Jonathan Kaplan
This weekend saw the finale of The Rugby Championship and we saw two very contrasting games. The All Blacks won the trophy… again. Deservedly.
The Pumas won their first ever fixture in this tournament, a historical moment and one they will never forget… I certainly won’t, but the highlight had to be the bromance in the coaches box after the game where their Latin exuberance, warmth and hot blooded nature got the better of some of them… Put it this way, there was lots of lovin!!
Rate the Ref
The Springboks finally beat the All Blacks after coming quite close over the past couple of years.
From a parochial SA viewpoint it was a great win. Even, I suspect from a neutrals point of view, it was good to see a team challenge the best team, and beat them. There wasn’t much to choose between the teams, and the respect between the players and coaching staff is evident for all to see.
It is a beautiful thing of the sport of rugby union and one which we should cherish, as it doesn’t permeate through all sporting codes!
The Boks dominated the first half, the All Blacks the second. In the end, the game came down to a decision by the TV producer to highlight a misdemeanor by Liam Messam on Schalk Burger, which all the officials missed in real time. After finding the clip, and then replaying it over and over, eventually the Television Match Officials decided it was worthy of review, and correctly awarded a penalty to the Boks, which Pat Lambie (who has oodles of BMT) converted to win the game.
The TMO himself seemed a bit confused by referring to the fact that he thought perhaps arms were used in the tackle which was hardly the point. It was a swinging arm and a dangerous tackle.
If you are a Bok supporter, you will be saying we deserved it, and how many times it happened against us.
The protocol and process will mean nothing. But there is an important point to make here. I doubt (very much) whether that clip would have been brought up on the screen by producers in Australia or New Zealand and replayed over and over.
Is it right that someone outside of the domain of the match officials can affect the outcome of a major test match? And how neutral is he? In the end, it was his alertness that drew the attention of the crowd to the high tackle, they got into it, the officials then decided to take a look, and the resultant penalty determined the outcome.
I thought Wayne Barnes had a decent match. He walks a lot. He talks a lot.
And I wasn’t that impressed when he penalized Jan Serfontein for not rolling away when he could not (unplayable was the right call) or Jannie du Plessis for side entry on the All Black line when his action had no influence on the play at all (he attempted a clean and missed his target) or the resets of scrums when Franks’ feet are so far back on the touch, that he is almost certainly hanging over the cliff (not supporting his own body weight) and the last penalty… A brave call! BUT, he let the game flow with the right amount of empathy and game management. He was even handed in his approach.
He is a superior communicator. And he is smart!
He showed his experience in this toughest of environments when the reffing in this tournament has been quite ordinary, and deserves credit for that (and he was excellent at my braai on Tuesday with his singing of “Bye bye miss American pie”. So much for those people who regularly say the Northern referees are not up to it!
Argentina vs Australia:
Argentina beat Australia 21 – 17 after being down 0 – 14. They worked hard for this win, and worked hard for each other in the fixture. Their carry was excellent and they seemed to get rewards when they were in the Australian half.
Their tries were well constructed and I am really happy for them that they have finally won a game. Hopefully they will become even more competitive in the years to come and win an away game or two.
Australia will bemoan the fact that they let slip a biggish lead, but the real story will perhaps be the 3 Yellow Cards that the Wallabies received on match day.
Last week I was singing Nigel Owens’ praises after the match at Newlands. He has really shot to the fore after the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand but I thought he was poor on Saturday.
He was strangely hesitant in his decision making, once even asking the Assistant Referee whether there were hands in, after he penalized Australia and had pulled his Cards out already. He then put the cards back in his pocket. What was the point?
Not so lucky was the Australian No 9, Nick Phipps, who received a Yellow Card for a brilliant piece of play where he was the tackler and didn’t infringe at all.
What should have been a turnover to Australia, resulted in a Yellow Card which was a disaster for the Wallabies who then conceded a penalty and a try in his absence. Not great!! They would have been spitting mad as that decision had huge consequences for this test match.
Towards the end of the fixture, with the game still in the balance, the referee stopped the game when Hooper attempted a charge down, was airborne and in the process fell on top of Sanchez, the kicker.
He was also carded (incorrectly, as there was little he could do once he was airborne). Argentina converted the penalty and wound the clock down to record a historical moment for them and the tournament.
My opinion of Nigel hasn’t changed.
To say he was poor would be an understatement, but I know from personal experience that we all have these days (I had my fair share), and he will bounce back. I do feel for the Wallabies though and I thought they deserved better.
The Currie Cup:
On the Currie Cup front, the Blue Bulls dominated the Pumas in Nelspruit, where Peyps (Jaco Peyper) had an excellent game.
They are back in the mix! The Free State Cheetahs were very stiff against WP, who somehow managed to hack through a loose ball and fall on it.
To be honest, they shouldn’t have had a prayer at that stage of the game. Sarel Pretorius had a brain fart by taking a quick throw when his team were in the ascendency, instead of slowing everything down and winding the clock down.
That was far too adventurous for that stage of the game and perhaps ended up costing them the game. I still think he is a champion though!
Griquas predictably smashed the EP Kings 45-25, as I thought they might. Quite simply, they are tougher and want it more.
It was a happy and sad night for Jacques Botes, the most capped player in the history of the Currie Cup.
It was perhaps his last home game and he was given a rousing send-off by the crowd and by his fellow team mates. He is a model professional and a genuinely good guy.
He made a huge contribution to the game and earned his respect from teammates and opponents alike. He will be remembered as a workhorse who had an uncanny knack of appearing at the right place at the right time, scoring an inordinate amount of tries for a loose forward!
I thought Pro Legoate had a tough time on the night.
He looked ill at ease and flustered and most of the calls appeared to go the way of the home team.
The decision to card Derick Minnie with about 14 minutes to go was completely inaccurate as he complied totally with law.
Pro could not have seen the incident clearly and the net result was that the Golden Lions were reduced to 14 players for the remainder of the game, barring the last 2 minutes. I feel for Pro as he is one of the genuinely good guys on the circuit, but that effort simply is not enough at this level.
The Rugby Championship referee wrap up:
I have had a good look at the Referees in The Rugby Championship and think they will concede that there is much room for growth, even the best of them had an off day, so I will say the alarm bells are ringing, but not sure if anyone is listening… Yet!
My top 3 performances were :
- Nigel Owens – South Africa vs Australia at Newlands
- Jerome Garces – New Zealand vs South Africa in Wellington
- Craig Joubert – Argentina vs New Zealand in Buenos Aires
- I thought Gauzere (New Zealand vs Argentina), Clancy (Australia vs South Africa) and Owens (Argentina vs Australia) had off days.
Is it not time for a revamp of the system to help these moments where referees are not having good days at the office?
@ grootblousmile:
After the Aussie test you said that Jan should play at 12. What changed in 2 weeks?
PS: What about that “monster at 110kg” (as Tac once called him), Rohan Janse van Rensburg. I thought everybody in BB land was waiting on him to make his mark. 😉
@ Angostura:
Oh my…again.
whoooossshhhh….
@ gunther:
Ahh there we go. His defence stats.
After we were led to believe that he was going to change the Boks’ attacking game in the midfield when he was still playing junior rugby.
@ gunther:
Are you talking about Fekitoa’s try or Ben Smith’s try?
geez and here I thought the cape crusaders were only limited to the western and eastern cape 😀
331 @ Nama:
I just think that Burger Odendaal has grown so rapidly and HE, is a No 12, not a No 13… so I would move Jan one out, seeing as Heyneke might want Jan there for the long run.
Put it this way, JJ Engelbrecht has slipped so far down my and many people’s pecking orders, that I would not play him at all, but would rather play the 2 abrasive No 12 in stead.
Jan has also started adapting now at no No 13, and if I said Jan should play No 12 and not No 13, a few weeks ago then I was maybe a bit hasty and quite possibly very wrong.
About Juan de Jongh… I believe he’s had a great year and would like to see him in the mix for the End Of Year Tours, but at the same time with some serious youngsters coming through, I believe he’ll be surpassed soon again.
As far as I’m concerned Jaque Fourie has had his days and can see out his days in Japan without ever worrying the Springboks again.
We have bloody decent centers now in SA – Jean de Villiers, Jan Serfontein, Damian de Allende, Juan de Jongh, Burger Odendaal, Andre Esterhuizen.
In addition our Flyhalf stocks are good again – Handré Pollard, Pat Lambie, Marnitz Boshoff… with Morné Steyn in the background.
Now for some depth in tighthead prop position and more depth and consistency in the Scrumhalves!!
…. and Play the type of game like the last 2 Saturday Tests – more ball in hand and possession rugby – and Bob’s your Auntie… a Springbok side under Heyneke on their way to world domination…
@ grootblousmile:
I think you already completely lost someone when they are trying to justify dodgy rugby and not having a fair game by saying it COULD lead to dodgy calls in the future.
Watched the clip a few times again and came to the same conclusion. Janneman’s bad defence is to blame for Smith’s try. Barrett gave a skip pass to Smith because Fekitoa was covered by Reinach (21) and Lambie (22).
Janneman went for the tackle on Conrad Smith but was handed off (because he went in too high) and the consequence was a try by Ben Smith. Watch from 50s.
@ MacroBlouBul:
Hahaha… don’t know who you are talking about.
@ grootblousmile:
Ball in hand is the key if we want to have a sustained period of success, I think. We have the players to play that game as was proven on Saturday. The only worry should be the fact that the AB came back at us in the latter stages. I remember one of the commentators mentioning the fact that the Boks look “flat” while the AB seem to be energized.
So, we still have to keep perspective. It’s a monkey off HM’s back and that’s a good thing. Would not have liked us to go into RWC year with that hurdle to overcome before we can concentrate on the big prize.
337 @ Nama:
In general the Bokke conditioning so far this year has been FARRRRR better than at the same time last year.
In New Zealand the Springboks ended strongest, basically farming on the All Blacks line.
In Cape Town the Springboks buried the Wallabies in the last 15 minutes and ended way stronger.
At Ellis Park, the All Blacks dominated the first 25 minutes or so of the 2nd Half, and then the Springboks came back again… and was on the attack when that fateful Referee intervention took place, as you will remember… and then proceeded to close the game out successfully (compared to 2013 when the All Blacks ran away with it in the last 20 minutes).
So, all in all the conditioning looks good, and even Bissie and Doc Jannie started to look good again here towards the end of The Rugby Championship, after Jake stuffed them up good and proper in Super Rugby.
@ Nama:
YOU brought his defence up.
The experts seem to think he played very well but ja you are probably right.
😆
@ grootblousmile:
Agreed their conditioning has improved.
If you go back to the test in New Zealand we were all over them in the last ten.
You don’t see that often .
@ gunther:
lol some people are going to shit a duck WHEN Burger Odendaal gets called up 😆
@ gunther:
We were all over them, yet their conditioning kept us out.
On Satuday it was by the grace of an intervention and a 55m penalty that went over that we won, they still finished the stronger after coming back from a substantial deficit.
Our conditioning is definitely much better, we saw that by coming back to beat both Wales and the Argies in the dying moments, we smashed Aus in the last 10, but I don’t think we are quite there at NZ’s level yet.
We are getting closer, but not there yet
@ nortie:
Agree, there is still room for improvement, NZ built up a considerable lead after 2009, but it looks like we are finally catching up… Still not there yet.
But hopefully both AS and Bissie can play well for a change, in NZ bissie let relieved the pressure for them and here Adriaans poor lineouts brought them back because we could not get away from our tryline and win lineouts.
@ grootblousmile:
Agree about our conditioning being better than in the past. It doesn’t mean that we should not take heed of what happened on Saturday ie the AB ending the stronger team. Maybe they’ve learned from the game in NZ where we were the ones ending stronger.
@ gunther:
I also bring you the evidence. Anything to say about that.
😆
@ Nama:
That’s the one talking about.
De Villiers misses the initial tack on smith and Serfontein is wrong footed because he is already looking on the outside hence he goes in high and is handed off.
@ MacroBlouBul:
For the Bok team? On what grounds?
@ MacroBlouBul:
We are getting there, that’s a very positive sign.
We are well set at key positions, we need to win every test in November again to show the NH who is the boss.
This month the players can get a nice rest while the CC is on, then it’s only one month of rugby for them.
Things are looking positive
@ Nama:
It is an 80 minute game, we were stronger for 50 where they mostly defended, they were strong for 25 where we defended, we were strong the last 5…Classic
@ nortie:
There is always work to be done.
Cape Town is laying the weather on for you.
😆
@ gunther:
Hahaha…keep it up.
If you were talking about the Fekitoa try, I would’ve agreed.
😆
346 @ Nama:
I am only poking fun at you, probably wont be this year, will be interesting to see him in Super Rugby, but he will be a bok… Good player.
@ nortie:
The players have training camp in Stellies where I’m told there will be a huge emphasis on conditioning work.
347 @ nortie:
Are the glasses half full in CT now? 😀 you should buy a house.
352 @ gunther:
are they in Stellies for 4 weeks now?
@ Nama:
You don’t see Jeans missed tackle?
Really?
The Boks were using a drift defense and Serfonteim is clearly committed to the outside.
People will only see what they want to see.
😆
@ MacroBlouBul:
4 days I think .
@ MacroBlouBul:
Oh boy!
How were we “strong the last 5” (minutes)?
We needed a 55m penalty (from their half) to win it in the last 3 minutes. The game ended with the AB attacking and conceding a penalty at a breakdown close to our 22m line.
@ gunther:
I see that.
Nice to get a bit of rain, even if it was only drizzle.
Looking out over the city from my room as we speak.
Hope tomorrow the weather is ok, finishing up at Simons Town, so want a decent day next to the ocean.
Should go look up Skoppie there in Fish Hook 🙄
@ Nama:
We were, we held out didnt we, when we were strong we scored points when they were strong they got slightly ahead, after their last try we were doing all the play till Lambie kicked the 3 points, then NZ gave it one last go from the kick off… simple.
@ nortie:
Just pitch up at the Pick n Pay Coffee Zone in Vishoek.
Fuckadilly will be there abusing the free wifi in his Nokia.
😆
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