Monday 18th August 2008 | www.planet-rugby.com
Depending on where your loyalties lie, Saturday's Tri-Nations clash at Newlands was either a glorious victory or an embarrassing defeat.
New Zealand not only beat South Africa on their own patch, they did so in emphatic style, nilling their hosts in the process.
Here is what you made of the game...
No need to go on about the All Blacks, but I continually wonder why a team like the Springboks are not better? They have some terrific players, generally more physically gifted than their opponents, but they play such a hotheaded game their talents go to waste. Compared with the All Blacks, who attack the breakdown in perfect position with numbers, the South Africans join in like 3-year-olds leaping onto a bouncy castle.
Stephen Hodge
I will just enjoy the moment and wait for the South African excuses about how we cheated, paid the ref, infringed all day and how if Bryan Habana had not put a foot in touch, how the All Blacks would have been embarrassed by the World Cup holders.
Dave Burgess
The Springboks' game plan came unstuck. They were too adventurous and didn't have the skills to pull it off. Handling errors and poor options kept them on the back foot.
Brian Pearson
This was a poorly-coached and poorly-prepared Springbok team. After the defeat in Australia and all the empty bravado about coming back that followed that game, you would think we would have learned, but we haven't. The things done in haste revealed a team that hadn't a clue what to expect, hadn't practiced and prepared for impulsive moves, so they bumbled around in a shambles when the ball unexpectedly came in their direction.
The Boks won the set pieces hands down and then lost badly at the breakdowns when few turned up. In this respect where were Schalk Burger and Luke Watson? Whatever has happened to pride and motivation? Are the likes of a racist nincumpoop like Cedrick Frolick and his parliamentary sports committee affecting morale?
Maybe Peter de Villiers, to use a business expression, 'reached his level of competence' when coaching the Bok U19's and U20's. But then, after all, he was the one who so keenly and mean-spiritedly wanted to oust the incumbent Jake White. And now the chickens have come home to roost. The ex-All Black, Dowd, who recently raised hackles and then got accused of racism (what else nowadays?), evidently wasn't all that far out with his comments.
Two defeats in a row and things are looking bleak. Under present leadership, not least the uninspiring clowns at SARU, little is going to change.
P.S. You mentioned the Boks holding onto the ball on the ground, but studiously avoided mentioning ref Goddard time and again in line-outs allowing the All Blacks to throw in directly to their side.
That aside, South Africa is in need of a coach like Robbie Deans or Graham Henry. The Boks were often pathetic and it spoke volumes about poor preparation by a coach whose philosophy we don't know because maybe he doesn't actually have one.
Robert Porter
It was a superb display by New Zealand - from one to fifteen. It is pointless to say anything else.
SA were very disjointed and proved a few good things:
- Bakkies Botha is very valuable. The foreign-base players (well done Aus and NZ) proved a letdown.
- Victor Matfield just has not been the same, Butch James was badly out-classed, and Monty was like an aging 'hipster'.
Pieter de Villiers cannot complain about anything; although, he will certainly find something. To be honest, Matt Goddard blew a very good game.
Stuart Smith
Other than Carter's unusually poor goal-kicking there was really only one side in it. It was a welcome change to see a ref actually do his job and ref both teams, not just the All Blacks. When Burger is stopped from his endless cheating on the floor, and the Boks are kept on side, then they are unable to illegally slow down the ball. The Dark Lords of rugby are starting to gel after the disruption of losing so many top players and it looks like Black hegemony is set to continue for a 5th straight year.
John Lindsay
Terrible job by the referee in constantly penalizing South Africa for ruck infringements that New Zealand were committing too. Not to mention the outright take-out of Fourie Du Preez on the near side line, how didn't that warrant a yellow? How about the constant interference on up and unders by the All Blacks? Funny how the ref seemed to miss those. The ref was determined to hand this one to New Zealand, although South Africa didn't help their chances with the myriad of turnovers, but by Christ I have never seen such blatant one-sided refereeing in my life.
Robert Kendziorski
No doubt there will be the usual whining from the South Africans about how the match officials are biased towards anybody who plays them, but face it New Zealand, perhaps not by such a score, were the worthy winners. They won the game by some superb turnovers with McCaw in superb form.
Gareth Williams
Is anyone else of the opinion that the worst thing about NZ v SA nowadays is the fact that we are compelled to have an Aussie ref who doesn't know the rules? Otherwise, what outstanding rugby!
Kei Shimizu
As a Bok supporter I would like to point out that South Africa lost this game rather than the All Blacks winning it. The Boks blew their chances in a big way. The All Blacks were nothing special on the day and I would like to point out that they were helped sensationally by the referee. I would love to see the penalty count for that game, for and against. The ref must have been wearing an All Black rugby jersey under his shirt - I have never seen such a badly-reffed game in the history of rugby. Aussie refs are as useful as a hole in the head, and that is what South Africa got handed on Saturday by a poor referee, disgraceful. I demand the sacking of that ref. He is the worst referee in the history of the sport.
Ricardo Milbank
Response to Ricardo Milbank's posting
Ricardo Milbank wrote:
"I have never seen such a badly-reffed game in the history of rugby. Aussie refs are as useful as a hole in the head, and that is what South Africa got handed on Saturday by a poor referee, disgraceful. I demand the sacking of that ref. He is the worst referee in the history of the sport."
Correction: The worst referee in history was the English touch judge. Guess who?
You really should be grateful that the world has so many erroneous/imperfect referees. This won SA the WC did it not?
Anyhow, 19 nil at home is a hiding well beyond the refs influence. South Africa is very average, and its coach would be better suited as a circus clown.
Allen Bell
Poor refereeing, Poor Rules, Poor Boks, Poor Bok coaching, Poor Bok Leaders, Poor SA Politicians.
No longer very interested - thank you rugby administrators I now have my sanity back.
Kevin
As a stout Bok supporter I was very disappointed by the game on Saturday. No matter what anybody says about the ref and no doubt there will be some people who will want to lay all the blame at his door, one can't blame him for the poor decision making and sloppy mistakes the Bokke made when they got into the New Zealand 22.
What SA should have done was play to the ref, that is not give him any opportunity to penalise them thereby negating any so called unfair advantage the All Blacks might have had. Also when your captain speaks to the ref the way Matfield did does not help a team who were already jittery calm down, which was what we needed during that game.
But you have to give it to the All Blacks, to spend so much time in one own half and not show a hint of panic, shows a great team. I only hope SA can pick themselves up and start finishing off the attacks that they started.
But for now congrats to the All Blacks!
William Duguid
I remember when the Boks beat us in Dunedin. We had the same ref but we weren't bleating on about him. If you think that was the worst refereeing performance that the South Africans have seen then what about Wayne Barne's effort in the RWC? Now that's something to moan about. At the end of the day, why do you need to sack your coach when he's won you the greatest prize in rugby? Go figure that one out! At the end of the day the All Blacks dug deep and soaked up a lot of pressure. I can see the Boks beating the aussies in both games.
TMK
I must admit: The Boks complain like little girls all the time! As a "South African All Black", I had to hear how we could not come past France in the World Cup because of our lack of skill or lack of BMT. When the refereeing of that game was brought up, the biased boks simply dismissed the challenge by stating you can not blame the ref for the defeat. The biaisitity of the Boks is really something! Now that we have beaten the world champs, the ref is blamed! At least you guys still have the Webb Ellis trophy, right? Right, and that is why victory was so sweet!
Stay true Boks, don't moan and groan like some little school girls do.
T Erasmus
As a proudly South African citizen and All Black supporter, I am very upset with the way the Bok supporters always blame the ref for their poor performance. It sickens me that it seems that the Bok supporter will never accept the fact that they were outplayed and outcaptained by the All Blacks. Victor Matfield moanded and groaned like a baby with wet nappy!!!
The ABs will for now be the number now team in the world and remember they are still building.
Aden (Cape Town)
SA had their chances to score, but as replays have shown: on NZ's tryline with SA attacking and a ruck has formed NZ came in from all sides and worst of all how many times does a ref need to say to a team 'hands off'? Four times NZ was allowed to get their hands on the ball illegally only to be told hands off. Playing the ball four times is going to give turnover possession.
Nice touch of Richie McCaw correcting Matt Goddard about the scrum and not 22 drop-out. A clear mistake by the ref but which he was happy to overturn for McCaw.
Good performance from the Kiwi's but unfortunately the incompetent Aussie has taken away the shine from their victory
Maybe it is time the referee's performance is scrutinised afterwards by a panel of referees.
Tiaan Kotze
I am a lifelong Bok supporter now living in the US. I was embaressed by the naievity of the Springbok approach and lack of a gameplan. De Villiers and his coaches must take the blame for sending his team out against the best team in the world (second team notwithstanding) without a structured plan. Despite the ELVS, South Africa are not the Barbarians nor do they need to try to imitate them. Tactical kicking was abject and the loose game played right into the hands of the All Blacks. The coaches need a huge kick up the backside and pride needs to be salvaged by two convincing victories against Australia. The game needs to played tight, close to the forwards, and once the suspect Wallaby pack has been subdued then open up behind the scrum as the gaps appear. Nothing else will do. If this talented but limited team don't beat Australia twice at home, the De Villiers experiment must end.
Chris Sysum
The Bok scrum seems to have come along nicely but that's about it.
Everywhere else they have fallen off the pace and look underdone
(under-coached perhaps?).
All credit to the All Blacks who blew the Boks away at the breakdown to set the game up. Their patience in the build-up to their first two tries was a lesson in how it should be done. (Go through the phases, protect the ball and wait for the gaps to appear-as they surely will!).
There's no point in bleating about the ref. He didn't kick all those balls over the deadball line or throw wild passes did he? Besides, they will always favour the team going forwards at the breakdown and penalise the team slowing it down and rightly so! More commitment (and guys there in number quickly - why was Spies always hanging back?) at the breakdown is required if the Boks have any chance of turning things round against the Wallabies. If they give the Wallaby backs as much turnover, they'll be crucified!
Well done All Blacks, you deserved this victory!
Broken-hearted Bok fan
People seem to think that if the penalty count goes against them then the ref is obviously biased, which is obviously a fallacious thinking. I also suspect that many people don't actually know the rules of the game. I suggest the Bok supporters go and read the rule book and have a look at the game in slow motion. And remember when watching that "playing the ball when you are on the ground is illegal, so is being off-side!"
Tony
As a Bok supporter I congratulate the All Blacks on their win over SA, they deserved to win. I just don't like these refs of the Tri-Nations they don't know what they are doing, and that is to all the refs involved in this year's Tri-Nations matches. They must think of a way to make the refereeing better, to benefit All side involved in the competition.
Danie Terblanche
Normal order restored on the weekend. See what happens when there is a referee who is not intimidated by the hostile home crowd. If SA payed more attention to the finer points of the game and less of the stupid dumb hot headed stuff, they would be a much better team for it. What a joke their one eyed supporters are - saying the ref was biased towards the All Blacks, in actual fact that result would happen time and time again if you consistently had a ref who didn't let the Springbok play off side all day and take players out, lucky it wasn't 40 nil!
Greg Goldfinch
OK, I didn't see the whole game, only highlights, but come on guys.
These are allegedly professional rugby players. The team that can adapt it's gameplan on the fly, and play to the referee is the team that will win. It's not about the red knowing the rules or not (although it wouldn't be too much to ask to have competent match officials!), it's about working out, on the first 10 minutes, how the red if blowing things, having a faux injury break, and changing your gameplan to suit the conditions. If there was anything that lost SA the game it was lack of on-field leadership and initiative.
I must say, this is almost like Deja Vu: England win the World Cup under a firm coach, only to crumble afterward because of a coach who let's the players run the show. SA win the World Cup under a coach who lays down the law, only to crumble under a coach who lets the players run the show.
Konrad Michels
Ooooh my God! Listen to the dribble. My three-and-a-half-year-old son makes more sense. Refs on the take, conspiracy theories, SA losing rather than NZ winning it. I dont know what game they were watching but the one I saw involved one team totally shutting down another. SA had multiple chances to score, plenty of possesion and territory but were held out , simply, by good commited defence. Nothing more, nothing less.I thought, and still do, that kiwis are one- eyed about their rugby but by god, SA have joined the Cyclops club.
Cindy
I was appalled at the number of blatant obstructions committed by the All Blacks, all of which went unpunished by the referee. I am aware that there is no obligation of a player to get out of the way of a ball chasing player, but on at least one occasion the chaser was shoulder charged as he went past an All Black. Is this a new feature of the latest law tinkering?
As an ex-player - I deplore the tinkering with the Laws to make the game a spectator sport rather than a game to be enjoyed for it's own sake and the comeraderie that happens as a consequence.
A.B.Bate (Ex-hooker)
Two things remain constant in this Tri-Nations:
1) The Boks inability to secure their own ball in the loose (because the All Blacks were a distant second in everything else they did on Saturday.)
2) Atrocious refereeing - Matt Goddard no doubt delivering the "raspberry" so far, and having a decidedly negative effect on the game.
At about 16:30 SA time on Saturday, approximately a quarter of the match to go, the best moment in sport happened - Usain Bolt's 100m world record! I'm so glad I changed channels.
That says enough about the state of rugby at the moment (and that's not only SA I'm talking about).
Glen Elferink (PE, South Africa)
Very sloppy game with a great outcome! Is Jake White available to tell us who will win next week? If so, I have a bet to place.
Zuzette
When I first started watching the ELVs in action, I was so impressed. Was actually a big fan of the ELVs but I am not sure anymore. ELVs is supposed to make the game of rugby more attractive to watch with the running game it can get teams to employ. In the Super 14, we saw some really good game the first two games of the Tri-Nations. After that, there were one-sided or of poor standards.
What is with the so much of kicking taking place for "territory". If kicking for territory and breakdown is so important then bring back the old rules because it seems to not make any difference. I think it was made matters worse after watching NZ play the way they did.
I just cannot believe that NZ are applying such tactics leaving their much dangerous and wonderful to watch running game. I would pay any amount to money to watch NZ play their running game even in a loss. Waking up at 1:00am (NZ time) and watching such a pathetic display of a so-called rugby Test match was a complete waste of a two-hour sleep... and I love my sleep time!
And what happened to the Springboks? Everybody will sing New Zealand's praises but the truth is that I did not see anything NZ doing that is worth praise except doing the basics very well. The Boks on the other hand were quite bad but not that bad. They were trying to run the ball and was successful quite a number of times but there was so many basic mistakes, wrong decision making and Burger fighting a lone battle at the breakdown.
It seems that they are still finding their way to combine their traditional game and their new running game. Overall the performance of this Bok team was not up to standard taking into consideration the amount of talent this SA team has.
Ian Jones after the game said that it was a "classic Test match". What a joke.
Overall a Test match of poor standards. Couldn't even keep my eyes open in the morning. It seems that so many things are wrong with set-up of the Tri-Nations. Starting with the scheduling. A four-week break for the Boks is far too much. I think it would have contributed towards the many basic errors they made because of lack of combination. The organisers need to make a better schedule to suit everybody. It seems that the Boks are getting a raw deal again. And then again, getting to play four games in a row (playing Argentina to get some gametime). Everybody would have their own opinion about this but the scheduling is not good for one team.
Although, the game was of poor standards, it has spiced up the Tri-Nations even more but if the tactics applied by the Tri-Nations team to win Test matches (like the "spectacle" I saw this morning), I would rather watch Fiji play as even in defeat, the present a type of game that can be watched day after day and every second is worth it. Anybody remembers a certain World Cup quater-final. I think the Tri-Nations teams should learn a thing or two from them.
Fijian in NZ
Coming from Ireland and following the All Blacks I have read many articles in various papers critisizing the way they play, especially in English Newspapers where there seems to be a latent-or blatant- axe to grind because they play on the edge and they play hard. However Micheal Aylwin of the Observer seems to get it right when he says Carter and McCaw are the best in the world when they demonstrated their class, amongst the best, yesterday, and gives fair credit to a team that I think display less arrogance than most. Along with that I think Tony Woodcock takes Heyman's mantle as easily the best prop in the world, both technically and in the loose. His work rate is incredible- even if he starts slow in the scrum he usually wears down his opposite. Although I look forward to the best in the world taking on the best in Europe in Thomand park, it's gonna be a grinding day for the 16th man.
Paddy
Teriffic performance from the ABs away from home against the World Champs.
McCaw had a blindin' game, what a player. Whatever shape or size Bok ran at him, he tackled them all. The Boks have some monsters, Bekker, the big fella at prop, Beast and Spies are all huge lads and then there is Burger and Du Plessis et al.
A solid performance from touchie, hang on, asssistant ref, Wayne Barnes. New Zealand's fave Englishman had good game and got a number of decisions spot on. He rightly called back the no try from Habana after a foot in touch earlier in the move and also got the no arms shoulder charge right also - even the NZ commentators agreed. Anyone would think someone had it in for him...
Scottie (Englishman in Oz)
The All Blacks touched down in Cape Town a week ago and it seemed they, and the Springboks had all the time in the world to iron out the creases in their games. Or so it seemed, both teams were so pumped up for the occasion I think they tired themselves out in fits of adrenaline pumped straight running.
The next 40-50 minutes of the game seemed like a game in an alternate universe. Dan Carter missed more then consecutive kicks which is like Chris Martin hitting a century at Lords. Percy Montgomery didn't help South Africa's cause in the so called swirling breeze of Cape Town as New Zealand stifled everything thrown at them by the Boks.
In the end the kicking game (penalties aside) by Dan Carter in the second half and the intensity of McCaw and Muliaina, I think, helped to set the level of play above water, as the All Blacks drowned the Boks with their defence and quieted the drums that helped to push the Bokkies on. Finally an away win, to end the trend.
Sam (Dunedin)
The ABs, despite woeful World Cup campaigns again show that they remain the superior rugby team of the last 50 year millisecond dominance by England and Rod McQueen being the only interruptions. The Bok superstars Matfield, Habana and Burger certainly were not up to the stratospheric class of Carter and McCaw . When it comes to sporting process Kiwis have always punched way above their weight. That is why the northern rugby competitions would not be viable without them.
Fergus Gardiner
How does anyone expect anybody to beat the All Blacks when you have a ref officiating again he doesnt even know the rules and can be so biased towards another team...it is ridiculous!
I think refs need to be fined for making decisions like this one did today. The one with the ball that didn't even go over the deadball line and to take the scrum all the way back to the South African side again when he didn't see if the ball had gone over, and took the word of the player saying it was over, but if you look at the video it hadn't even gone over! Hence he dotted it down then says take it back 'cause it was over the line... how can you call that a ref? He is so one-sided it was so obvious and it was sickening.
A totally pissed off Bok supporter
There was obviously a selection blunder by the Boks management. They selected two large loose forwards in Smit and Spies and relied on one fetcher Burger. Burger got warned and was obviously too frightened to compete on the ground with McCaw.
Later in the game, the coach replaced Burger with Watson who did an even worse job!
It was clear from the last Test that the Boks had to do something about the breakdowns. It appeared that the Boks were going to do a lot of running with the ball. Why then did the coach not consider the problem of players getting isolated and not make plans accordingly? Was it necessary to have four line-out jumpers? Surely three would have been enough. Watson and Burger are just as effective with ball in hand as Smith and Spies. Smith I think is often a poor runner. He doesn't time a pass naturally.
They should have gone with two fetchers in Watson and Burger and either Spies or Smith. Smith seems to have gone off the boil a lot since the World Cup and disappeared in this game. Spies was evident in broken play but often got isolated and was unable to keep the ball (unforgivable in a loose forward). Neither for all their supposed mobility were anywhere to be seen in supporting their players at breaksdowns. The Boks were generally outnumbered or simply not there fast enough. I noticed a lot of Boks concentrating on prolonged tackles trying to throw their opponent backwards. But it was often three-to-one. Why doesn't some one rather go for the ball? In many such tackles, the AB's still retained possession and three Boks were left lying on the ground while the ball was taken elsewhere.
The policy of letting everyone do their own thing lead to flashy but badly finished-off moves. A bit more patience in clearing from the 22 would have meant the Boks didn't play under pressure and more patience on attack could have lead to scores with many last passes not going to hand and some poor turnovers on the AB's line.
There were also some crazy moves like Habana hurling the ball from a quick line-out to his backs behind their posts when they were clearly not expecting it and Steyn's quick throw-in which ultimately lead to the giveaway try.
The breakdowns become more and more of a mystery. Goddard was quick to go from freekicks to penalites with the Boks, but some repetitive infringing by theABs when defending their own line still remained free kicks. I think clearing out at the rucks seems to have got quite crazy now with the ABs good at moving opposing players back yards behind the ruck and holding on to them. No-one seems to be anywhere near the ball.
Having said that rule, changes every couple of weeks don't help any-one. It seems the All Blacks have impunity to do all manner of things on the ground like not rolling away and blocking the opposing ball where as the Boks don't. Could it be that some one with white shorts on is easier for the ref to see in a mass of black and green
Was there not something wrong with the ball (balls), wrong air pressure or something? Newlands wasn't all that windy and it rained this week. Why was Carter's kicking so off? Percy who is pretty reliable also missed two and then all those over-kicked balls into touch and behind the deadball line.Very strange.
Finally, the value of a captain should not be underestimated. The ABs had no captain in the world cup and we saw the results and the Boks have been missing their's badly in this series. All the more reason for spear tackles to be properly punished. The offender should be out for as long as the player he has injured.
Stephen Price
Not quick enough to the breakdown, good scrumming, not enough imagination on attack, atrocious refereeing in the first half, allowing All Blacks to get away with lying all over the ball at rucks, bad discipline by Springboks.
All Blacks in a class of their own.
Ian
Ok , normal service resumed . The All Blacks win everything (except the World Cup of course). Lucky Carter could not kick for 45 minutes.
Boks...when did they last score NILL points at Newlands?
World Champs but...
Thanks Butch but you do not cut it anymore. What huge mistakes he made today.
Thanks Percy , its been fun but...
Ricky Januarie - must be made to stop drinking Red Bull 24/7 and also taken off all other 'medications' he is on. Too expensive.
Peter De Villiers - obviously somebodies 'little joke', early pension please.
Stop messing around with good players like Steyn and Jantjes , give them their best position in the team, then STICK with them, how can they perform when they cannot remember which position they are in today?
LEARN TO BE PATIENT like the ABs who just wait and wait and wait.
I hope the coach will be forced to start afresh with a new XV next week and start rebuilding.
Dave Richards
So the All Blacks beat the Springboks 19 - 0 at Cape Town, in a match that the Springboks never (at any stage) looked like winning. Are the responses we are hearing from the South African coaching staff and more one-eyed fans typical? Let's see: Whingeing about referee bias? Check. Whingeing about poor refereeing at the breakdown? Check. Usual post-defeat non-sensical De Villiers rant about, well, whatever? Check. Desperate 'They-did-not-beat-us-we-lost-the-game' excusefest aimed at playing down how comprehensively the Springboks were outclassed? Check. Frantic glossing-over of the Springbok's inability to score a single point in 80 minutes of rugby while at home? Check. Sudden disappearance of South African supporters who but a short month ago were gloating shamelessly about a two point win against the All Blacks in Dunedin? Check.
It's a bit sad, really, that these same excuses get trotted out each time the Springboks get beaten. Especially the ones involving referee incompetence/Australasian conspiracy/Anti-South African bias/yadda yadda yadda. As a Kiwi, I've learned some lessons about moaning about a referee's performance recently, and I'm happy to share them: 1) No one cares about how hard-done by you think you were. 2) All the weeping and wailing in the world won't change the scoreboard. 3) Even if you're 100% right, and it was a horrible display of officiating, supporters of other rugby teams will take a deep satisfaction in knowing how upset you are about it.
Ironically, it was several self-satisfied Sprinbok supporters high on life after their team winning the RWC last year that taught me these lessons.
Gon
Not surprised De Villiers would like to talk to the refs. The unmentioned rhinoceros in the corner of the Tri-Nations is that the Australian refs almost always subconsciously favour the All Blacks when they play SA and the NZ refs almost always subconsciously favour the Wallabies.
You just have to look at the last Test with Goddard from the start scolding a disbelieving Matfield, while Goddard and McCaw jogged around the field smiling at each other and exchanging pleasantries, apart from when McCaw was instructing the ref what to do.
Each time an All Black took out a Springbok without the ball - watch the video and count them - Goddard waved away anyone who dared to complain - he was too busy looking for an opportunity to penalise the tackled Springbok for not releasing the ball before he was tackled to worry about piffles like All Blacks "dirtying out" at or before the rucks.
No wonder the SA players lost confidence and accuracy and were unable to hold the ball. Neutral refs? What is going to happen if in the last or second last game of a Tri-Nations the neutral ref knows that if side A wins his country will win, or be out, of the competition whereas if side B wins they won't?
Not to suggest any of them would deliberately cheat - but the ref will be in a classic conflict of interest situation.
The Boks were horrible at Newlands, but their obvious frustration in the first half at being penalised at almost every breakdown or watching helplessly while the ball was illegally turned over without any action by the ref, surely contributed to their inability to concentrate.
Truly neutral refs for all games - from anywhere but the countries competing -would help relieve the cynicism. When the loser complains about the ref everyone smiles knowingly or scoffs, and the real and obvious problem goes on.
A suggestion. Before every game the ref should say to each team 'Does anyone here think its legal to tackle a player without the ball, before during or after a ruck or any other time?' Let me tell you, tackling a player without the ball who has passed a milli-second earlier or whom you thought had caught the ball but who has dropped it - in other words a non-deliberate infringement -is one thing. All other cases of tackling without the ball will be carded.
And John Smit watched on helplessly - victim of a spear tackle like O' Driscoll before him. What a coincidence. Roll on the World Cup where the Kiwis will hopefully get treated like everyone else by the refs.
Richard Norton
Smashed by an average All Blacks team that only had to do the basics right.
It makes one wonder how the Springboks ever won in NZ...oh yes...I remember... by playing a hugely inexperienced All Blacks side missing it's incredible captain.
It's screamingly obvious if they had of been even half strength in Dunedin the AB's would have won the game at a canter. Sadly they were the weakest they've been in decades/centuries.
As for the Springboks:
Non-stop blaming of the ref, which is a sure sign that they weren't allowed to get away with all the usual infringements that every one else in the rugby world knows they commit. Business as usual as the Springboks have no honour in defeat.
Not so tough now when there is no Botha for dirty hits, Fourie and James unable to kick to save themselves, Matfield starts crying like a baby to the ref and Habana is shown as the only thing holding the Springboks backline together.
When are the South Africans going to behave like men on the rugby pitch instead of children who's toys have been confiscated.
Embarrassing.
Looking forward to our Aussie boys smashing the Springboks in our next outing.
Ryan
Bunch of prats! (Bok selectors that is!)
Can someone explain to me how failing to secure loose ball and lose a game on turnovers is the fault of a fullback?!?
The problem is between numbers 1 and 8 - not at 15!
Problem no 1: No proven leader. Matfield is not a leader. His visible frustration on Saturday, although justified, is still poor in that his game suffered as a result (the first 30 minutes vs Argentina a week ago was also his worst all round.)
Problem No.2 Securing line-outs to same degree as enjoyed in the RWC. Is this the fault of Bismarck du Plessis, Matfield, Juan Smith or all of the above? Or an issue the coach is failing to address?
Problem No. 3: Stupid, big, can only take a crash ball, forwards - who, mind you, are standing still when the ball is passed to them....
Problem No.4: Replace an "average" Schalk Burger with.....*drum roll*..... Luke Watson. *sigh*. On what planet is Luke Watson better than a one-legged Burger?
No, Mr De Villiers. You have lost the plot.
Glen Elferink
The game has become overly complex with the new ELV's which are leaving too much to be interpreted by the ref. It is time that we had two ref's on the field, the lines men are useless and do not/will not tell the ref what he should be doing. The countries planning in the test match would each have their own ref on the field, this would ensure that neither ref would want to be seen to be biased to their own team and could stop the opposite ref from being biased. On a happier note, being a bok supporter I relish the next four years in the fact that NZ are not world champions and look forward to their momentous build up and another chocking tearful world cup exit.
David James
Anything to add?
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