Tri Nations refereeing and judicial system is a joke

[zimeric]

sorry Pieter but BJ deserved that yellow.. he purposely went over the top off his feet and killed off the ball. ordinarily that wouldve been a penalty but as it was on their 5 yard line it was construed to be a professional foul..
I thought the ref had a reasonable game.. he was certainly not the best ive seen.. not by a long shot! but he certainly wasnt as bad as WRF makes him out to be.. Pocock was lucky not to get a yellow yes but he was still pulled up a couple of times... I didnt think Fouries tackle was any diffeent to Quades.. they both lifted bast the horizontal and let the player drop to the ground.


who saw Kirchners full sprint/dive into the turf? haha i nearly choked on my beer... what the hell was he thinking?

[GIGS20]

OK, had another look at the video, and I was wrong, Fourie didn't drive Brownie....put it down to gold coloured glasses.

But neither tackle complied with the law about protecting the tackled player once he is past the horizontal. both reckless, definately a card, Pieter I've got no explanation for why Fourie has 4 weeks and Quade 2, must be the repeated offence thing that somebody mentioned.

ps I was as shocked as you when I first saw it and he was carded. I would've expected a warning at 1:23 in the match, but the ref was correct in law.

[James]

Have a look at this video and tell me what the differance is between the illegal tackle at 40 seconds into the video by Fourie and the tackle at 2:56 into the video by Cooper. It is the same thing but Fourie gets 4 weeks and Cooper only 2 weeks

Pieter the judiciary take into account past record of suspensions/indiscretions when doling out the penalties. Fourie has a history (2009 on Ma'a Nonu) of spear tackles and has rightfully been given a tougher sentence. It also reflects the number of Tri-Nations games he will miss as Todd points out- this way he can't burn off the suspension in Currie Cup games. Jean de Villiers only got 2 weeks so you can't say that Cooper had it easy because he wasn't South African.

You can't blame the referee for SA losing that match. They just played poorly and PdV's decision not to play a specialist openside was just ridiculous.

[pieter blackie]

You can't blame the referee for SA losing that match.

I did not once say that the referee is to blame for the game result The Wallabies outplayed the Boks and they deserved to win.

[James]

I did not once say that the referee is to blame for the game result The Wallabies outplayed the Boks and they deserved to win.

I didn't say that you did. I just said that you can't.

So much has been said about the refs in each one of the last three Springboks games and it seems like a complete smokescreen to take the focus away from the team's ill discipline, poor tactics and general lack of enthusiasm. Seems to make bagging the ref a bit redundant.

Having said that I'd probably be having a bit of a whinge if the shoe were on the other foot.

[hertryk]

Oh, yes, please. We can call it the FFS button.

Fortunately I watched the game in a pub in Vancouver without sound...so I was spared Kafer and Kearnsy "pearls of er....what shall I call it ...wisdom.....I don't think so....!!!!"
Roll on Saturday when I shall be in Melbourne... YAY!!

[pieter blackie]

How could they not suspend Burger for this...

YouTube- Schalk Burger and David Pocock scuffle

A repeat offence....he should have a significant ban (again)

All I can say from that is Schalk saw his ass with that one on one shuffle against Pocock

[sandgroperrugby]

Schalk didn’t like being man handled by a guy that was dominating the breakdown area all game, so when the scuffle ensued and he ended up unceremoniously on his arse he went the gutless way of immediately going for the Pocock’s eyes/face with an open hand fingers leading. That is just an indication of the type of player he is, bring out the tutu’s there is no room in the game for this kind of behaviour!

[MI5_Dog]

technically while Fourie has a four week ban that only takes into account 1 tri nations game as the judicary included currie cup games. Coopers ban takes in 2 tri nations games.

[KenyaQuin]

I think we mostly agree that the spear tackle deserves a yellow and probably a suspension..the question is the length of suspension. This will pretty much always be a point of disagreement.

The tackle in itself serves little purpose other than to injure your opponent..well, that was the case when I used it back in high school.

Linesmen are touch judges no more, neither are they assistant referees. They are now pretty much fully fledged referees. They are one step away from having their own whistles.

In any case, we are either going to have 2 refs on the field of play or the current situation where the side refs will continue to participate more actively in the general flow of the game.

[Ecky]

I can't believe anyone actually takes heed of the Fox commentary team...

[Hansie]

Just as scrums, lineouts, rain, hail or shine are all part of the game so is the ref.

And just as either of the aforementioned can change from game to game so can the ref. Imagine in the heat of the moment, you're a ref on the field having to make split second decisions from your angle of view. Maybe we should allow half a dozen refs on the field with yellow hankies. Stop the play every tackle or ruck after 3 - 5 seconds, then throw a hankie onto the field with a sucked lolly in it so it can fly, have a conference for 20 seconds on who saw what and make a decision.????

Just as coaches and teams plan their game according to weather conditions and opponents - be smart and plan for the ref too.

I am told One S14 captain makes sure he praises a certain ref's hairstyle at each coin toss and then is assured of winning those 50 - 50 decisions. Another captain has been heard to ask another ref if he's using magic tricks on the coin during the toss???

I'd love to see Kafes, Martin or Kearnsey ref a game....

[palitu]

ecky, hows your hair going?

Had any comments?

[todd4]

I'd love to see Kafes, Martin or Kearnsey ref a game....

I'm sure it was mentioned on the Rugby Club a while back how Greg Martin earned his referees qualifications.

It wouldn't be a bad idea if all commentators completed a refs course, it would make their commentary a little more informative.

[Ecky]

It has been the case for as long as I have been refereeing that the ref has the opportunity to request certain things from his/her assistants. What were previously Touch Judges (not linesmen unless it's mungo) are now Assistant Referees at the top level. In clubland it's still a TJ if it's the clubby running the line. Sometimes the clubby has TJ quals, sometimes even Level 1 ref quals, in which case they are/can be of more use.

If the ref gives instructions to the assistant, it might be quite broad, such as "if you see something that it seems I have missed, tell me about it". It is more likely, though, that the instruction will be along the lines of "keep watch over the aftermath of the scrum/line out/tackle/breakdown and tell me of any foul play, because I'll be off following the ball"

I have noticed, however, that NH Assistant Referees do seem to quite like to referee the game for the bloke in charge, as we saw last Saturday. I don't think that was the brief from #1, but it seems they can't help themselves.

Even a bloke like Stu Dickinson, whom some may well think is a strongly-opinionated chap when on the field, knows to only provide assistance as per the #1's pre-game instruction.

It is often referred to as the Team of Three, and it is recognised that the two ARs can assist the ref in providing a fair spectacle for those who choose to come watch, by each complementing the other to get as wide a view of the play as possible. If you pay attention (say, just for a couple of minutes, or on a replay), you will see that each of the 3 officials will usually be positioned such that they all watch the same play from a different angle, thus complementing each other an affording the widest perspective. If you go to the finals series in the local comp you will see it in detailed action.

....and I second the notion that all commentators should have a referee qualification! I know Gordon Bray does and it is pretty damn obvious that those "colour" commentators on Fox don't. but then they are probably paid to give their opinion, rather than describe what actually happened.

ecky, hows your hair going?

Had any comments?

No-one has ever complimented me on my hair, or my appearance generally, actually, now it's mentioned. I am open to such compliments, but whether they affect my rulings on the 50/50's will remain to be seen! Those who have seen me ref know I am a bit of a stickler for the technical stuff, and those who have played while I ref have (in the main) adapted to how I ref, so it's all good really.

I'd love to see Kafes, Martin or Kearnsey ref a game....

Really? Would you? Honestly?