Six Nations news: Five of the most controversial moments of all time
The Six Nations has seen it all over the years, from questionable officiating to new rule changes.
And while nobody likes to see a good game overshadowed, controversy does provide memorable moments for fans to reflect on afterwards.
Sports News Blitz writer Charlie Elliot examines five of the most controversial moments in the competition’s history.
Wales vs Ireland, 2011 – Illegal lineout
Ireland were actually given an official apology by the International Rugby Board after one of the most controversial decisions in rugby history.
Wales hooker Matthew Rees received a new ball at a lineout and played a quick throw-in to Mike Phillips who ran 45 metres and scored.
Neither referee Jonathan Kaplan nor touch judge Peter Allen saw the ball being changed, and therefore a quick set piece should not have stood.
Brian O’Driscoll urged the officials to consult the TMO regarding the new ball but, because the moment had occurred in the build-up to a try rather than during the act of scoring, the end result was unable to be reversed.
With Wales winning the game 19-13 in the end, the refereeing blunder changed the game completely.
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France vs Wales, 2017 – HIA controversy #1
In one of the longest games of rugby ever played, France edged past Wales 20-18 at the Stade de France back in 2017.
While undoubtedly a classic in Six Nations history, it was also somewhat overshadowed by a questionable concussion substitute in the dying stages.
France prop Uini Atonio got a convenient HIA that returned the fresh – and world-class – scrummager Rabah Slimani to the field late on.
Wales were furious with the decision to allow Slimani back on as they believed that Atonio did not have a head injury, but France pleaded their innocence and insisted that the decision was made by a neutral party.
The game was eventually won off the back of a scrum, with the hosts grabbing a late Camille Chat try to finally end the contest after over 100 minutes of play.
France vs Ireland, 2018 – HIA controversy #2
A year after Wales lost to France thanks to some dodgy HIA shenanigans, it was Ireland’s turn.
Late in the game at Stade de France, scrum-half Antoine Dupont went down clutching his knee.
However, referee Nigel Owens signalled that it was actually his head that was the issue, which meant that France could bring on a replacement.
After a few minutes of deliberation that included the French medical team confirming that it was actually a knee injury, Owens chose to let his original decision stand and allowed Maxime Machenaud to come on, thus preventing the hosts from having to play without a specialist scrum-half.
Despite this, Ireland went on to shade a 15-13 win as Johnny Sexton scored a dramatic 83rd-minute drop goal.
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Six Nations, 2025 – New red card rule
Although it is not a specific moment, the decision to allow 20-minute red cards in this year's Six Nations has been heavily debated and given rise to not a little controversy.
Some fans and teams believe that it provides a healthy middle ground between yellow and red cards, leading to a game that flows more and is not determined by refereeing decisions.
On the other hand, there are those who criticise its potential ambiguity and think that it puts player safety at risk in terms of certain bad fouls not being punished as harshly.
To be fair, it was trialed in the autumn with success and so could end up being a positive rule change on the whole, but only time will tell.
England vs Italy, 2017 – Tactical masterclass
Some might argue that this game was not controversial at all and that Italy were simply using the rules to their advantage.
It ended up a comfortable 36-15 victory for the Red Rose, but for the first 40 minutes England were rattled.
The Italians decided against committing bodies to the rucks, which meant that there was no offside line, and instead put men between half-backs Danny Care and George Ford in order to prevent them getting passes away.
James Haskell even asked referee Romain Poite if he knew how to play the game, to which the referee told him he was there to referee and not coach.
England eventually found a way around the tactic but, with Italy having managed a 10-5 half-time lead, it was certainly an embarrassing moment at Twickenham.
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