James Haskell made a bit of a boo boo in the first half of England’s winning test against Italy on Sunday.
Italy right now #ENGvITA pic.twitter.com/fV6SxMlcCq
— Matt (@MattheWilcox) February 26, 2017
The Italians had a strategy not to commit players at the breakdown, thereby not forming a ruck and enabling their players to run rings around a confused England.
"I'm a referee, not a coach," #ENGvITA pic.twitter.com/1TptWs2TK1
— BenchWarmers (@BeWarmers) February 26, 2017
Haskell and others were a bit confused about the tactic, and so decided to ask the ref what to do about it. Not a great decision as Romain Poite retorted “I’m the referee, not the coach”.
Uncanny #ENGvITA #RuckGate pic.twitter.com/jwPF52aRUC
— Lewis Davey (@LewisDavey1) February 26, 2017
This little verbal tussle led fans to feel like they should help Haskell out with the rules a little.
Great tactics by Italy by not forming a ruck, English pros should know the law, Haskell & Hartley complacent #EngvIta #6nations #sixnations pic.twitter.com/lGvIp5lNQf
— Richard Moore (@richardmoore127) February 26, 2017
Might send this to James Haskell tomorrow #ENGVITA pic.twitter.com/JbkYWtNweS
— Cathy Shilling (@wickers62) February 26, 2017
When Haskell, wearing #7 – THE "ruck specialist" on a team – asks the referee what to do at a ruck pic.twitter.com/UIw7J31Gro
— Eggchasers Podcast (@RugbyPodcast) February 26, 2017
James Haskell gets paid to play rugby for a living and he's asking for advice on the ruck laws?????????? #ENGvITA #bbcsixnations
— Pingu (@Kyle_Evans1) February 26, 2017
Hartley and Haskell in the changing room at half time ?? #EngvIta pic.twitter.com/3NroDvbYcQ
— Sarah C (@Sarahcasey80) February 26, 2017
It looks like all the tweets paid off as Haskell and the wider England team had a much better second half…
Jimmy Haskell crowed-sourced the rules at half time via social media and now smashing into Italy! ???? #rugby #ENGvITA #socialmediaforgood
— Jon Stanners ?????? (@jon_stanners) February 26, 2017
… and they ended up winning 36-15.