Jonathan Kaplan
Jonathan Kaplan has questioned whether the Springboks understand the nuances at scrums and breakdowns.
Despite winning 33-31 in Salta at the weekend, the Bok front row suffered humiliation at the hands of Argentina, with the reputations of Jannie du Plessis and Gurthro Steenkamp taking serious body blows.
Kaplan noted this when he analysed the Boks’ performance on his website, www.ratetheref.co.za.
Sport24
He lauded the team for showing character in fighting back to overturn a 28-16 deficit in the second half, but also highlighted a few worrying aspects.
Kaplan wrote: “The Boks scraped through against the Pumas. This has happened before but it is the quality of the two performances which really worry me. As I said earlier, if you look at the Super Rugby log, it gives a fair indication of where we are.
“We are not playing to our true potential. We are not playing quality rugby. Our scrum was bullied and shunted around… We certainly don’t hold any worries for this Puma outfit and I doubt the others will be shivering in their boots either.
We leak points very poorly for a top international team and I wonder about our understanding of the nuances of the scrum and the breakdown and whether we are able to adapt strategy to outcomes on the field.
“Of course we showed huge character to come back from that deficit and that is a big plus but we have always had that. We are a proud rugby nation who is one of the best. We don’t like losing, so that was inevitable.
The point is, if our intensity and strategy were good from the outset, we wouldn’t have found ourselves there in the first place. We really do need to understand this if we want to topple the mighty All Blacks.
“Speaking of whom, (the All Blacks) put in one of the best performances seen in ages. They beat a good Wallaby team… No they smoked them! This was vintage ABs.
They came with a game plan to improve on their performance of the previous weekend executed it to perfection. The fact that a player got yellow carded meant little. They have few discernible weaknesses and it will take a good team to break them down. At home they are virtually unbeatable and you can see that they are everyone’s favourites for the Championship now.”
Kaplan continues by saying that the time has come for the International Rugby Board (IRB) to introduce an on-field challenge system in the game.
He lauded the All Blacks for their 51-20 mauling of the Wallabies in Auckland, but then went on to support the idea of giving captains the option of using an on-field challenge to dispute a referee’s decision.
Kaplan wrote: “(The All Blacks) put in one of the best performances seen in ages. They beat a good Wallaby team… No they smoked them! This was vintage ABs. They came with a game plan to improve on their performance of the previous weekend executed it to perfection. The fact that a player got yellow carded meant little.
They have few discernible weaknesses and it will take a good team to break them down. At home they are virtually unbeatable and you can see that they are everyone’s favourites for the Championship now.
“Of the refereeing stories this week was Jaco Peyper acknowledging that he made mistakes including the yellow card of (Wyatt) Crockett as the ball was out (Beauden Barrett was also inaccurate) as well as some scrum decisions which he apparently owned up to.
This came on top of Craig Joubert’s final penalty in the Super Rugby final (he has acknowledged his error) as this too was inaccurate. Then you have people coming out of the woodwork saying that captains need on-field challenge to correct those type of human errors. Couldn’t agree more but we are stuck in a bureaucratic time warp. This should be happening already!
This is professional sport. It is too reliant on one man’s whims and the issues will NEVER be resolved if administration think they can stick their heads in the ground and hope for the best. Never!”
What do other R-Talkers, think of a challenge system? I like the idea in theory, but the details may mess the entire idea up. Also, wouldn’t it slow the game down? Even if it does – does that make such a difference? There are already plenty of things that slow the game down – reset scrums, injuries, TMO discussions etc.
1 @ GoBokkeAndIreland:
The biggest problem I see with the challenge system is that it would land up in the hands of the TMO, and how many times, just this year, have we seen them getting calls wrong?
That last minute penalty in the SR final would probably be interpreted 3 different ways by 3 different refs.
@ nortierd:
True, fair comment. But, in theory, do you think a challenge system – say 2 challenges each half, by each team, COULD benefit the game? Give the captain 10 – 15 seconds to decide if he wants to challenge an on-field call. TMO decision then final.
I just want rugby to be more exciting!
Or maybe I should say – a slightly more level playing field, not ALWAYS messed up by ref decisions!
3 @ GoBokkeAndIreland:
It was tried out during the Varsity Cup a few years ago if I remember correctly, and just never caught on.
Similar to the cricket review I guess, skepticism at first until it becomes part of the game.
I think the best benefit will not just be for a contentious penalty, but to get an opposing player sent off for foul play or holding a player back etc.
And that will take time if at every ruck or maul some sort of shenanigans take place.
And if a captain is successful with his review, it doesn’t count, so he can pretty much challenge every phase and find an opponent who has transgressed in some way, unless reviews are only allowed after a penalty or try has been given in the opponents favor?
@ nortierd: @5
“And that will take time if at every ruck or maul some sort of shenanigans take place. And if a captain is successful with his review, it doesn’t count, so he can pretty much challenge every phase and find an opponent who has transgressed in some way”
IF they use it this way – it’ll SURELY fuck up the game.
I think there need to be certain clear guidelines under in which situations a challenge can be made. Foul play, player in touch not noticed by ref, etc.
The game could benefit, but there are also always going to be disadvantages too. Catch 22 situation I guess.
Are there other Refs who write about the Rugby?… it’s a bit different. Interesting though
@ Te Rangatira:
Hi Te Rangatira. I’m not sure that currently active refs are allowed to comment. Maybe some else can confirm this? However, i agree with you – this was an interesting, different take/view/opinion.
I enjoyed reading it, and wouldn’t mind more comments from refs – particularly how they view things like scrums – a contentious area, to say the least!
Te Rangatira wrote:
I only know about Kaplan who actively blogs very week.
The Challenge System worked quite well in Varsity Cup, if you ask me… good idea to apply it, I think.
They should start with bettering communications with the TMO’s first and formost though and farm out pedantic, bad communicating TMO’s too… like old Veldtie.
TMO’s should be down to a Point, concise… this is the decision, not the “Well I fink dis or dat or maybe dis or dat” type of attitude.
Must be very clear, “Here is my ruling, these are the reasons for it!”
A good captain can actually force a review under current laws and protocols. Remember last year in Argentina. JDV almost forced Walsh to look at an incident, stating that he wanted the on field benefit of the transgression, rather than a judicial review. But it cannot be every player that asks the ref for a review.
grootblousmile wrote:
Why cant referees just watch the replay on a tablet?
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