Don't question our commitment to player welfare, World Rugby tells Joe Schmidt
SUPPORT: Alan Gilpin, the World Rugby chief executive: 'There is no other position on the field that is under the scrutiny our match officials are under'
WORLD Rugby have criticised Joe Schmidt’s comments questioning the governing body’s commitment to player welfare following the controversial Australia-Lions clearout decision but the Wallabies boss will escape disciplinary action, CEO Alan Gilpin said on Tuesday.
Schmidt, a former World Rugby director of rugby and high performance, was left seething following his team’s 29-26 second-Test defeat at the Melbourne Cricket Ground last Saturday. His anger was directed at the match officials’ decision not to award a penalty, when Lions back-rower Jac Morgan cleared out Australia’s Carlo Tizzano at a ruck in the build-up to Hugo Keenan’s last-minute winning try that secured the series victory for the tourists.
