ON RUGBY:The first two weekends of the blighted 2012 Six Nations has proved not to be referees, the IRB, the Six Nations or the French Federation's finest hour, writes GERRY THORNLEY

OFFICIALDOM, in pretty much all walks of life, make for easy targets but whether they are referees, the IRB, the Six Nations or the French Federation, they may as well have drawn a bull’s eye on their collective foreheads over the first two weekends of the blighted 2012 Six Nations.

This is despite their best efforts to react with indignant prickliness to any criticisms – as if somehow, like all unions and federations, they are above them – by either running for cover, staunchly and selectively defending themselves or, perhaps most entertainingly of all, passing the buck with ever greater alacrity than some of Wales’ backs to date.

A starting point were the “tip tackles” which scarred the Ireland-Wales game. Dave Pearson should have recommended a red card for Bradley Davies given his close-up view of the welsh lock lifting Donnacha Ryan above the horizontal and driving him into the ground.

Perhaps Pearson was subconsciously aware of the furore in Wales and beyond which followed Sam Warburton’s red card in the World Cup semi-final.

Perhaps, too, Barnes was subconsciously aware of that as well as Davies’ yellow card when deciding to sin-bin Stephen Ferris for his tackle on Ian Evans and award the penalty with which Wales won the game. They are human after all.

Cue the two citings against Davies and Ferris which resulted in a seven-game ban for the Welsh lock whereas Ferris was exonerated of foul play last Wednesday.

The full findings of the disciplinary committee landed with the relevant parties yesterday and, in reference to the Ferris tackle, concluded that “the essential dynamic of this contact was primarily “sideways” and in the horizontal plane. The angles involved (the player’s body and W5’s shoulders, hips, knee and ankle) are less than 45° to the perpendicular at the relevant points.

“The lifting of a leg in this situation, where the other leg remains on the ground, is not sufficient of itself to make this a dangerous tackle,” the findings said, and as it did not warrant a red card, “accordingly, and unanimously, we dismiss the citing.”

Nonetheless, the committee was at pains to explain that there was “no express or implied criticism of either the match referee or the citing officer” in this verdict, and added: “We cannot say that his decision at the time and in those circumstances was wrong.”

On foot of the Ferris verdict, the IRFU released a statement in which Irish manager Mick Kearney claimed the IRB-appointed, independent disciplinary panel decreed that Ferris’ tackle was not even worthy of a penalty.

This prompted a joint statement from both the IRB and Six Nations backing Wayne Barnes, claiming: “The IRB’s match officials performance review endorsed Barnes’ decision to award a penalty.” Yet there was no mention of the Davies’ case, which was highly selective.

After all, eradicating spear tackling is the big campaigning issue of the IRB referees’ chief Paddy O’Brien. So if they are so concerned, how come they kept mum on the far more dangerous tip tackle?

Are they more concerned with backing their referees than eradicating spear tackles? Nor, just as pertinently, did the IRB or Six Nations make any reference to why the match citing officer, Achille Reali, saw fit to cite Ferris for foul play.

Unlike Barnes, Reali had 48 hours for “careful and prolonged analysis of the dynamics of the contact, including slow motion and step by step viewing, that the committee had”, as well as 48 hours to consult referees or anyone else in the game.

Now, let’s reflect on what Barnes, Reali and by extension the IRB and the Six Nations put Ferris through. Wrongly left to watch the endgame from the sidelines and left to stew on a penalty which may have cost him and his team the match and with it any chance of a Grand Slam or Triple Crown into that night.

To rub salt into his wounds, Ferris was then left with a disciplinary citing hanging over his head for three days, obliging him to miss training the following Wednesday so as to attend the hearing in London before finally having his name cleared.

It is Ferris and the Irish squad which should be indignant, not the touchily sacred IRB and Six Nations.

But then along came the events of last week which culminated in the postponement of Saturday’s game in Paris. You had to be at the post non-match press conference to believe it as Christine Connolly, of the Six Nations, was flanked by the French Federation president Pierre Camou and a French representative on the Six Nations committee, Jacky Laurans (who said nothing, while none of the three would take any questions).

Instead, shamefully, Monsieur Camou pointed the finger solely at Pearson, noting “a French referee” had proceeded with the game in Rome (more’s the pity!).

While Camou also expressed his regret for the travelling French fans, in all of this, save for Philippe Saint-André, no one from the French Federation or any other part of French officialdom, apologised to the Irish fans.

Instead, we had Sunday’s pathetic statement from the Six Nations claiming how the match fell under the jurisdiction of the French Federation (which in turn hires Stade de France) though at the same time it thanked the FFR for “making very effort” to ensure the game went ahead.

No it patently didn’t, and nor, unlike the ERC, were the Six Nations in any way pro-active in making sure it did.

Save for another holding statement from the Six Nations yesterday confirming the match will not take place this coming weekend, they will meet again after the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) publicly opposed a rematch on March 3rd as it clashes with a full programme of their Top 14 games.

Instead the clubs have demanded that it be re-arranged after their final on June 9th. Ireland happen to be playing the All Blacks in Auckland that day in the first of a three Test tour.

A cursory glance at the Irish fixture list, peut-etre? It just shows you what a self-important little bubble the French clubs operate in. Then again, they’re not alone.