World Rugby gives Rennie slap on the wrist for referee rant

World Rugby has issued Wallabies head coach Dave Rennie with a “written warning” for his post-match rant against the match officials following the loss to Wales in Cardiff.

Wales converted a penalty at the death to condemn Australia to a first winless end-of-year tour in Europe in 45 years.

Following the match, Rennie launched a stunning tirade against Scottish referee Mike Adamson and his assistants, labelling their decision-making as “horrendous” and saying they “played a big part in the result”.

The Wallabies played the majority of the match with 14 men after No 8 Rob Valentini was sent off for a reckless head clash with Wales lock Adam Beard in the 15th minute.

However, Wales were spared a similar fate when replacement prop Gareth Thomas escaped a red card sanction after a deliberate act of foul and dangerous play saw him drive his shoulder onto the head of an already grounded Wallabies player next to a ruck.

The decision to award a try to Nick Tompkins in the second half seemed to be one that really rankled Rennie.

With the Wallabies on attack and looking to exploit an overlap out wide, the Wales centre stuck out a hand and deliberately knocked the ball down. He then grabbed the ball and scuttled away to score under the posts, all the while the Australians had stopped playing thinking the referee would call play back for the illegal act.

But after much deliberation with his fellow officials, the Scottish referee awarded the try with the explanation that the ball had not travelled forward when Tompkins slapped it down.

After World Rugby came down hard on SA Rugby director of rugby Rassie Erasmus for his criticism of match officials during the British & Irish Lions series – in a case that lasted four months – it was expected that the governing body would apply a similar strict punishment to Rennie and Rugby Australia.

However, in a statement released six days after the incident, World Rugby confirmed that Rennie had only been issued with a written warning for his comments.

Both Rennie and Rugby Australia also issued a public apology to the match officials.

“Dave Rennie wishes to apologise to the match officials and to World Rugby for the choice of language used in post-match media commitments following the Wallabies Test match against Wales in Cardiff,” the statement read.

“The choice of language and its timing did not meet the standards required from a coach or official in upholding Rugby’s core values of discipline, integrity and respect.

“Rugby Australia and Dave Rennie accept the formal warning issued by World Rugby.”

The decision not to apply a stricter punishment on Rennie’s comments was surprising as Erasmus was handed a two-month ban from all rugby activities and was suspended from match-day activities until September 2022 for video documenting Nic Berry’s erratic calls in the 2021 British & Irish Lions series opener.

This is also not the first time that Rennie has criticised the match officials’ decision making. After the third Test of the series against France in June, Rennie accused the opposition of milking penalties.

“Every time there is anything like a head shot, these guys had been shot by a sniper,” Rennie said. “The issue for us is, do we get to the stage we’re telling our players to lie on the ground like the French did every time there’s any head contact?”