Johann van Graan, head of rugby at Bath, openly expressed his frustration after his team’s 38-26 defeat to Bordeaux-Bègles in the Champions Cup semi-final on Sunday night. Van Graan was notably upset about what he deemed inconsistent enforcement regarding high tackles during the match, particularly three incidents involving his number eight, Alfie Barbeary.
Among the challenges that went unpunished were high tackles from Bordeaux captain Maxime Lucu—who was also named player of the match—and second row Adam Coleman. While van Graan stopped short of directly criticizing the match officials and acknowledged that the better team won on the day, he questioned the review process for these “headshots.”
“I thought the match officials did a fantastic job,” van Graan said. “However, there were three clear head-to-head tackles on Alfie Barbeary—in the 19th, 23rd, and 42nd minutes—that we believe should have been inspected more closely.”
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He highlighted the need for consistency in how referees review and punish dangerous play, emphasizing that the Video Match Official (TMO), Ben Whitehouse, was limited by the angles of footage available. “We need to make sure that the match officials have the footage required to make informed decisions. It wasn’t consistent with the rest of the competition,” van Graan added.
Despite the physical nature of the game, Barbeary never underwent a head injury assessment, though he did receive treatment on the field.
Van Graan, committed to maintaining a positive outlook on the sport, said: “We don’t want to put the game in a negative place. It’s in a fantastic spot, and it was an honor to compete today. We lost to the better team. But consistency in officiating is crucial.”
Contrasting van Graan’s comments, France Télévisions—the broadcaster for the match—defended the scope and transparency of their footage. Cedric Beaudou, rugby editor at France Télévisions, explained, “The video referee requests footage when they want to review an incident. They have full access to every camera angle and decide what to see. The footage is never hidden.”
One issue raised by many is that stadium screens frequently show replay footage of foul play during games, which can alert officials to incidents missed in real time.
European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR), the tournament organizer, also supported the TMO process. EPCR pointed out that two broadcast screens—one live and one delayed by five seconds—are used universally across matches. They emphasized that any incident the TMO wishes to review can be formally examined, maintaining standard procedures were followed during the semi-final.