 ones that could have gone either way, and these are the ones I definitely got wrong'."

Pollock himself says early in his own refereeing career he was taught a valuable lesson by veteran coach Neil Barnes, who told him, "when you're wrong, acknowledge it, because that'll give you the ability to be able to say, 'I think I'm right' when you are right."

Don't expect a media conference after every round of next year's Super Rugby, where the refs are paraded for cross examination; but after talking to Pollock, the strong impression is that if there are truly pressing refereeing issues to be addressed in public after next year's Super Rugby games, they will be.

The best refereeing will always be the kind that nobody's talking about after the match.

Most Kiwi referees (I'm not so sure about French refs) genuinely don't enjoy the spotlight.

One of our great refs, Colin Hawke, who officiated at two World Cups, could have been speaking for all of his top-level colleagues when he once told me how, in a tight game, he'd think: "Let's not have a situation where I call a penalty that's pretty nondescript, which can have a major influence on the match. In other words, let the players decide the outcome."

Black Fern Ruby Tui was already one of our most liked sportspeople, winning hearts with her daring on the field and her brilliant sense of mischief and wit off it.

But who knew, until she talked on TVNZ's Sunday programme about her sometimes harrowing childhood, that behind that megawatt smile and exuberant manner, was a woman of such stunning resilience.

It's often said, quite rightly, that children shouldn't look to sports stars as role models. Examples of how to live your life should be set by parents, extended family, or educators.

But Ruby Tui is the exception that proves the rule. If there are little kids now running with a ball imagining they're her, or older schoolchildren drawing inspiration from her achievements, they've picked the right star to follow.