Unbeaten Bulls outsmart Hurricanes

[pieter blackie]

The Vodacom Bulls produced a heroic defensive effort and played the referee better than their opponents as they recorded a deserved 19-14 win over the rated Hurricanes in Wellington on Friday.

It was the Bulls’ fifth win in succession and they remain the only unbeaten side in the competition. They head the log by four points going into Saturday’s round of fixtures, but the impressive point about their position is that they have a game in hand on the other teams in contention after they took their bye last week.

The Bulls had their defence to thank for their home win against the Stormers two weeks ago and it was the same again. Although they shaded the battle for possession and their physical forward pack played well, the Hurricanes had a significant advantage in territory and spent most of the game in the Bulls’ half.

If ever a game was dominated by a referee, this was it. When the Bulls had Pedrie Wannenburg yellow carded halfway through the first half, they may have been disappointed, but it evened out quickly after that as Australian Matt Goddard, who also stopped the game every second minute to award a penalty or free-kick, started popping cards out of his pocket as if he was participating in a competition for magicians.

Ma’a Nonu was the next to go, just a few minutes before Wannenburg was due to come back, so it was 14 against 14 at that stage, but no sooner had balance been restored than it was the turn of the Bulls’ Deon Stegmann to leave the field.

Opposite number (well in the sense that he is also an openside flanker, of course the numbers on the shirts are different between South Africa and New Zealand) Scott Waldron then went off early in the second half for killing the ball at a ruck.

Whether or not a lot of these infringements could be classed as meriting a yellow card was questionable. But there should be no debate about the next one, this time a red, issued to Stegmann for a dangerous tackle that looked suspiciously close to a spear and can only be termed idiotic.

The same player had of course visited the bin earlier on, so there was no question he deserved a red -- perhaps even if the tackle had been viewed in isolation. While all of this was going on, Hurricanes lock Jason Eaton went to the bin, so for a while it was 14 Bulls against 13 Hurricanes (Waldron was off for part of the period Eaton was off).

Unbeaten Bulls outsmart Hurricanes

---------- Post added at 07:35 ---------- Previous post was at 07:33 ----------

5 yellows and a red

[mudskipper]

Yellow cards ref went mad... Sometimes the Canes just get one after another... yesterday was that day x4... Puts the Bulls in a good tour frame of mind... but still leaves a question over them, if the Canes got so many cards why could the Bulls only win by 5...

[The EnForcer]

Bulls got a man red carded.

[zimeric]

never watched the game but the blogs ive read seem to indicate most of the cards were for minor issues and that the ref totally destroyed the flowing game and therefore helped the bulls take advantage of their set piece superiority!.

hope this isnt a directive being given to all refs this week...

[blueandblack]

never watched the game but the blogs ive read seem to indicate most of the cards were for minor issues and that the ref totally destroyed the flowing game ...

I did and the ref imposed himself on the game wherever he could. ruined (for mine) what was otherwise a great game.

[Elf1]

I did and the ref imposed himself on the game wherever he could. ruined (for mine) what was otherwise a great game.

Could not agree more BnB, he absolutely destroyed the game for in my opinion trivial issues. One of the commentators said the players were to scared to attack the ball because of his calls.
The same thing happened in Canberra with his calls, players were shy of attacking the ball especially within the 22 for fear of being pinged for something trivial and yet some of the major incidents (high tackle) were left unpunished.

[Happy]

who was the ref?

[zimeric]

who was the ref?

Matt Goddard

[Elf1]

who was the ref?

Sorry Guys Matt Goddard, shouldnt post when I am at work (it confuses me)

[Burgs]

Yeah, the time without 15 on the park was fairly even throughout actually, probably Bulls for longer from the Red.

[The InnFORCEr]

who was the ref?

Matt Goddard

With that many cards floating about, I think Matt thought he was still at Canberra Casino!

[Burgs]

Seem to recall some comment in the commentary about him becoming a croupier

[mudskipper]

With that many cards floating about, I think Matt thought he was still at Canberra Casino!

Now what did you guys say to him late that night?.....

[The InnFORCEr]

Now what did you guys say to him late that night?.....

You'd have to ask Eley

[AndyS]

21 March 2009 (Posted: 11:53)

Vodacom Bulls flanker Deon Stegmann and Hurricanes lock Jason Eaton have appeared before SANZAR Judicial Officer Peter Hobbs at the NZRU offices in Wellington today after being cited for separate incidents in last night’s Vodacom Super 14 match between the Hurricanes and the Bulls at Westpac Stadium, Wellington.

Deon Stegmann
Stegmann was cited by Citing Commissioner Steve Hinds for a dangerous tackle on Hurricanes midfielder Conrad Smith in the eighth minute of the second half. Smith was up-ended in the tackle, landing heavily on his head and had to leave the field to receive medical treatment.

At his hearing Stegmann was accompanied by legal representative Andrew Scott-Howman and supported by Bulls officials. At the hearing Mr Hobbs viewed video footage of the incident and received reports from the referee Matt Goddard, the match assistant referees and the Hurricanes medical staff.

At the outset of the hearing, Stegmann accepted that he was guilty of making a dangerous tackle. After hearing submissions on the issue of penalty and taking all matters into account, he was suspended for three matches. As a result, Stegmann will be unavailable for selection for the Bulls upcoming matches against the Highlanders, Crusaders and Waratahs.

Jason Eaton
Eaton was cited for allegedly stamping or trampling on Bulls lock Bakkies Botha in the 10th minute of the second half of the match. As a result of the incident, he was given a yellow card by referee Matt Goddard. Eaton was accompanied at his hearing by legal representative Tim Castle and supported by Hurricanes Head Coach Colin Cooper and Hurricanes CEO Greg Peters.

Mr Hobbs said Eaton had accepted that he had made contact with Botha with his boots during a ruck but did not accept that it was stamping or trampling as described by the Citing Commissioner.

Mr Hobbs said that under the rules determining disciplinary matters such as this, a Judicial Officer is not entitled to depart from the decision of a referee if the referee has seen and dealt with an incident, unless the Judicial Officer is satisfied that the reasons given by the referee for dealing with the matter in that way were wrong. Having heard evidence from the referee as to his reasons, and submissions from Mr Castle, Mr Hobbs decided that he was not entitled to interfere with the referee’s decision and impose any further sanction.
http://www.sarugby.net/default.asp?d...icle&id=293096
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Would have thought the Reds might again question judicial consistency - Stegmann's tackle looked far worse to me than Genia's, in that he drove Smith. Eaton was probably lucky too - thought he might have got a week but the yellow card obviously saved him.