An upbeat All Blacks welcomed the hard-nosed stance that referees have adopted in this year’s Tri-Nations.
When I read this article on Rugby Heaven(NZ), I immediately thought about Morne’s article, earlier this week.
Giving laws the Red Card
“When did rugby stop being a contest? Or why do we have laws in place to effectively end a contest between two teams where the spectators and fans feel the effect of a yellow or red card more than the players?
By Morné, on 30 July 2010, at 9:54 am”
New Zealand dished out a seven try mauling of Australia in Melbourne last night and edged closer to being crowned Tri-Nations champions.
While the match will be remembered as a free ranging affair, referee Craig Joubert’s influence was palpable. The South African whistle-blower red-carded recalcitrant Wallabies wing Drew Mitchell early in the second half. Mitchell had already spent 10 minutes on Joubert’s naughty chair in the first 40 as had All Blacks prop Owen Franks.
Both Robbie Deans and Graham Henry agreed his decisions changed the course of the match, not that the All Blacks were complaining, in fact hooker Keven Mealamu welcomed the crackdown. Mealamu, who turned in another outstanding performance, said both sides were cognisant Joubert had “drawn a line in the sand”. Anyone who dared cross it did so at their peril.
“It is a trend at the moment so we just have to put it back on the players to make sure we are squeaky clean,” he said.
“Over the last couple of tests the referees seem to have been a lot tougher with the cards. We just have to acknowledge that that’s the way it is, and be more disciplined.”
Mealamu’s views were shared by few fans at Etihad Stadium. The Melbourne faithful were miffed with Joubert’s arbitrary decision making, however, their calls for clemency fell on deaf ears elsewhere.
All Blacks wing Cory Jane said: “I heard him say just before halftime when he was talking to the captains that he was trying to let the game flow. So the guys that did the naughty things probably deserved what they got.It is a test match and there has to be a line in the sand if guys are going to try and deny the other team opportunities. So, it is not really the referees fault; it is the players. They are the ones trying to walk the line.”
Jane’s empathy could not disguise the fact that Joubert had a mixed night at the office. The Hurricanes wing set up Mil Muliaina’s first try with an outstanding chip kick while under duress. However, Muliaina was in front of Jane when he toed the ball ahead. Joubert, metres from the action, inexplicably missed the offside.
If Robbie Deans was angered he refused to take the bait when quizzed last night. “I don’t want to comment on his decision but it was damaging,” he said. “Once we went to 14 men we were playing for pride because there was the potential for it to blow-out. The boys showed a lot of courage. But essentially the contest was over at that point”
By GREG FORD – Stuff
I thought it was an outstanding game with amazing skill shown by both sides, playing at incredible pace.
Frightening from an SA point of view, in that the ability to recycle ball and hold on for long periods without making handling mistakes is something that we are behind on.
Joubert was excellent, and showed just how to keep a top class game under control, handle the captains and players, and keep the game a spectacle.
gooooooooooooooodmorning everyone
hope everyone is well?
tighthead @ 1
do not get a heart-attack, stroke or any of those things
but
yes, i do agree with you!! 😆
on craig’s performance …. think he at least was consistent … think overall he had a far better day at the office than the best parts of the nh refs combined!!
on mitchell’s red card … well, if you’ve already been yellowcarded and you get involved in trying to slow the game down/ prevent the opposition from getting a quick thrown-in,
well
then you’re obviously stupid
and
should expect to be redcarded!!
..
in craig’s defence .. most refs wouldve hesitated to bring out that 2nd yellow
but in the end it was the correct decision!!
o, and
hope someone make that bastards from the nh watch that game as an example to them of how a game should be officiated!!
from superrugby.com
..
The heat is on coach Robbie Deans as the Wallabies struggle to avoid repeating a grim period of their 79-year Bledisloe Cup history against the rampant All Blacks in Christchurch next weekend.
Deans watched on glumly as his Wallabies went under a New Zealand avalanche of seven tries in a near-record 49-28 Tri-Nations loss at Melbourne’s Docklands stadium on Saturday.
IT WAS AUSTRALIA’S EIGHTH STRAIGHT LOSS UNDER DEANS AGAINST THE ALL BLACKS AND ANOTHER DEFEAT ON THE EX-CANTERBURY CRUSADERS COACH’S OLD PATCH NEXT SATURDAY WILL EQUAL THE ALL-TIME NINE-MATCH LOSING SEQUENCE BETWEEN 1936-47.
Johannesburg and Cape Town – The SANZAR hearing of Springbok coach Peter de Villiers is a “DECLARATION OF WAR BY AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND AGAINST SOUTH AFRICA”.
That is the view of South African rugby bosses, who are rallying behind the beleaguered coach. They have questioned the Aussies and Kiwis’ motives.
“We are right behind Peter and will defend him to the hilt,” said SARU president Oregan Hoskins.
Hoskins confirmed that De Villiers had promised in an “informal discussion” in which he and his assistant coaches had to report back about the Springboks’ pathetic Tri-Nations campaign that he would not make anymore controversial remarks about referees.
De Villiers will shortly have to appear in a SANZAR hearing about comments made on Australian television after the Boks’ two recent defeats against the All Blacks.
Morning all!!
“he would not make anymore controversial remarks about referees”
Good…hopefully he’s realised now that the nail that stick’s out, get’s hammered down. Don’t give the media a string to pull on..those bastards will always find a way to discredit you.
RIP
Oldest All Black dies
2010-08-02 07:57
Eric Tindill, who achieved unique status in world sport by playing both rugby and cricket for New Zealand, has died. He was 99.
I was particularly impressed with Craig Joubert’s handling of the game, it certainly was not his fault that Mitchell made himself guilty of 2 yellow-card offences, and both the All Blacks and Wallabies were marched 10 for backchatting the referee at penalties.
Joubert had a firm hold and good control over the game, at one stage he called both captains in and said to them in no uncertain terms that they had to talk to their players, otherwise cards would be the only solution.
I was not happy with one decision, that one where Kaplan and Joubert adjudged the tackle by Sam Whitelock as a tip-tackle…. it certainly was only a normal tackle… a hard one but fair, with Whitelock folding around the tackled player and both going to ground in similar fashion. We must guard against making tackles too much a bone of contention, part of the reason why we love rugby so much is the gladiatorial nature of the game… and hard tackling is a fundamental part of that!
This game was one of the best rugby games I’ve seen this year…. full of hard running, purposeful defence, guile, width of play, hard breakdown battles… a real advertisement for the game of rugby union.
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