To be fair to Mike Fraser, I was thinking to myself midway through the 2nd half, "What difference would it have made to the game if he was holding the flag and CJ had the whistle?" My conclusion was maybe a 10-20% improvement in the game. I think CJ would have set his stall out with regard to breakdown offences and scrums very early in the game and that may have cleaned things up a bit but I doubt that it would have turned the "turd" into a showcase. I think MF was the victim of attempting to let things flow around the breakdown but a lot of it turned to shite and he still had to award 27 PKs so his game plan backfired. He is a better ref than this game suggests and has had better quality games to referee in the ITM cup. He did get the referals to the TMO correct and therefore didn't award any tries that shouldn't have been awarded.
It was a dull game all round and he can't be held responsible for that. Remember that Wales, in the 2nd half, had 89% of the territory, 72% of possession and still couldn't put any points on a team ranked how many places lower on the world standings?
Responsible? not solely, but he's a [the?] major facilitator.
By allowing no space off the HMF and no consequences for repeat infringement [ especially slowing the ball ] he licensed such a poor display.
Of course he's a talented referee, and his elevation wouldn't have happened without lots of good matches, but his hesitation was surprising/disappointing, maybe it was 'limelight avoidance' in action? I'm sure his post match review won't make a comfortable watch.
Stop coaching, start escalating. Reclaim the 1m -1.5m HMF encroachment , and as for lazy runners [don't even start me off]
More space between two teams = better match, I might have said this in other threads?
Crikey even the commentators were calling for affirmative Scrum action inside the first 15mins, the writing was indeed on the wall. AT halftime Keith Wood was correct "it was horrible to watch"
as an aside, I didn't get a second opportunity to view, but was Ashley Beck's inside pass to North 'forward' in the lead up to his try [neat finish though] it wasn't checked, in the TMO review, but there was doubt in my mind..... clip anyone?