South
African rugby supporters are often accused of suspecting conspiracies against
the Boks around every corner.
But
SANZAR just fuelled that suspicion and demonstrated that our claim, that we
often receive “special” treatment from our rivals and “allies”, is not unfounded
or caused by paranoia or perceptions devoid of any truth.
Very
uncharacteristic SANZAR just pointed out a mistake by a referee and an injustice
done to a team.
That
the referee is a South African and the victim the Brumbies from Australia
probably explains why SANZAR decided to be so honest on this occasion.
That
the “beneficiary” of the bad piece of refereeing was the Bulls, from South
Africa, also motivated SANZAR to seek moral high grounds and to become an unlikely fraternity
of truth seeking gentlemen.
SANZAR
said the Bulls scored a try after a knock by Morne Steyn and that it cost the
Brumbies the game; i.e. SANZAR officially admitted that referee Marius Jonker
and his assistant referees fucked up.
Cool,
what commendable honesty and how refreshing to hear these guys actually criticising
a referee. After all we all pleaded with rugby governing and administrative bodies
to be more open about the doings and especially the screwings of referees and
match officials.
Finally
they answered our call and to be honest I am not surprised that it was a South
African referee they saw when they said: there is one in the spotlight, put him
up against the wall.
So then, finally they have named and shamed; but will they
be consistent and do the same when referees from New Zealand and Australia are
involved?
Jonker’s
mistake was certainly not the first this year, but quite uniquely he is exposed
by SANZAR. Could SANZAR be so bloody kind to point out all the mistakes made by
referees in this year’s Super Series and also name and shame those idiots.
Yes,
I saw the Bulls’ knock-on; but I also saw the two penalty transgressions in Australia’s
try against the Boks in last year’s world cup.
In
the spirit of truth and to get closure, I believe all South Africans, including
Jonker, will deeply appreciate an honest and official confirmation from SANZAR
that Bryce Lawrence cost the Boks the world cup and that they will negotiate an
apology from the IRB for not naming and shaming Bryce from New Zealand.
Sanzar management and the referees would do well to bear in mind that they are there “manage” the game of Rugby in the Super 15 context and to apply the rules of rugby as defined and written by the IRB, in a fair, objective, not subjective manner and NOT to choke the life out of the game or to manipulate the outcome of matches!
Certain keenly anticipated rugby “match-ups” become a LOTTERY… relative to who the match official is… and too HELL with Sanzar and their Referees’ Association if they wish to cast doubt on the average Rugby fan’s ability to understand and interpret the laws of the game or that we, the fans, do not have a right to criticize or do not know what we are talking about!!!
In a recent match, for twenty five minutes of the second half, the match official made conscious decisions to manoeuvre the outcome in favour of the “chosen” team. To anyone with an inkling of the laws of the game and an ability to be unbiased, it was blatantly obvious. In an international cricket match suggestion of “match fixing” would abound…..
So I agree unreservedly with TruVanPunt’s view that Sanzar should mind their P’s and Q’s when it comes to openly criticizing a particular ref and take cognizance of the fact that they may NOT act in a subjective fashion when their mandate is to be a nonaligned Rugby Administrator!
Moses, I agree with every word you say.
Hi Brendon, I have to disagree with your Bryce Lawrence-view for the very reason you mention; he is a good referee.
On that day, when he did the Boks in, he had an experience that goes beyond a shocker.
Andre Watson says it was as if Bryce was in a mind space of his own.
The question is what brought that condition on: anxiety?
I don’t think.
Tim Noakes suggested that the laws of bent science will prove that Bryce made more than the normal number of mistakes and agrees that something caused it.
I would say a third party caused Bryce to be in a space of his own.
I believe the outcome of the game between the Boks and Aus was predetermined by a third party.
I furthermore think it was the first occurrence of match fixing in an international game.
We shouldn’t continue bleating on about Bryce Lawrence. In fact he was very good when he refereed the Lions Series in South Africa and was very fair. Perhaps the magnitude of the occasion in the World Cup was overwhelming and he missed one or two things just like Marius Jonker did.
Its hard to tell whether that was a knock-on or not. We also don’t know what angle Jonker was at, what he could see and if perhaps a linesman said something which made him play-on.
However when all the Bulls players stopped too it was a dead giveaway that it was touch and go and when you see that you should just blow your whistle – lesson learnt.
What I do find baffling though is that a big meal was made out of Jonker when the game before the ref was letting The Chiefs no 9 put the ball in behind his props’ feet on multiple occasions and absolutely nothing was said about that!
Guys have every right to complain and pull referees over the coals but it must be done to all that transgress – not just one person.
SARU are a bunch of idiots thats why SANZAR walks all over them. They need to be more vocal about the injustices against SA teams and do this through the media the way NZ and Aus do !!! Once incident that really irked me was Masaga’s hit on Mvovo….no penalty….no white card!!!How was that worse than Butch James the past weekend??? Come on SARU stop being pussies and talk up!!!
“What baffles me, and I explained this to SAAB” See what I mean? We all wait with bated breath (not) for your ‘pronouncements’ Sorry I now say ‘MLW’ (couldn’t resist)
Ah well hugo, as you admit, you just don’t (won’t) get it. MLW
The grandstand doesn’t necessarily offer the best view.
As I said in a previous comment I think it was a knock and it seems that Steyn also thought so at the time.
What baffles me, and I explained this to SAAB, is the heated reaction from SANZAR whilst they and the IRB to this day failed to criticise Bryce.
If they find it so easy to name and shame Jonker they should not have a problem to admit that Bryce deliberately caused the Boks to lose: the laws of bent science will prove that if they care to investigate.
SAAB, yes, it seems that there are differences of opinion whether the ball was knocked on or not.
Personally I think it was a knock and that the referee made a mistake that cost the Brumbies.
The fact is SANZAR acted very uncharacteristically by pointing a finger in the referee’s eye.
My argument is that they were thus far very reluctant to criticise their referees.
Also, by doing this they should surely came on record about the Bryce-incident.
The difference is that Marius had a bad game and that he made more mistakes than usually.
In the case of Bryce, he made more than the average amount of mistakes.
If you use the theory of bent science you will find that Bryce made so many mistakes that he meant to end the Bok’s tournament.
Jonker had a bad game but Bryce simply crooked.
Neither SANZAR nor the IRB ever criticised Bryce or launched an investigation.
After all Bryce cost a team the world cup, the coach his job and broke a nation’s heart.
Now weigh the consequences of the two scenarios up and tell me if it makes any sense that Marius was named and shamed.
Not so dear standoff, you talk in riddles; but I think you explained your motive in your first comment: no personal attacks and that is unacceptable and therefore you would be the first to go that route. So then, now there one personal attack: by you.
I was on the grandstand at the game and sat with a perfect view of what happened. The pass did not go forward but after it bounced it went forward. Is that a knock on? But what I don’t understand was Morne’s reaction (guilt for a knock on). Can anyone shed any light on this?
The second problem is that nobody can say that that event “cost the Brumbies the game”. The Brumbies amazed me with their smart play (Jake White’s brilliance was very evident) but the Bulls remained the stronger side. They lost intensity once they had the game in the bag, but I still don’t believe the Brumbies would have pulled off a win that night. The Bulls were the psychologically stronger side.
If that ball did not fall forward as many I believe Bulls supporters love to believe,Morne Steyn, must be either the biggest poker player or very stupid for “deceiving” everybody on-field by standing still when what he “pretended” to make-believe to be a knock-on. And whalla, everybody stands still until someone shouts “No knock-on”. Wonder who that was.
Dear Hugo, In your last 5 (at least) posts, you have not used any qualifying phrase such as ‘In my opinion’ or ‘I think’ or ‘from my point of view’ etc etc. In other words , you are pontificating. Therefore a ‘topical comment’ from me? IDTS.
What is your point, standoff old buddy old pal?
And, is there a topical comment from you in my future?
No, he won’t but the allegation was not that he cheated.
He was accused of bad refereeing.
If you want to see what is cheat then go and have a look at Bryce in action in the Boks and Ausie game in NZ’s World Cup.
I really dont reckon a high qualified ref like Jonker would put his job on the line for a s15 game.
Look up ‘pontificate’
Will it help you if I rephrase?
If not, then what is your point; and really I am not being sarcastic now.
I watched several replays from different angles and it is very difficult to say whether the ball went forward.
From a certain angle it indeed looks like a knock.
But the thing is that it is not normal practise for SANZAR to criticize their referees.
This time they did not hesitate and I do believe their bold move has something to do with the nationality of the various role-players involved: SA referee, SA team benefitting and an Auzie team on the receiving end.
“In the spirit of truth and to get closure, I believe all South Africans, including Jonker, will deeply appreciate an honest and official confirmation from SANZAR that Bryce Lawrence cost the Boks the world cup and that they will negotiate an apology from the IRB for not naming and shaming Bryce from New Zealand.” How’s this for relevance and topicality, DREAM ON!
Problem is, I watched the incident again, and I think I agree with the match officials…no knock. Jonker wasn’t in line with the incident, so his AR told him the ball went straight down and bounced forward. The law clearly states that for a knock-on to occur, the ball must go forward of a player’s hand or arm, and hit the ground or an opponent before the original player can regather…so the ball going straight down or backwards and then bouncing forward is not a knock. Looking at the incident in question, I’m not sure that the ball did go forward before hitting the ground, and refs are taught only to blow the “clear and obvious”.
Very true, Powa, very true.
Then it is definitely becoming a tendency.
Hi Stormy, I am sure Nelster has Die Antwoord for Bryce almighty.
Check out his T-shirt on Darwinia’s blog!
Good then, standoff, but really that is a fairly irrelevant observation.
How about an insightful comment or view about the matter under discussion.
Can I expect something more topical from you?
See Hugo, post something that’s not too contentious and no-one attacks you!
When they name them there should be a code next to their names for the shame part.
Bryce Lawrence = ?
They did name and shame that fool that cost the Cheetahs the game against the Brumbies, Ausie ref… there was another one but I can’t remember who it was.
The NZAR part are a bunch of wallies, but then the SA guys aren’t far behind for meekly accepting it
This is from the very same SANZAR who fiddle with the workings of a S15 format to now favour the weaker Aussie teams.
Saturdays game between Sharks and Chiefs, 5min to go, the ref penalises the Sharks for not releasing Chiefs player after tackle was made. No problem, good call. 3 Minutes to go the same transgretion this time the shoe is on the other foot, the Sharks was on the attack and trailing by just 2 points. This time he(NZ ref) punishes the Sharks for holding onto the ball. Very inconsistant and only 2 minutes apart