World Rugby head of match officials Joel Jutge explains all to Midi Olympique

Pascal Gauzere admits mistakes to referees boss

There has been plenty of fallout from the third round of the Six Nations, after Wales v England was dominated by controversial try decisions. Today, in France, World Rugby’s referees manager Joel Jutge revealed that referee Pascal Gauzere has held his hands up over the handling of big moments on Saturday.

In an interview in Monday’s edition of Midi Olympique, Jutge said: “I believe one has to be transparent and not let things drag on and say what one thinks. There were two unfortunate events during the match which were tough cases to handle. Pascal Gauzere recognised as such when he spoke to me on the phone.

“With regard to the second try, I think there is a tendency to refer to the TMO too often when one can make the call oneself on the pitch and stick with it, which if Pascal had whistled for a knock-on there would have meant no appeal by the TMO to review it.

“Pascal was the first to admit to this when he re-watched the match on Sunday. When one commits an error one should be transparent about it. Despite this he is still an excellent international referee.”

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