Ref Watch: England dodged a high penalty count bullet
Social media has heaped criticism on referee Andy Brace following England’s narrow win over South Africa, but having watched the match back this is mostly undeserved since he got a lot more right than he got wrong.
Every hard-fought match has critical moments and tight calls and this was no different, but I suspect when the Irish whistler has another look at the game only his management of England’s high penalty count will seriously trouble him.
Pens against England (by quarter) 1, 6, 7, 4 = 18
Pens against SA (by quarter) 2, 2, 0, 4 = 8
Scrum
I really liked the way Brace set his stall out from the outset with the front rows.
He took an age to set the first scrum – the oldest management trick in the book when the players have steam coming out of their ears – and insisted on it being set at a good height and with clear space visible between the packs at the ‘bind’ call.
By correctly penalising South Africa (via touch judge assistance) at the second scrum for tight head Trevor Nyakane causing the scrum to collapse by “overstretching” Brace put down a marker in an area where a huge contest-within-a- contest was anticipated.
Remarkably the match contained only seven scrums in total, one of which delivered clean possession.
The arrival of the ‘bomb squad’ certainly piled pressure on England’s front row – and all three second half set-pieces ended in a South African penalty.
However, with so few scrums these infringements were well spread and as a consequence never became a trend which resulted in (or needed) a yellow card.
There was a rather painful moment for Bevan Rodd in the 35th minute of Saturday's Test match versus the Springboks #England #ENGvRSA #AutumnNationsSeries #Springbokshttps://t.co/URtH1eI1R2
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 21, 2021
Game Management and England’s penalty count
Quarter One
Only three penalties were blown in the first 20 minutes.
Quarter Two
England conceded six penalties, four of which came between the 20th and 30th minutes. However, three of these were in attacking situations for support players sealing off on the ground and Joe Marchant being in front of a chip ahead. These are irrelevant for ‘totting up’ purposes.
The quiet word Brace had with captain Courtney Lawes just after the half-hour mark therefore seemed appropriate.
Quarter Three
Like the coaches and players, the officials use half-time to review the first 40 minutes and make necessary adaptations as required, so Brace should therefore have been fully aware that the home side had just shipped six penalties in a quarter.
As a result, when Sam Underhill was needlessly offside only 30 seconds into the second half he missed a golden chance to upgrade his quiet word to the more formal warning that may have nipped the problem in the bud.
By the 53rd minute England has infringed five times since the restart and with the overall penalty count now 12-4 Siya Kolisi’s frustration was mounting and the situation badly needed addressing.
Four minutes later, while already playing advantage for an earlier offside, England were penalised later in the same move in a maul. At this point there had still been no formal warning issued.
'Instead, I looked around the group and I saw young boys just puff out their chests and said ‘let’s give this a crack, we’re still in this' #ENGvRSA https://t.co/uvu1LxmLqE
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 21, 2021
Quarter Four
Penalty number 15 arrived in the 62nd minute and only then was Lawes told: “Tidy up in this area please.”
The next infringement – another maul entry offence – saw replacement prop Will Stuart shown a yellow card.
Standards are usually set very high in international rugby and in my opinion Brace and his team were far too tolerant.
Makazole Mapimpe’s try came with England reduced to 14 and with Brace playing advantage for a Marcus Smith offside. Had the Boks failed to score it is interesting to speculate if a second yellow card would have resulted?
TMO
It was extremely refreshing to watch a match in which the first TMO intervention came after the hour mark.
This decision to only penalise rather than card Charlie Ewels for his high shot on Eben Etzebeth seemed appropriate given that the South African was on his way to ground when the contact occurred.
Eddie Jones paused for breath in the aftermath of the gripping 27-26 England win over the Springboks to highlight what most pleased him and what the victory means in the bigger picture. @heagneyl ??? reports from Twickenham #EnglandRugby ?https://t.co/Kf6aeOgTHn
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 21, 2021
Kolisi Yellow Card
In commentary the excellent David Flatman disagreed with this call. However, while agreeing with his observation that the Springbok skipper never took his eyes off the ball then attempted to convert his aerial challenge into a tackle, for me the law as written was applied correctly.
Kolisi was never in a position to catch the ball, and like it or not (I personally don’t) the question of intent is no longer of any relevance to the officials in considering their sanction.
Joe Marchant was not brought to ground in a controlled or safe manner and a yellow card was therefore the correct outcome.
TMO Brian Macneice completed a thorough job by preventing England from pinching the five metres that would have brought the resulting penalty within range of the posts.
Final Minute
I have written before that a match-deciding last minute penalty call has to be crystal clear since no referee wants to determine the outcome of the match.
Both 79th minute penalties conceded by South Africa dropped into this category since Herschel Jantjies clearly failed to release in the tackle, then after Brace played advantage Francois Steyn dived in and killed the ball at the next breakdown with a ‘knee slide’ that on another day could be construed as dangerous play.
One for Twitter
There seems to be plenty of social media discussion around Max Malins’ 57th minute tackle which stopped a promising South African attack short of the home line.
Brace checked with his touch judge – who was right on top of the incident – to confirm whether Malins had made the tackle while off his feet from a subsequent contact, and hence according to law ‘out of the game.’
The touch judge advised that England’s replacement was “not clearly” on the ground, and having viewed it in slo-mo it does seem that his left foot is on the turf taking his weight while his right knee is on the ground.
Given that the TMO also had ample opportunity to intervene, but chose to stay silent, we can assume there was therefore no clear case for a penalty – or the penalty try some Springbok fans (perhaps hopefully) called for.
Comments on RugbyPass
I think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
5 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
5 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
5 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
32 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to commentsThis is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?
35 Go to commentsWow, didn’t realise there was such apathy to URC in SA, or by Champions Cup teams. Just read Nick’s article on Crusaders, are Sharks a similar circumstance? I think SA rugby has been far more balanced than NZs, no?
2 Go to commentsBut here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.
32 Go to commentsIt could be coincidental or prescient that the All Blacks most dominant period under Steve Hansen was when the Crusaders had their least successful period under Todd Blackadder and then the positions reversed when Razor took over the Crusaders.
32 Go to commentsDefinitely sound read everybodyexpects immediate results these days, I don't think any team would travel well at all having lost three of the most important game changers in the game,compiled with the massive injury list they are now carrying, good to see a different more in depth perspective of a coaches history.
3 Go to commentsSinckler is a really big loss for English rugby.
2 Go to commentsThanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause
32 Go to commentsNo way. If you are trying to picture New Zealand rugby with an All Blacks mindset, there have been two factors instrumental to the decline of NZ rugby to date. Those are the horror that the Blues have become and, probably more so, the fixture that the Crusaders became. I don’t think it was healthy to have one team so dominant for so long, both for lack of proper representation of players from outside that environment and on the over reliance on players from within it. If you are another international side, like Ireland for example, sure. You can copy paste something succinct from one level to the next and experience a huge increase in standards, but ultimately you will not be maximizing it, which is what you need to perform to the level the ABs do. Added to that is the apathy that develops in the whole game as a result of one sides dominance. NZ, Super, and Championship rugby should all experience a boom as a result of things balancing out. That said, there is a lot of bad news happening in NZ rugby recently, and I’m not sure the game can be handled well enough here to postpone the always-there feeling of inevitable decline of rugby.
32 Go to commentsNo SA supporter miss Super Rugby - a product that is experiencing significant head wind in ANZ - the competition from rival codes are intense, match attendance figures are at a historical low and the negativity of commentators such as Kirwan and Wilson have accelerated the downward spiral in NZ. After the next RWC in 2027 sponsors will follow Qantas and start leaving in droves.
2 Go to commentsLike others, I am not seeing the connection between this edition of the Crusaders and the All Blacks future prospects under Razor. I think the analysis of the Crusaders attack recently is helpful because Razor and his coaching team used to be able to slot new guys in to their systems and see them succeed. Several of Razor’s coaches are still there so it would be surprising if the current attack and set piece has been overhauled to a great extent - but based on that analysis, it may have been. Whether it is too many new guys due to injuries or retirement or a failure of current Crusaders systems is the main question to be answered imo. It doesn’t seem relevant for the ABs.
32 Go to commentsharry potter is set in stone. he creates stability and finishes well. exactly what schmidt likes. he’s the ben smith of australian rugby. i think it could quite easily be potter toole and kellaway for the foreseeable future.
5 Go to commentsThis is short sighted from Clayton if you ask me, smacks of too much preseason planning and no adaptability. What if DMac is out for a must win match, are they still only going to bring their best first five and playmaker on late in the game? Trusting the game to someone who wasn’t even part of planning (they would have had Trask pinned in as Jacomb preseason). Perhaps if the Crusaders were better they would not have done this, but either way imo you take this opportunity to play a guy you might need starting in a final rather than having their 12th game getting comfortable coming off the bench.
1 Go to comments