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.
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?
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.
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.
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Comments on RugbyPass
Just what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
7 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to commentsSpot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
6 Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
7 Go to commentsGood riddance
1 Go to commentswel the crusaders were beaten by a queensland reds side that hadnt beaten them at home since 1999 and queensland reds partied like it was 1999
6 Go to commentsHard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
6 Go to commentsYeah nah, still not sure on Havili tbh. Even though I’m a Crusaders fan through and through I’d be stunned if Razor considers him after seeing some of the stunning talent coming through up North.
6 Go to commentsThink it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
1 Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
7 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
7 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
7 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
7 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
5 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
5 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to comments