No Rassie-like Springboks review of decisive All Blacks penalty
Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber has given a very un-Rassie Erasmus-like response to the breakdown decision that was critical in his team’s agonising loss in last Saturday’s round five Championship match against the All Blacks in Townsville. The world champions were leading 17-16 when the whistle of referee Luke Pearce blew with the clock showing 76:21 in Townsville.
Willie le Roux had gathered a loose ball that had gone backwards from a green player’s hand and he countered, evading Rieko Ioane and getting wrapped around the legs by Ethan Blackadder and swallowed up at the same time by Quinn Tupaea, who proceeded to fasten his hands on to the ball to win the penalty that Jordie Barrett struck between the posts for the winning points.
There was a suggestion that Tupaea might perhaps have been illegal, that there was no daylight between the All Black player’s hit and attempted poach. However, rather than criticise the decision of the referee, something that Erasmus infamously did when attacking Nic Berry’s handling of the Lions versus Springboks first Test in July, Nienaber suggested his players Franco Mostert and Sbu Nkosi could have instead done better at the breakdown to protect le Roux when the full-back went to ground.
It was a reaction laced in diplomacy given that the penalty Pearce awarded consigned the Springboks to a third successive defeat so far in the four-game Australia-based section of their Rugby Championship campaign. But Nienaber suggested it was the type of breakdown situation that the Springboks must handle better, especially as next Saturday’s rematch with the All Blacks will be controlled by Pearce’s RFU colleague, Matthew Carley.
“That last breakdown we could have done better,” shrugged Nienaber, whose record in charge of the Springboks now reads five wins and four defeats following the costly late infringement. “We had two players there. We should have done better there.
“One must always look at it objectively…"
– The Springboks have been talking ahead of next Saturday's round six meeting with the All Blacks #Springboks #RugbyChampionship #TRC2021 #RSAvNZLhttps://t.co/76ZBGlbwPv
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 28, 2021
“Those two players, I am not saying they are at fault, I am just saying we could have handled that situation better. We don’t want to put it in the referee’s head to make a decision there. We must be good enough to sort it out ourselves. We had an internal look at that breakdown and we gave ourselves the blame for it. We must be better in that department.
“On the referees, no referee goes out to make mistakes as no player or coach goes out to make a mistake. I’m not saying he did make a mistake or he did not make a mistake. He saw a picture of in live play and he had a split second to make a decision. That we can’t control.
“We can only control what we do and how we handle that and maybe the picture that we paint can be a little more dominant. We don’t have control over the decisions the referees make. They make decisions just like we make decisions. Sometimes we make the wrong ones.”
With regard to Erasmus, there is still no indication yet from World Rugby about a date for the hearing into the misconduct charge filed against the Springboks director of rugby and SA Rugby following criticism of the Lions series match officials.
"This year the Springboks have adopted a playing style that is foreign to themselves."
– @bensmithrugby on why this current game plan by South Africa isn't 'DNA' and never was. #NZLvRSA #RSAvNZL #RugbyChampionship https://t.co/71ayuUyZUv— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 28, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Great story. Rugby needs new investment in teams like Brussels another pro league in Europe would be great.
1 Go to commentsAlso, looking at the data from last year, it seemed like by far the two biggest predictors of success were (1) kicking more than your opponents, and (2) having a higher rate of line-out wins than your opponents. I haven’t gone through the stats this year with a fine tooth comb, but the increase in kicks per game and the increase in tries from lineouts would suggest that these two metrics are only getting more important. England’s move away from a kick-heavy game to win against Ireland was seen by some as evidence that running rugby is on the rise. Alternatively it could be taken as evidence that if one team kicks more, and the other team wins more lineouts (as England did) a match is bound to be close to a draw.
2 Go to commentsI have been finding it odd that points per 22 entry has become such a talked about stat, given that your points per entry can be driven down by having more entries. These data would seem to confirm that it isn’t a useful metric, or at any rate is less useful than total entries.
2 Go to commentsI think the last two games England have played is some of their best rugby they have played under Borthwick. There has been a lot more attacking instinct and as a reward have created some well worked tries. Ollie Lawrence is a good foil at 12 as he offers the hard direct lines whilst the rest of the backs can play open. As much as it pains me to say but I do hope England keep playing this way. On a side note my favourite try of the weekend was Lorenzo Pani’s for the nice loop play that put him away and his finish was excellent. Thanks as always Nick.
39 Go to commentsMost exciting player on the planet right now, worth the price of a ticket.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith and Ireland live rent free in Safa’s heads. Their comments only triggers because its true. If the Boks had dismantled a 14 man AB’s, then there would be more respect. But they didnt, in fact quite the opposite, the 14 man NZ were clearly better. And the Bok have always been ordinary between RWC’s, thats why their supporters are now ‘only RWC’s matter’. They know thats BS. Its BS to both AB’s and Bok’s due to their history. But now its all the Safas have. Now we’ll hear excuses when they lose “oh we didnt have all our players available, the ABs/France/Eng/Irel were at full strength”, forgetting for a minute that its because of their own dumb policy. Oh well, makes a change from blaming ‘cheating refs’.
23 Go to commentsNo Nick, they did not, in fact, justify any ‘probables’ label. At no time did they seriously compete for the championship. Ireland led from start to finish and in the end, as a result of glaring referee errors, were never under serious pressure to lose their crown.
39 Go to commentsMoney for him, and his family, has been the sole motivator since he signed for Queensland aged 17. Why else sign for Melbourne. Tupou is poorly advised. If he’d stayed and developed in NZ he would have had a long Test career. If Leinster offer him a few more coins than he’s currently earning, he’s goneburger.
4 Go to commentsFinn. No one would say Ford had played well up until the last game. One standout performance in 5 is hardly in form . It should be a given that a 10 will control play . Not in Fords case be praised for suddenly doing so. Where was he against Scotland ,Italy. The pundits were saying how far away from play he was standing and one even said that the Ireland game was his last chance saloon to perform . Not exactly top form catching anyones eye. If he can play like this game after game then great. Keep him in . But after 90 odd caps we all know he just doesnt keep it going . By all means keep him there but the issue is that Borthwick will persist even when he plays poorly. Which is more often than not. Thats why i am concerned that Smith ,despite fab form , cannot get a game at his preferred spot. Can you imagine Ford at full back .
5 Go to commentsI do not really get why put Ollivon at 6 when he’s a 7, while Cros was the best Frenchman of the tournament, playing at…6. His only game replacing Aldritt at 8 doesn’t change much in terms of his impact. Lamaro was also outstanding in that brilliant Italian side, probably better than Reffell. So putting 2 Welsh players from the wooden spoon holders, and none of the 4th nation (Scotland) is also strange. Is it about showing that in this harsh transition Wales is, there were some standouts…?
6 Go to commentsThe events at this year’s six nations should undermine many of the arguments made against promotion and relegation between the six nations and the REC. If Italy had been allowed to yo-yo between divisions it conceivably could have really hurt their development, but if Italy, Wales, and Scotland are all at risk of relegation, with none of them being relegated more often than once every 3 or 4 years, you’d have to back all of them to muddle on through it, especially when you factor in the likelihood they’ll still be guaranteed world league matches against tier 1 opponents. Another way of looking at italys resurgence would be to say that the development model of adding an extra team to the six nations has worked, and now must be done again. Georgia could join to make it a 7 team round robin, and if and when Georgia demonstrate an ability to consistently win games, Portugal can also be added to make it an 8 team 2 conference competition. Frankly at this point I think it falls to world rugby to demand that the 6N act in the interests of the game. If the 6N won’t commit to expansion then the 6N teams should be handicapped in world cup draws (i.e. world cup seedings would not be based on their ranking points, but on their ranking points minus a 5 point penalty).
6 Go to commentsSteve Borthwick deserves credit for releasing the shackles on his England side and letting them play in a manner that somewhat resembles the top sides in the Gallagher Premiership. Will they revert to type in New Zealand in July.?
39 Go to commentsJames Lowe wouldn't get in any other 6N team. He's a great example of Farrell’s brilliance, and the Irish system. He is slow. His footwork is poor. But he fits perfectly in that Irish system, and has a superb impact. But put him in another team, and he'll look bang average.
6 Go to commentsCrusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
2 Go to commentsOver rated for a long time…exposed at scrum time too.
4 Go to comments“Firing me” should have been Gatland’s answer.
2 Go to commentsFinn Russell logic: “World” = 4 countries. Ireland may be at or near the top. FR’s bigger concern should be he and his fellow Scots (incl. the Bloemfontein ones) sliding back down to below top 10
42 Go to commentsMind games have begun. Ireland learned their lesson after saying they could beat England with 13 players or whatever. Still, if they win at Loftus, that would be impressive - final frontier etc.
58 Go to comments$950k for a Prop that isn’t fit enough to play 10 mins of rugby? Surely there is someone better to replace Big Mike with
4 Go to commentsFour Kiwis in that backline. A solid statement on the lack of invention, risk-taking and joy in the NH game; game of attrition and head- banging tedium. Longterm medical problems aplenty in the future!
6 Go to comments