BERNARD JACKMAN HAS said he was “pretty shocked” at the debate around referee Frank Murphy’s performance during Munster’s 16-15 win over Leinster in the URC semi-final on Saturday.
Jackman made his comments during Rugby Weekly Extra, a podcast for subscribers to The 42.
Murphy, 39, is originally from Cork, and played for Munster early in his career before moving to Leicester Tigers and then Connacht.
Some Leinster fans were critical of some of his decisions in the game.
With the score 3-3, Ryan Baird ran the ball home from deep. However, the try was chalked off after Murphy deemed the ball to have been knocked forward by Tommy O’Brien in the preceding contest with Peter O’Mahony.
Jackman, the former Leinster and Ireland hooker, said he thought the official did not influence the outcome of the match.
“I didn’t see any massive issue with the refereeing. That’s why I was shocked as I came out of the stadium and that’s what most people were saying to me,” said Jackman.
PODCAST | Rugby Weekly 𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚 🏉@CiaranKennedy_, @Murray_Kinsella & @bernardjackman look back on the brilliant URC semi-finals.
— The42.ie (@The42_ie) May 15, 2023
▫️ Munster's revival
▫️ Crowley's clutch kick
▫️ Connacht fall short
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“I thought, obviously, it was a very fast, physical game, Murray (Kinsella) tweeted about the high ball-in-play time . . . Probably a lot of Frank Murphy and his officials to adjudicate on but to be honest it was one of the rare I games I walked away from not feeling the referee had a massive role in the result, and then I was pretty shocked to see all the social media debate.
“I think maybe it was just the narrative that was in some people’s heads before the game, around whether he should do it or not, but to be honest I thought he did a great job of letting that game flow.”
Also on the podcast, Jackman and Murray Kinsella delved into the thrilling semi-final win for Munster in Dublin, with lots of chat about Jack Crowley’s winning drop-goal, how Munster’s ambition was rewarded, and where it got away from Leinster.
The lads also discussed how Connacht missed a big chance to reach the final as they were edged out by a dangerous Stormers side in South Africa.
Also on the agenda were Munster’s challenge in the final, and a look ahead to this weekend’s intriguing Champions Cup final between Leinster and La Rochelle, who have beaten Leo Cullen’s side for the last two years in a row.
The pod also focussed on the Ireland women’s 7s team’s achievement of qualifying for the Olympics in Paris next year.
If you are not already a subscriber and would like to listen to this podcast, sign up here and enjoy unlimited access to The 42.
But but we sent out our B+ team and then they paid the referee to cheat on us, then they assaulted our players and laughed as they threw beer on our grannys
@Chris Finch:
@Chris Finch:
@Chris Finch: Ya tbf there should be a ruling that if you send out the b plus team and Lose you should get a Medal.
@Chris Finch: very few have said that, but some need to focus on a small minority of negative comments. Most have congratulated the better team on the day and hope they win the Final
@Simon Kerins: I was following the 42 live thread where there was a fair bit of salt against Frank Murphy, but post game I’ve seen almost nothing except congratulations to munster on the win. Hats off leinster fans, I think in general you have been incredibly gracious in defeat.
People act like he lost them the game but if you watch back the game he originally wants to give the Baird try but it’s whitehouse who saw the knock on
@Mike Roache: well that makes ignoring Will Connors having a brain injury inflicted on him okay
@James K: Are you the same James K who was calling for Manie Libbok’s jaw to be broken by Connacht players on Saturday, for the egregious crime of celebrating a score? Please spare us your rank hypocrisy.
@James K: Back again James,! Copy, Cut & Paste is it?
Listen to your coach. He has a bit of knowledge. He said ‘better team won’. Get over it, move on and win Heineken. Grass too long, too late in the evening etc etc etc moan. Get a grip Munster deserved it
I’ve re watched the game. Connors was out cold Before he hit the ground, he was knocked out by Barron’s swinging arm. In first 15 minutes Murphy refused 2 calls from the line for offside against Munster. In the scrum Munster stood back didn’t take the hit Ref gave them the decision. Munster Barron 2 in each lineouts took 2 efforts at throw in ….it goes on. He definitely made his decisions based on keeping Leinster away from Munster 22 and keeping Munster down in Leinster’s end. Disgraceful performance from Murphy.
@Ann owens: The arrogance has turned into salt, bile and lies. Very sad, yet satisfying, to see.
@Ann owens: it’s disgusting that you would lie about Connors injury just because you’re an immature baby who can’t handle a defeat.
@Ann owens: Wah Wah Wah….
@Ann owens: we’re you at the same match I was at
@Ann owens: I demand a replay
@farts: let’s see how satisfied you are when you get thumped by stormers and Leinster win a fifth star!!
@Ann owens: don’t forget the deliberate knock on by McGrath which should have been a yellow card, Hodnett was upended by a Leinster player clearing the ruck, Healy and Clarkson were driving at an angle in a few scrums. The list goes on
@farts: New account?
It doesn’t seem to be a wide spread issue but the Leinster fans purposely lying about Connors’ injury as they are more concerned about losing a match and getting someone a red card than a person’s health is disgusting. The exact type of people you wouldn’t want to be coaching or refereeing in the game.
@0UWMNglt: is there a separate forum where leinster fans go to collaborate their lies on such matters?
@0UWMNglt: from the Munster “fans” that were jeering Connors off. Barron knocked him out with a cheapshot. No place for it in the game and the fact you defend it is vile
@James K: is there a place in the game for a player to be assaulted by the opposition for celebrating a score, as you called for on Saturday during Connact v Stormers?
@James Hughes: Well there’s Leinsterfans, where a few people have lost it in the same way as the crazies on this board. Most of the posters are sound, of course
@0UWMNglt: The Connor’s KO was unfortunate, but not a yellow. Hand is clearly on shoulder and the camera angle is not clear enough to say there is contact with his chin. If there is, there is no force or danger. He hits his head hard on the ground. I do not like fans blaming the referee for this defeat. However, you get the same posters on here, from all provinces repeating similar opinions because only one eye works when they are watching sport. The exact same thing goes on up and down the country on Sat and Sun as supporters only look at offences by one team. I was gutted on Sat, but on reflection this defeat will be good in the long term for those young Leinster players and Irish Rugby in general. Imagine the confidence that Crowley now has if faced with similar in green later this year.
@Paul Ennis: wow. Connors was more clearly hit in the head than either Murray or Fekitoa were yet Munster fans were bleating about Glasgow going out to injure players. Shoes on the other foot and suddenly the camera isn’t clear enough. Maybe if you take off the rose tinted glasses it would help?
@0UWMNglt: crazy stuff. If there was truly an issue, Barron would have been cited by now. He hasn’t. Because he did nothing wrong.
I’m a Connacht fan and we’ve certainly had our history with Frank but I have to say he has improved recently and I now think him to be a good ref. IMHO there are a few measures of a refs performance. Firstly was it a good game and I think we can all agree it was a classic. Secondly were any pundits calling out bad decisions or a bad performance by the referee . None I’m aware of. Thirdly were there any comments about the ref in the Q and A after the game. I’m not aware of any. It was not ideal that Frank was given this game given his link with Munster but that’s not his fault. All he can do is ref the games he’s given. We need comment based on the performance in question not previous games. Referees have a tough job. We need to cut them some slack & not get too hung up on past mistakes.
@Michael Griffin: Stop being so reasonable. No call for that type of thinking on here
*Awaits the salt and bitterness with glee
People are very susceptible to falsities concerning hype and media and will believe whatever narrative suits their own view.
@thesaltyurchin: Just look at the US presidential race , “he did, he didn’t “
Jackman is not from Cork – he’s from Tullow, Co Carlow.
He never played for Munster, he played for Leinster, after a career in Connaught.
@McConnell Ross: eh?
@McConnell Ross: lad they’re all talking about the ref! Jaysus
Murphy is just a bad ref. Only thing I’d moan about is the tackle on connors, has to be at least a yellow. Munster better team on the day and deserved their win. Win the Heineken Cup and this will be forgotten about. Munster beat the stormers and it will be a great year for irish rugby, that hopefully gets better later on it the year
@William Finnegan: Yeah if that’s 10 or 20 mins in then he gives the yellow..it was stonewall. The poor lad out cold straight away. Murphy bottled it unfortunately for Leinster. it’s a swinging forearm from Barron, reckless at best. Not sure how Munster fans can argue that one. Agree Munster just shaded it so we can’t complain really. Have to win now on Saturday!
@Carmine Lorenzo: Munster fans jeered Connors off so it’s no surprise they’re arguing it, going so far as to claim people are lying about what happened to Connors. They’re the lowest of the low
Knock was a fair call, few instances, Beirne turnover where he says leave it and he comes away with the ball and some questionable around the ruck calls
@Diarmuid Kennedy: The one on the line? Ball was out in fairness it was about a metre from the back of the ruc. For me it was Leinster’s old slow-roll tactic that was not picked up (in fairness its a good one and obvs works) they only got the whistle a few time towards the end of the game. But unless we’ve got proof its all moot really.
@thesaltyurchin: Think he’s talking about the one near the halfway line tbf. not sure about the one on the line, it didn’t look out. Says I through my blue tinted spectacles ;) All jokes aside, although I do think he let stuff go for both sides, felt he was more forgiving for Munster as I’ve outlined below on another comment. Still, the better team won. Munster showed up with a lot of guts and bravery. A stronger bench would have seen it out for Leinster. Ironically I think the spate of injuries Munster got last week made Leo overthink his selection a bit and go a bit weaker with some calls. I think if you have Furlong, JGP and maybe Porter on that bench it changes the outcome. Who knows. Best of luck in 2 weeks, I know you’re one of the genuine die hard Munster fans.
@Carmine Lorenzo: Think I see it very similarly. My deep-navy glasses help me see where the ref could have been a 1 point difference in a game that close, but Jesus, Munster were immense and could/should have been well ahead. Some match and the best atmosphere for a Leinster match that I’ve been at in a while. Munster v Toulouse was the last that was close. My wife keeps asking what’s up when I look forlorn and I answer, we lost to Munster. That said, would love to see ye go and win it now.
@Punt: he was a three point difference just from ignoring the shot clock for Healy. He’s a 6 point difference when you throw in that he ignored 2 blatant forward passes and crossing in the buildup to the drop goal, he’s a 9 point difference when you add in the stone wall penalty for Munster collapsing the scrum on 65 mins… The list doesn’t end
Lads in Leinster have gotten the existence of Alain Rolland wiped from their memory. Its always been thus.
@JimDemps: Just because Frank Murphy is a disaster doesnt mean every other Irish referee is as well. Rolland was one of the fairest, no-nonsense referees out there. It showed in the number of high profile internationals he refereed including the WC semi-final where he correctly sent Sam Warburton off – at a time when those type of dangerous tackles were usually ignored.
@James: I thought Rolland was an excellent ref. That’s not the point I’m making.
@JimDemps: Rolland only refereed Leinster v Munster once. His last season due an injury to Pascal Gauzere. It has not always been thus, but it is possible that opened the door to the possibility. The appointment was not the reason for the defeat, but it still doesn’t make sense why Irish referees are appointed to so many interpros.
The issue is not with Frank Murphy, the issue is with the URC who didn’t manage the referee selection process correctly for such an important game. To avoid any conflict of interest an Irish referee should not have been amongst any of the officials for such an important game. All referees make mistakes, and these can be disastrous on the game.
What lost Leinster the game was the bench selection, nothing more.
Well done Munster for winning and with a marvelous drop from Crowley. I will be cheering for you in SA on the 27th!
@Con Cussed: agreed 100%. Would like to see Munster go on and win it now.
@Con Cussed: well said.
Is it not possible to say Frank Murphy was awful, mostly against Leinster, and it clearly had an effect BUT Munster deserved to win, were more coherent and seemed to want it a little more.
Perhaps the obvious misses by Murphy wd have made a difference to the result but I think Leinster only have themselves to blame.
I think that needs to be it now for Frank Murphy reffing Leinster Munster games.
@Andrew Hurley: It is possible but it’s also a bit myopic to say only Leinster was negatively affected.
@Richard Powell: Where did I say that ?
@Richard Powell: Clearly it’s not then
Well there was a massive issue with the refereeing in the stormers connacht game.
@Justin Flynn: It does seem to be a bit of an issue that referees are taking the let the game flow approach too far and letting teams away with tactics that slow down the opposition ball that are illegal. They’re relying on the TMO to tell them about things like high shots but the TMO has been told not to jump in that much. It’s a tough balance.
@Justin Flynn: Yeah, spot on. Stormers lying all over the shop. Munster’s back row can tidy that up. It’d be great to have Murray back, and then they can do it.
Thought one where Leinster on Munster line and munster player lying on the ruck off his feet pulled the ball back up and out was illegal
@brian callan: That was Coombes. Yes that was illegal. Lying off his off his feet, & played the ball off the ground. Both illegal. Couple of passes later Scannell passes forward to Hodnett. 2 glaring oversights ignored in same phase. There was also Barron knocking Connors out. Stonewall yellow- if that was 10 or 20 mins in, then he’d give it but was afraid to do it so early. The scrum decimated on 65 mins that he just orders a reset. Healy’s kick that shouldn’t have stood. A couple of dummy throws from Barron…there was more but those are the sorts of incidents that if they went Leinster’s way I’d have been happy they weren’t noted. You could argue he evened the yellow by not binning McGrath but the Barron one was way worse. Still, better team won. Stronger bench would have seen it out.
@brian callan: spot on. It is not physically possible to support your own weight and rip the ball out with that force.
@brian callan: or the two on the Leinster goal line, one in each half, where VDF was lying on the ground in rucks with his hand on the ball preventing Munster from moving the ball?
@Carmine Lorenzo: At the ruck before the Coombes rip, Henshaw went straight off his feet and sealed off the ball. So that should have been a penalty first. There was no shot clock in the stadium for player to see. Wouldn’t be fair to impose one if the players can’t see it. Leinster have got more than their fair share of refereeing decisions down the years so stop complaining.
I see the Gimps is back again with his many profiles ,he just can’t help himself LOL
It’s so weird that every single pundit is saying munster won fair and square, but the sour grapes soreloser brigade seem to think theyre wrong. This conspiracy runs deep.
@farts: go to the games jim demps you fraud
He looks fairly dapper in his state sponsored Qatari jersey!
No buts we lost. However (there is always a however with Murphy) the hit on Connors by Barron (I think) was swinging arm to the chin. That’s a card all day long. Also he pinged Leinster at least twice for arms on the ground at the ruck. PoM did it right in front of Murphy and nothing said. There was a forward pass and crossing in the lead up to the drop goal. Still nothing from Murphy. He did let Leinster off a stone wall yellow when McGrath knocked on.
Murphy should never be put in the position of reffing Munster. He is just left open to all sorts of accusations. Imagine the final being reffed by a former Stormers player who lives in Cape Town? Absolutely daft!
@Ro Mo: it’s not accusations when he’s literally paid by them
What influenced the game was last 7 minutes Leinster demolished Munster scrum in front of post no penalty reset got a penalty later near touchlne the turnover same period with Munster man lying on ruck multiple marginal offsides that we were pinged for an obvious crossing too a forward pass loads that didn’t allow us to close the game
The total lack of care for will Conor’s forearm to chin leaving him out cold before he hit the ground
ultimately it was in our hands to win conversion but seriously having an ex player refereeing a big match like this
@Fred Matthews: 1. Offside is offside. We just have to be better – cant worry what the other team does or gets away with. 2. You can’t referee the scrums from your couch or the stands. It’s hard enough to do it from 1 metre away. 3. Will Connors was knocked out when he hit his head off the ground. A rugby incident, nobody’s fault. The tackle was on the shoulder and the camera angles do not show any direct contact with his head or chin. Leinster were not good enough. If we had won the game, none of this vitriol would have escalated the way it has.
Getting sick of ye lot now, you lost fair and square just accept it
Big comment and wrong. Look at last scrum. Definite penalty in position. Munster scrum. Appalling
@Eamon Masterson: strange, I don’t see you pointing out the 3 tackles round the neck by leinster players or the clear no arms tackle by Byrne in the first 5 minutes of the second half. And that there was no warning for a yellow on the half dozen penaltys given away in the leinster 22.
All salt aside, we couldn’t beg borrow or steal a win against ye for most of the last 5 years. Let us have our moment in the sun please.
And just as important, good luck this weekend. I’m a proud munster And irishman, Il be rooting for ye.
I’m not talking about this match but in the heineken is their any chance of Leinster out of Dublin for a Semi. It’s home country advantage. Munster, Ulster and Connacht would all be dragged up to Dublin. If they can’t fill lansdowne for Toulouse God knows they wouldn’t fill a stadium down the country (Thomond, Pairc ui Chaoimh Ravenhill)
Ah shut up ffs!
Leaving the result aside a Munster ref shouldn’t have been ref mainly because he should be neutral. If he is seen to be biased for Munster he’s condemned if he trys to over compensate and give Leinster more he is condemned. What ever way the ref is put in an unfair position and will be subject to abuse from one side or the other .
How Leinster got away without a yellow is a mystery. JVDF is great but he made feck all effort to come in from behind
there was such a massive deal about the ref they had to write an article, christ! This is embarrassing as a Leinster fan. We underestimated, disrespected even, the opposition and paid the price, we could’ve won the game had we played a stronger team. Our own fault. This ongoing criticism of the ref is just grating. Let it go boys. In saying all that they kept playing Murphy for the Leinster v Munster v Leinster matches, they should’ve just played a neutral ref, and there’d be less hysteria about it all. I don’t believe he was biased but this nonsense was going to flare up sooner or later. Urgh, put it to bed please!