'I'm on the ref's case' - SA TV pundits lash referees in Bok loss

South African television pundits are picking the flesh off the bones on referee Andrew Brace’s performance during England and the Springboks titanic arm wrestle at Twickenham over the weekend.

Marcus Smith kept his nerve to land a last-gasp penalty as England partially avenged their 2019 World Cup final defeat by toppling South Africa 28-27 in an enthralling climax to the autumn.

Smith kicked the decisive points with just over a minute left to prevent the Springboks from completing a comeback victory on a Saturday afternoon of high drama at Twickenham.

Guess the Olympic Gold medal hero | Max Whitlock | England Rugby

Guess the Olympic Gold medal hero | Max Whitlock | England Rugby

Despite the fact that Brace blew 18 penalties against England, for just eight against South Africa, many Springboks fans continue to complain online about the Irishman’s performance.

Video editors have been pouring over the game Rassie Erasmus style since the full-time whistle blew, with a number of incidents being seized upon as evidence of a failure on the pitchside officials and the TMO.

Super Sport’s panel – Swys de Bruin and Jonathan Mokuena – have taken a forensic look at the game and have highlighted a number of incidents that caught their eye in the game, all England infringements which the panel claim were missed by officials.

“Look I’m not on the refs case,’ Swys de Bruin, before joking that ‘”Okay, I’m on the ref’s case.”

He pin-pointed Max Malins playing ball carrier when he was off his feet following a tackle and Maro Itoje’s hands in the ruck in the lead up to a failed Springbok attempt at the line.

“You want to tell me the AR that stood on the try line has not seen Itoje’s hand there? I know Kwagga didn’t score the try, but that is a penalty try.”

“We need this, we need that… we just need people to open their eyes now and again.”

De Bruin also highlighted a marginal mauling infringement by England hooker Jamie Blamire, which he also claimed should have been a ‘yellow card’, having a pop at Australia’s Angus Gardner who was the AR closest to that particular incident.

The panel also called for more accountability for Test referees who underperform.

– additional reporting AAP