HIS SPORTING LIFE: Referee made right call, much to Thaler's relief

No, not one of the players or the coaching staff as England saw off a late fightback from Tonga to clinch a 20-18 victory, but none other than appointed video referee for the day, Ben Thaler.

It is easy to imagine that had on-field referee Matt Cecchin decided to go to the replay to adjudicate on whether or not Andrew Fifita had knocked-on in the build-up to what would be the game clinching score, he would have got no reply over the radio.

That is because as soon as it became obvious there was some controversy over whether or not the try should stand, Thaler would probably have been hiding under his desk praying to Jesus, Allah, Buddha and Superman all at the same time he would not be called upon to rule on the game-clinching moment.

Fortunately, Cecchin spared the Wakefield native such a responsibility, straight away deciding himself that prop Fifita had dropped the ball rather than England defender Elliott Whitehead ripping it free with his desperate attempted tackle.

Predictably, the honking geese of social media were quick to concoct all sorts of conspiracy theories and level abuse towards the Australian whistler, ranging from accusations of incompetence to racism and much worse.

In fairness, Cecchin seemed to have made the right call and he must have been absolutely certain it was correct if he did not feel the need to refer to the video ref a decision which would not only decide the match, but who would meet Australia in this Saturday's final.

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One wonders, therefore, what vitriol poor old Georges Jameau would have faced for wrongly ruling out a perfectly good try by Graeme Langlands had social media and the option for referrals to the video referee been around at the time of the 1972 World Cup final.

That match between Great Britain and Australia in Lyon might be best remembers on these shores for Clive Sullivan's solo try, but Down Under it is more recalled for what is generally regarded as “the greatest try never scored”.

It came when Kanagaroos full-back Langlands dived out-stretched to collect a high kick from Dennis Ward and managed to get it down over the try-line all in one go – only for French official Jameau to rule it out straight away for offside.

The nascent television replay technology showed, however, Langlands was clearly onside and it proved a crucial decision in a match which ended as a 10-10 draw and therefore saw the Lions take the trophy courtesy of having beaten their old rivals in the group stage.

History records that on seeing a replay of the incident after the match, Jameau apologised to Langlands for making the wrong decision. It does not record what the captain's response was, although it is fair to assume it was a typically brusque Aussie retort.

Meanwhile, of greater concern to England ahead of another showdown with the Australians will be how they almost squandered a 20-point lead with seven minutes to go.

Well, of concern to all but head coach Wayne Bennett, who seems to be at least part Vulcan given his Mr. Spock-like lack of any sort of emotional reaction before, during and after matches.

But the last thing any English fans in Brisbane this weekend will want to see is another collapse from the tourists, seeing as how the rugby league team's cricketing counterparts decided to revive that old tradition during their 10-wicket defeat in the first Test of this year's Ashes series at the Gabba.

Still, as long as the rugby players can avoid head-butting opponents at any pre-match gatherings then that would be a good start.

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THIS year's annual American football clash between those esteemed institutes of learning, Yale and Harvard, attracted a crowd of over 51,000 to the Yale Bowl to watch the home side triumph 24-3 over their eternal rivals.

By contrast, rugby union's Varsity Match between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge a week today is likely to draw around half of that to Twickenham for a match which these days barely seems to register on the national sporting consciousness.

In truth, there is no reason why anyone outside of the Oxbridge sphere would take much of an interest in the match. Even the varsity ski trip, which begins around the same time, seems to prove more interesting for some students these days.

The 15-man code permitting professionalism 22 years ago means the Light Blues and the Dark Blues rarely feature any current or future internationals, although the likes of Wales' Jamie Roberts have taken to the field in recent years.

And having had the privilege to cover three Varsity Matches in a previous job, I can highly recommend watching if you happen to be near a television at 3pm next Thursday. Even for the neutral, it is usually an absorbing and entertaining clash.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">After an amazing season – a new <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/F1?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#F1</a> era awaits<br><br>Our greatest races are ahead of us<br> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Unleash2018?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Unleash2018</a> <a href="https://t.co/1g0KSjeVhj">pic.twitter.com/1g0KSjeVhj</a></p>— Formula 1 (@F1) <a href="https://twitter.com/F1/status/934798729915146241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 26, 2017</a></blockquote>

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IT SAYS much about the current state of Formula One that at one point during last Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Channel 4 commentator Ben Edwards described a battle between the drivers in 11th and 12th place as “a crucial point in the race”.

Yes, fighting over non-point-scoring positions in the final round of the season while Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas completed a near-on unhindered lights-to-flag victory was apparently something to get all worked up about.

Indeed, it seemed the biggest talking point – aside from Renault's inability to fit a tyre properly to Carlos Sainz Jnr's car during a pit stop – to come out of the weekend was not even something that happened on the track, with owners Liberty Media launching the new F1 logo at the conclusion of the race.

Predictably, the design was greeted with widespread ridicule, while the video put out on social media teasing the start of a new era for the sport looked like it was designed by someone who had played far too much Ridge Racer Type 4 during their youth.

New logos aside, it is fair to say 2018 will be something of a new era for Formula One – not least because of the introduction of the halo around the cockpit, designed to offer extra protection for the drivers.

This is not a universally-welcomed development, mostly on the grounds of aesthetics. Plus, many have – not unreasonably – asked how putting something in the eye-line of the drivers makes anything safer? We are assured, however, visibility has been in no way reduced.

There are the usual tweaks to the sporting and technical regulations too, while the introduction of hypersoft and superhard compound tyres from supplier Pirelli seems to be little more than a transparent attempt to gimmick the results of races even further.

One suspects, in fact, the so-called new era will be a lot like the old era – at least as far as what happens on the track is concerned. There is no reason at present to believe, for example, any other teams will be able to realistically challenge Mercedes and Ferrari.

The problem F1 seems to have is that it is constantly trying to reinvent the wheel, although that should not be surprising given the number of engineers involved in it.

Yet that has contributed to the sport's owners, governing body and teams losing sight of what Grand Prix racing is supposed to be about, leaving them desperately grasping around trying to figure out what exactly that is.