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The astonishing numbers behind South African refereeing that paint an ugly picture
The Hurricanes, Highlanders, and Crusaders all failed to beat South African-conference teams, with the Highlanders and Crusaders left asking questions after both teams were frustrated with calls made by South African referees. It follows frustrations from the Waratahs who were left puzzled last week against the Lions.
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TMO Marius Jonker controversially denied the Crusaders a try in the 75th minute which would have sunk the Stormers while Rasta Rasivhenge pinged the Highlanders 12 times to the Lions’ 3 in Johannesburg. The penalty count against the Highlanders was similar to last week’s Bulls versus Crusaders match under Rasivehenge’s watch, which ended with a 12-4 advantage to the home side in Pretoria.
The objectivity of South African referees when reffing South African teams at home against non-South African opponents has been called into questions by fans and media alike.
Come on @SuperRugby you have to reinstate neutral referees. Another visiting team to South Africa gets absolutely caned in the penalty count by a local referee. This is not normal.
— J Robertson (@JimmyRob78) May 18, 2019
https://twitter.com/RydOrDi33/status/1127223599767515136
This season international teams have lost the penalty count 96-47 when playing in South Africa against the Bulls, Lions, Stormers, and Sharks with a South African ref.
When those same South African sides play at home with a non-South African ref against international sides, the count is much more even at 72-66.
Non-South African teams are getting penalised 33.3% more with a South African ref, while the home teams are getting penalised 28.8% less, resulting in a significant swing advantage in the penalty count to the South African sides.
Have the Bulls, Lions, Sharks, and Stormers just been far more behaved when a South African referee has the whistle, and conversely are international visitors offending more?
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When ex-Stormers player Egon Seconds has refereed in those fixtures, the penalty count is a staggering 3-31 in favour of South African teams. For every one penalty the opposition is awarded, South African teams are receiving 10. That type of imbalance will kill any contest.
Seconds was dropped following his performance against the Waratahs which among many things, involved the ref pushing opposition players at the ruck.
The penalty count was 11-2 against the Waratahs and referee Egon Seconds featured in some truly bizarre moments. ??? pic.twitter.com/4ZEACOEmDK
— Fox Rugby (@FOXRUGBY) May 12, 2019
Rasta Rasivhenge has a penalty count of 23 against South African teams and 44 against international opposition in games in South Africa.
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An international away side has only won the penalty count once this season in South Africa with a South African ref, when the Chiefs smashed the Bulls under AJ Jacobs at Loftus Versfeld. It has been the only game in these set of circumstances AJ Jacobs has officiated.
When ex-Australian Sevens player and Brisbane rugby stalwart Damon Murphy reffed the Queensland Reds in Tokyo against the Sunwolves, the visitors ended up with a 11-4 penalty advantage as the Sunwolves were pinged out of the game handing the under-pressure Reds their first win of the season. Murphy’s brother played for the Reds while Damon himself made one non-Super Rugby appearance for the club.
While the standard of officiating in South Africa is doing little to improve the perception of bias, SANZAAR could eliminate this by ensuring neutral refs are employed for fixtures between non-conference teams whilst also ensuring that ex-players can’t ref their old teams.
Interview with Rugby Australia CEO Raelene Castle:
Comments on RugbyPass
What a dagg in more ways than one
5 Go to commentsRegroup come back next year but sack some of the coaching team and don't be like the ABs last minute sacking. If Crusaders don't do well ABs don't do well.
5 Go to commentsProctor Definitely inform again this year had a hell of a season last year and this year is looking even better. Still mixed feelings about Ioane tho.
4 Go to commentsDagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
5 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
5 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
3 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
4 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
38 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
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