Erasmus alleges Watson wasn't the only spear tackle Lions player
Potentially dangerous foul play by the Lions was highlighted in the fascinating 26-clip, hour-long first Test video review compiled by Rassie Erasmus, the Springboks director who was left fuming that Hamish Watson wasn’t yellow carded for spear tackling Willie le Roux in the second half while also highlighting a similar type first-half tackle from Duhan van der Merwe that was missed at the time by the officials.
Erasmus, who is now under investigation by World Rugby following his trenchant criticism of last weekend’s refereeing, was disappointed that referee Nic Berry and his team of officials weren’t more vigilant in policing a type of tackle that was infamously stitched into the Lions tapestry in 2005 when Brian O’Driscoll was upended by All Blacks duo Tana Umaga and Keven Mealamu.
Neither All Blacks player was sanctioned for that first-minute incident in Christchurch which tossed Lions skipper O’Driscoll out of the Test series, a lack of punishment that left tour boss Clive Woodward raging and embarking on a high profile PR campaign to highlight what he felt was a lack of fair play.
This pressure on officialdom had no influence on that Test series outcome, the Lions going on to lose 3-0, but the table have now turned 16 years later with Erasmus playing the role of Woodward as the Springboks seek to save the series this weekend following last weekend’s 22-17 first Test loss.
One of the major debates sparked by last Saturday’s clash in Cape Town was how Lions replacement Watson escaped a second-half yellow card just minutes after he was introduced for Tom Curry. There was a general acceptance that referee Berry had made an error with Nigel Owens, the centurion Test referee, even commentating on Sky Sports that the wrong call had been made.
Rassie's video monologue hasn't gone unnoticed at World Rugby. #CastleLionsSeries #LionsRugby #rassie https://t.co/gomplDX4J5
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 29, 2021
However, Erasmus’ must-watch Lions review also referenced the first-half lift by van der Merwe that had gone unnoticed during the game with play allowed to continue. “We feel it is a similar action but he [Berry] feels there isn’t enough force for it to be a penalty. If you look at (Makazole) Mapimpi here, Duhan van der Merwe is coming from offside. He can’t come in from that side, that is the first offence, and then the second offence is picking up both legs of Mapimpi and driving him into the ground. If that is allowed and you can do it, by all means just tell us.
“We would have loved to hear this on Sunday night and then we could have practised that on Monday or Tuesday… but according to me this is very dangerous. Duhan picks him up and he is horizontal and he gets driven into the ground. I don’t think he can be in a worse position when it comes to that, but again the feedback is it’s not that bad according to Nic.”
Erasmus had earlier outlined his disgust that Watson was allowed to play on after a penalty was only awarded against him for his foul tackle on le Roux. “Here is a debate that is baffling,” reckoned Erasmus, playing through the footage. “The score was 19-17 and this is the 63 minute of the game.
“Willie catches the ball and Hamish Watson gets him. I don’t think that anybody can argue, he took him beyond the 90 and Willie landed on his shoulder/back, could have landed on his neck. I’m not saying it should be a red card but I can see nothing less than a yellow card here. I haven’t seen one incident like this in the last five years where a player has got away with less than a yellow card here.
“If you look at the reaction and the respect the referee shows towards the South African players compared to the Lions players, which we actually prior to the game discussed to the referees and asked just give both teams the same amount of respect, you can see all of our players appealing and immediately recognising this is a dangerous tackle.
“Nic sees it and he gives an advantage for that and then he just calmly says there is a bit of a leg lift. He referred it back to the TMO Marius Jonker, which is the person that Warren Gatland had openly put so much pressure on during the week. Knowing Marius and knowing the laws that should definitely be a yellow card.
“On minute 63 it means in the next 17 minutes they will play six or seven minutes with 15 men on the field, which is the way the law should be refereed. The wording is a little bit of a leg lift and they talk through it.
“Willie stays down like all the players in the world do after they have received a spear tackle and then eventually he just gives a penalty and I think the whole world knows that that should be a yellow card. You see it in slow motion, he lifts him beyond the horizontal and he drives him into the ground. That is a weird one.”
"He pulls him up from the ground as if it’s just a doll which he picks up"
– Mako Vunipola was one of many Lions singled out in an incendiary one-hour video assessment by Rassie Erasmus of last weekend’s first Test#CastleLionsSeries #LionsRugby #RSAvBIL https://t.co/YAhqbRLiP9
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 29, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Wow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
1 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
12 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
1 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
1 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
4 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
16 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
16 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
4 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
3 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
16 Go to comments