They have lost all nine of those interpros in the past two seasons, and notably, the penalty count only worked in their favor in one of those games.
“The 17-0 loss to Munster in Musgrave Park was the sixth time in those nine games that the penalty count went against them, but two of the games ended with the penalty count level.”
This item was published in The Irish Times on January 8, 2008, and the “they” and “them” in issue are, of course, Connacht. It went on like this:
It’s important to note that Connacht was given three penalties after the 76th minute, which put the score at 17-0. That evening, the score was 7-1 against Connacht at halftime and ended up 13-6.
In comparison, Connacht has won more over half of the penalties in the Magners League’s 21 games against non-Irish opponents over the past two seasons. It’s also important to note that, unlike games against non-Irish opponents, interpros are always officiated by Irish officials.
It is also important to note another sentence from that article, which was published nearly exactly 17 years ago today, in light of the confirmation that Connacht and Ireland winger Mack Hansen will be the subject of a disciplinary hearing this Wednesday due to remarks he made regarding the officiating of Leinster’s 20–12 victory over Connacht in the Aviva last month.
In his role as coach of Leinster, Matt Williams concluded that there was a type of “institutionalized racism” against Connacht in Irish rugby. This is typically the case when an outsider with more independent thinking makes the most telling findings.
Naturally, Williams did not imply that there were racists in the IRFU or anywhere else in the sport on this island; rather, he was referring to an unconscious prejudice against the province that has existed since Irish rugby’s inception.
Six members of the 22-member committee were chosen by ballot at the IRFU’s annual general assembly for decades. As long as no Connacht nominee was chosen, the voting was free, fair, and democratic. Ulster and Munster nominated two delegates apiece, while Connacht nominated one. Those two nominees each from Leinster, Munster, and Ulster made up the six elected each year, with one amusing exception.
Only in 1980, when internal politics caused the customary cozy arrangement to fall through, did the agm pick a Connacht delegate. It’s debatable why the IRFU encouraged such obvious gerrymandering, but it reveals a lot about how the other three provinces felt about Connacht, which has its origins in Irish rugby.
That bias, by any measure, is “institutionalized,” and it even temporarily prompted the IRFU to seriously contemplate disbanding Connacht as a professional organization at the beginning of 2003.
The views made by the two Irish-born rugby players who were born in Australia are undoubtedly thought-provoking and grounded in reality. Williams, who coached both Leinster and Ulster, ultimately has nothing to complain about on Connacht’s behalf.
Granted, Hansen made a very poor linguistic choice. Even though he and Connacht were rightly frustrated by the 9-3 penalty count against them in the first half of that defeat to Leinster, it is always subjective to evaluate a referee’s performance, and the penalty count finally evened out. In addition to making Connacht seem like losers, Hansen’s remarks carried the potential of angering the close-knit refereeing community.
Connacht has lost 10 of its previous 11 interpro matches since defeating Ulster in the first round of URC games last season, which were officiated by South African Morné Ferreira. All but one of those games were officiated by Irish officials.
Their sole grievances over the 17-7 loss to Ulster at home over Christmas were that they failed to show up for the first quarter and that the visitors had more drive and enthusiasm. There have also been a few subpar Connacht performances in there, along with four close losses. For that one, they are solely responsible for themselves.
Even so, in the eight interpros before that Aviva meeting with Leinster last month, Connacht had five yellow cards to one by their opponents.
In truth though, Connacht could hardly have any gripes about Shane Jennings’ yellow card for blocking Luke McGrath. Nor was there a compelling case to sinbin Jordie Barrett for making contact with Bundee Aki’s head in that ensuing clear-out. That said, it was surprising that the officials were so swift in dismissing any foul play in that incident, and also the one that led to Josh Ioane being helped off in the 31st minute and not returning.
The province have long since preferred having non-Irish referees in charge of interpro derbies, albeit their grievances over officiating are not confined to Irish refereeing, and rightly so. Some awful endgame officiating by referees from Scotland, Wales, England and France spring to mind which have left Michael Bradley, Pat Lam and Andy Friend absolutely livid. In one heavy beating in Belfast over a decade ago, a non-Irish referee did not award Connacht one solitary penalty in the entire game.
