Rugby fans around the world revel in the drama created by the sport. The tension, excitement and delight felt in 80 minutes of bone crunching rugby takes rugby fans on a rollercoaster of emotions rarely replicated anywhere else. Irish fans are amongst the most passionate rugby supporters in the world and have enjoyed success in recent years, especially in the Six Nations where Ireland have won the last two editions, completing the Grand Slam in 2023. The next objective must be to finally burst past the quarter final stage at a World Cup.
Ireland, like any other team, have witnessed their fair share of controversy of late, and for Irish rugby fans that are also partial to a flutter on online bookmakers, these short moments feel like an eternity as the fate of a bet potentially hangs on a correct, or incorrect call, by the referee. Despite the intervention of technology in sport, of which rugby is one of the leading examples of correct and proper use, referees on the pitch are still human and will be fallible to game-changing mistakes that can have significant effects on betting slips.
Mistakes not only occur on the international stage, but also on the domestic front and All Ireland League 2024/2025 betting odds so far this season, especially the live betting market will certainly have been impacted by decisions made throughout a match. Overall, the rollercoaster of emotions felt by fans watching a match can be felt one hundred-fold by those with money at stake.
While decisions made on the pitch have a direct effect on the immediate play, there are punters dotted around the stadium, down the pub, or at home on the sofa chewing away at their nails as they wait on a bet-deciding outcome. Here are a couple of moments from this year that might have had Irish punters praying to the referee Gods.
Ireland vs Scotland – 16th March 2024 – Six Nations
On St. Patrick’s Day weekend, Ireland took on Scotland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin in what was a tightly fought contest. A stubborn Scotland defence was holding strong for the majority of the match and thought they had been breached when Tadhg Furlong went over for a try. However, despite extensive reviews by the TMO, Marius Jonker, a slight separation between player and ball was controversially adjudged to have occurred, and the try was disallowed.
Impact: At 10-6, the match was still in the balance, despite Ireland dominating and asserting their pre-match role as favourites. Scott Hastings, who was working on commentary with ITV thought it was a valid try, and Irish fans who had various bets ranging from the scoreline to outright result and Furlong as a try scorer were saying a quick pray.
Fortunately for those Irish punters, the disallowed try did not cost the team, and Ireland went on to narrowly win 17-13. It could all have been very different though. On the day before St. Patrick’s Day, the luck of the Irish deserted them on the field but saw them home and probably delighted a fair few Irish rugby punters.
Ireland vs Argentina – 15th November 2024 – Autumn Nations Series
Another moment of controversy in Irish rugby struck just a few weeks ago during the Autumn Nations Series when it seemed Argentina were going to complete one of the greatest comebacks in recent history. Trailing 22-9 at half time, Los Pumas put on a superb second half performance to pull within three points, despite having Francisco Gomez-Kodela yellow carded in the 75th minute.
However, when in the Irish 22 and pushing for a match-winning score, the referee adjudged Joaquin Oviedo to have knocked on the ball, which caused an initial furore on social media. The reaction on the internet was clear, there was no knock-on. This was a massively controversial moment which denied Argentina the chance to stun the Irish.
Impact: In the end, the decision made by referee Paul Williams was justified once further footage of the incident was released. However, in the heat of the moment, Irish fans would have undoubtedly been worried about the prospect of a shock defeat to Los Pumas, when they were heavily fancied pre-match to win comfortably. Like against Scotland, no harm, no foul, but there would have been a few hearts in mouths at the time and fingers hovering over the cashout option.