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?
145 @ Tassies:
Lambie slotting the goal was the gist of it all Tassies.if, hypothetically, he had missed the shot, I doubt anyone would have been gushing about the TV producer and crowd manipulating the penalty, but instead they would have been lamenting our fitness and allowing the AB’s back in the game and snatching a win.
I still don’t think a game should be determined by outside influences, whether in our favor or not.
@ nortie:
the only way there would be no outside influence is to play in neutral countries then or ban crowds from attending games, they will always I fluence officials more than any supposed TV producer once every 50test matches.
FB petition time? 😀
148 @ Tassies:
hahaha
149 @ Bullscot:
sorry bully. cant open it on my phone. will listen to it tomorrow
@ Bullscot: barely. But ja. Miserable weather up your way right?
@ MacroBlouBul:
If the kick was miss, would this conversation be relevant?
It’s all about the outcome that was in our favor for a change.
@ nortie:
if the kick was missed our kiwi friends would not be making such a fuss and I still wouldnt care because it was a fair result and a brilliant kick… ask them?
In my opinion the conversation is irrelevant. The right call was made regardless if the kick was missed or not.
The whole thing is that cane and a few other kiwis is bemoaning the fact that the right call was made and a fair result was sought by the referee because of foul play.
155 @ Tassies:
Good stuff, ja been quite bad last few days, lot of wind and rain and big seas today, lots of roads flooded made for an ‘interesting’ trip home this evening. If you on Facebook you can see some of the footage/pics from the area on Fubar News. Oh well that is autumn up here for you, can’t complain as it was good for quite a while before the weekend.
@ nortie: agree Nortie. But that’s the fun of it afterall. 25kms of fingernails channelled down multiple inter-continental intestines bares testament to it’s value. Bring on these moments please.
…a fair result BUT IS WAS a brilliant kick that won the game…
bad losers, they need to be brought down a peg.
@ Bullscot: at least the weather gods put the right spell on that unpredictable Scottish weather of yours for the little white ball tussle with the Yanks the other day. What’s a little breeze between friends?
162 @ Tassies:
haha yes it worked out quite well in the end, they got lucky
what that Test did tell us is; we now have some decent halfback from which to choose and be competitive. The bonus is; they play a style we’re all been crying for over the past ten years, ever since Butch and Lem plied their trade and glued smiles to our faces.
Here’s another song, played it once at the start of a module I was teaching, think it took the students by surprise to get that as their introduction
@ Bullscot: Gleneagles can’t be too far from where you’re sipping your scotch and soda BS??
@ Bullscot: have absolutely no doubt. Must’ve thought; who’s this old fart then?
164 @ Tassies:
Was glad to hear Hougie had played so well the last few tests, big fan of his (probably biased as a Bull and having bumped into him and chatted in Cape Town) especially as had to read from so many sources/punters that he was supposedly not playing well enough last few seasons.
this fair city of ours has been cooking hot the past few days. Had reason to quaff some wine under a tree out Paarl way on sunday. A local thermometer read 39 degrees C under that tree. Must say I wasn’t going to doubt it. That weather his now moved north. Guess you must be missing a bit of this where you are.
@ Bullscot: Yes. But he has turned a rather sharp figurative corner recently. Barely recognisable truth be told. Playing with increasing confidence, which comes with success. Good on him. Pleasure to watch. Loved that try. Guess he enjoyed his rather theatrical dive.
167 : @ Tassies:
I’m thinking you have papers to mark and I some sleep to invest for my slugfest with the economy tomorrow. So I’ll bid you au rivoir. Another chat. another time. cheers BS
166 @ Tassies:
Sorry Tassies missed that one somehow bit distracted here, yes its close just under 2 hours away, my heavy as you say in Afrikaans (better half’s brother) lives in village right next to it, went to have a look around the hotel when we were visiting once, very nice. But no scotch and soda for me don’t like the whisky
172 @ Tassies:
No that was earlier the year. You guys can keep that heat that is too hot for me, as long as you get into mid 20s then I am happy, have acclimatized here. Cheers vir eers lekker slaap
@ nortie:
You are acting like this is the first time this has ever happened?
Eden Park last year?
But now you suddenly seem to have a problem with it?
Pathetic.
@ gunther:
What is pathetic is that you either latch onto those you agree with and lash out at those that don’t share your view.
Eden Park’s incident, and any other where outside influences dictate the outcome of a match is also wrong IMO.
I don’t like it when a TV producer can dictate the outcome of a match, you do.
That’s all there is to it, doesn’t make you right or me wrong or vice versa, we view these incidents differently.
You just have a strange way of throwing insults at those that disagree with you
@ nortie:
How am I lashing out?
I genuinely feel it’s pathetic.
I didn’t hear you crying about it last time at all.
Not one little bit.
And ad has been explained to you as nauseam then only person who decided the outcome was the referee.
Maybe your glass is just half empty.
@ gunther:
The whole of Keo lashed out at the Eden Park incident, now it’s ok because we won.
I’m happy we beat the AB’s and feel we deserved to win on the day, I’m not happy that a person sitting in a producers box can influence a match to such a degree.
It’s not a good precedent and if the TV can dictate which incidents deem sanction or penalties without the ref asking for it, then the ref might as well become redundant.
@ nortie:
And every other SA website for that matter, not just Keo, but we were predominantly there
@ gunther:
Eden Park the producers got the incident correct, they showed all the footage, the French pratt got the decision wrong
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