By chief -
December 27th 2009 @ 12:47am
Get a Roar profile
Loading ...Related coverage
A year of inconsistent rugby refereeing
A year of rugby refereeing controversies probably leaves most lost for words. Referees in rugby should not be held solely accountable, rugby is one of the hardest professional sports in the world to officiate, probably the hardest.
Without a doubt, a few appointments by the IRB and SANZAR have certainly left a few people scratching their heads and asking why, namely some of the inconsistencies that has, admittedly, impacted Australia.
Robbie Deans has made it protocol to not comment on referees performance post-match. He did so on one exception, however, in the All Blacks match in Tokyo where Mark Lawrence’s refereeing was IRB standard, he just failed to go to the pocket.
But what the public have found out this year is that if the IRB referees boss is your countryman, you probably will be favoured. Stuart Dickinson faced the wrath of Paddy O’Brien after an ‘average’ performance in Milan. It definitely wasn’t the worst refereeing performance of the year, that is for sure, but it didn’t take the cake for being the best either.
Dickinson refereed the third British & Irish Lions Test match, where he probably had one of the best international performances of the year. Alas, Dickinson was dropped from refereeing the Six Nations. The cowardice by the IRB, and in particularly Paddy O’Brien, will stand in the way of Dickinson getting his justice.
Let’s look at Craig Joubert. His performance in the opening Tri-Nations Test was nothing short of embarrassing. His pre-mediation in his decisions against Al Baxter, his interesting interpretation of the non-productivity at the breakdown, and his inconsistent advantage calls.
No, Deans doesn’t publicly discuss the matters with the media after the Test Match, but Joubert didn’t get dropped – in fact, he was rewarded with the All Blacks versus Wales Test match, which he didn’t perform so well in again. But, once again, Paddy’s favouritism appeared to continue, and he was, seemingly, rewarded once again with a high profile Six-Nations match.
We’ll now come to Jonathan Kaplan. Kaplan had a more then ordinary game with his handling of the Australian-Irish match. Kaplan’s performance impacted the result – a result that should have been Australia’s. This performance was on the same weekend of Dickinson’s Milan blunders. It’s interesting how Paddy would come out and say certain things, or not say in this instance, where he appears to want referees to be more ‘accountable’ for their performances.
The most interesting bit is that Bryce Lawrence, after making his own mind up that an eye gouge is worthy of just a yellow card, gets a high profile Six-Nations appointment.
Let’s sit back and reflect an inconsistent year officiating-wise. Hopefully it won’t be continuing in 2010.
(55)
Jerry said | December 27th 2009 @ 5:42am | Report comment
More like 2009, a year of Aussies whinging about refs.
damo said | December 27th 2009 @ 8:15am | Report comment
And more boneheaded resistance from non- Aussies with the ‘aussie whinger’ line. Can’t remember which country your from Jerry but whatever one it is- it is a country full of whingers – about something. I can only assume your team won a few games this year. That is NOT the point.
Now, the issue. The issue is the complicated game of rugby and the perhaps inevitable inconsistency of refereeing decisions under the current laws and refereeing culture. The game needs to be a genuine contest. In the current climate, discretion takes a wild course when you look at referee performances between test matches. The game is so fast the players are so fit that not every indiscretion gets picked up by officials (including Australian indiscretions).
Most of us in this country want a fair contest , win or lose. It affects the popularity of the game here when we have to compete with other codes with simpler refereeing structures. But ultimately the international game would benefit with better administration and application of the laws of rugby. If those laws would benefit from some changes to simplify the job of the referee and increase the fairness of the contest let’s be flexible for the good of the game NOW, not just when Jerry’s team starts losing.
Jerry said | December 27th 2009 @ 8:39am | Report comment
I support the All Blacks and I can’t remember any Kiwis whinging about a refs performance in recent years. Wayne Barnes? Never heard of him.
I agree to some extent with what you say about how hard a game rugby is to ref, but was that really the point behind Chief’s article? Didn’t seem like it to me – he paid some lip service to that sentiment in the first paragraph then followed with about 6 or 7 paragraphs at how bad the Wallabies and Stu Dickenson had it this year and how eventually even blessed Saint Robbie felt so put upon he had to comment.
hammer said | December 27th 2009 @ 8:19am | Report comment
Hmmm – the answer is simple – change the ref’s boss to an Aussie and Aussies in charge of all games – what a whinge this is
damo said | December 27th 2009 @ 9:10am | Report comment
Hammer and Jerry apparently are two rugby fans who have never questioned a decision by a referee or any of the laws of rugby. So is Robbie Deans is just another “Aussie whinger” too? That will certainly be news to him and many in Canterbury NZ.
‘Whinger’ is a mild insult in Australia. Usually uttered in jest. By pulling out the ‘whinge’ label do you mean that the laws of rugby are perfect and that the culture of refereeing are perfect or do you mean to take any opportunity to offend Australians?
Really you “whinge-watchers” are starting to look and sound like….. well….whingers? Let’s have a reasonable debate without the name-calling please.
MM said | January 4th 2010 @ 6:16am | Report comment
Damo – I have been watching the comments to the article for a while now.
1] If the article held no bias – other countries would have been mentioned – but they were not in the context of your of your replies, neither the article and subsequent replies.
2] Yes, the Australians do go on and on… when in fact the rugby teams self, have done their bit and moved on with a great percentage of discipline.
Justifying never was a stamped and approved system…
Thus I tend to agree and support what Jerry is saying – his contributions are indeed very fair.
ballboy said | December 27th 2009 @ 9:20am | Report comment
Save your breath Damo – it really isn’t worth engaging with Hammer and ilk on this one. Too much turkey at the table i would suggest.. The point is made that IRU could do a lot to clean up the game and make it more free flowing but there is too much resistance from both sides of the equator who can’t agree on which rules to change.They eventually will have to if numbers at the gates keep dropping.
Hope you all had a good christmas. Looking foward to S14 starting in a few weeks.
I’m sure the pre-season predictions will start early in the new year.
Hoy said | December 27th 2009 @ 10:02am | Report comment
I have an issue with O’Brien coming out in public and damning his ref for the All Black game, and not other games. Who are the All Blacks to get that type of apology/explanation on behalf of the Head of Refs? Oh, they are from the same country? So what? What about all the bad decisions that Australia copped (yeah, yeah whinge, whinge) but got no explanation?
Kaplan is an arsehole when he refs Australia. He goes in and completely penalises us out of the game, every time. Whenever he refs our games now, I just know we will lose, and get hard done by in the process. Did Australia get an explanation or apology on his bad decisions over the years? I wouldn’t mind one.
ohtani's jacket said | December 27th 2009 @ 10:38am | Report comment
You ought to be grateful that Joubert penalised Baxter. Now you have an improving front row. Maybe if you get rid of more of your useless players, you’ll improve in other areas too.
Hoy said | December 27th 2009 @ 10:52am | Report comment
Hard to penalise backs. Not quite so technical.
ohtani's jacket said | December 27th 2009 @ 11:03am | Report comment
They get penalised for holding on.
Jerry said | December 27th 2009 @ 10:51am | Report comment
Course I’ve complained about refs, but seriously – this is about the 50th “Wallabies are hard done by” article I’ve read this year. After every single Bledisloe match this year (including the one in Wellington) there’s been a bunch of them. Kaplan is a perfect example – I’m sure he’s made some dud calls against the Wallabies this year, but was it his fault the Wallabies lost in Sydney? Most observers noted he actually favoured the Wallabies more than anything.
O’Brien coming out against Dickenson wasn’t a good look, but what people seem to have forgotten is that 5 days prior to that test, the IRB announced it was going to instruct refs to pay more attention to scrums generally and collapsing and resetting specifically. Given that, it’s really not surprising that he comments on a test immediately afterwards which features 10 minutes of scrums being reset in controversial circumstances. Especially given the prevailing opinion on the match was largely completely wrong.
mattamkII said | December 27th 2009 @ 10:55am | Report comment
OJ – actually not a bad point….
Was thinking the other day, and thought to myself. Does Australia now have the best front row in the world? Think about it as a funtioning unit Robinson, Moore or TPN and Alexander…does any country have all three equal or better?
Jerry said | December 27th 2009 @ 10:58am | Report comment
Aus has a good claim, though Moore has lost form this year and I’m still not convinced about TPN. They’re a good scrumming unit and all good around the field.
ohtani's jacket said | December 27th 2009 @ 11:07am | Report comment
Maybe so, but it’s yet to bear any results. It’s really the entire pack that counts.
hammer said | December 27th 2009 @ 3:15pm | Report comment
Simple answer – no
Wavell Wakefield said | December 27th 2009 @ 10:32pm | Report comment
Barcella, Servat, Marconnet & Szarzewski &; Mas;
Jacobsen, Ford & Murray;
Perugini, Ghiraldini & Castrogiovanni;
Jenkins, Rees & Jones;
Roncero, Ledesma & Scelzo.
Depends what you’re looking for in a front row, I suppose.
Liam said | December 27th 2009 @ 12:14pm | Report comment
The thing is Jerry. NO one can deny that in Ireland Kaplan ruined the game and screwed Australia around. The most dignified thing was Robbie Deans not coming out and abusing Kaplan which is currently the trend with the IRB. Dickinson got majorly fucked around, by calls that you could only see from a ‘birdseye’ view. Dickinson didn’t mess up as much as Kaplan messed up we can face that. Dickinson’s performance did not affect the result, while Kaplan’s did.
I’ll admit as a All blacks fan I was disapointed when O’Brien backed Wayne Barnes in 07. I got over it, but Dickinson should have been backed in public, by something that shouldn’t have even gone public in the first place. These things are best done behind closed doors. However the thing that royally messed us around, was when O’Brien says referees were to be more accountable, and he would continue doing so. He didn’t do so at all, and ultimately let a lot of the teams down, except us, by giving a sorry which many would say is a cowardly apology.
Jerry said | December 27th 2009 @ 1:17pm | Report comment
O’Brien was given a royal bollocking from the IRB for his comments on Dickenson, so it’s hardly surprising he’s not given any critiques since.
ohtani's jacket said | December 27th 2009 @ 4:45pm | Report comment
The Wallabies aren’t hard done by. They’re let down by their own poor skills. Their ongoing problems with Kaplan simply come from lack of on field leadership. They never had a problem with Kaplan when they were a strong side.
MM said | December 28th 2009 @ 4:34am | Report comment
Agree OJ – back to technicalities to prove a point.
Anybody who has been in the studio working with the incoming footage from many cameras knows that virtually nothing is missed as all cameras are directed to focus as tasked. It takes two secs to return to footage (which on the rare occasion does happen – wonder who the hierarchy are trying to impress when these “abnormal” occurrences do take place?).
Admittedly, although the sources are there – not every move needs to be technically magnified by these resources – but the lack of use at crucial and critical times has been highly frustrating for those of us in the know – and in the business – it has swayed many a game unfortunately.
As for who’s moaning – I’m not into that discussion – had my say many times – talking technicalities here – so Jerry – you must increase your knowledge further as well ol’ chap…
Dublin Dave said | December 30th 2009 @ 12:47am | Report comment
“NO one can deny that in Ireland Kaplan ruined the game and screwed Australia around”
I can.
Liam said | December 27th 2009 @ 1:44pm | Report comment
Jerry your sources on O’Brien’s bollocking? I thought because if you said a comment like that, you would have to go through the IRB to make such a thing. Would have thought they’d have endorsed it.
Jerry said | December 27th 2009 @ 2:12pm | Report comment
Well, he was due to give a couple of interviews a day or two afterwards which he then cancelled and didn’t make any public comment for a fair while after. It doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure out he was dressed down and muzzled.
Liam said | December 27th 2009 @ 2:23pm | Report comment
I just was under the impression that O’Brien and the IRB had agreed to make these comments. You wouldn’t say those things things without proper endorsement.
Jerry said | December 27th 2009 @ 2:51pm | Report comment
Possibly, though unlikely. It looked to me like O’Brien overstepped his authority in making the comments publicly. Either that or the IRB got cold feet when the public reaction to the comments was uniformly negative. But given no-one from the IRB ever endorsed O’Brien’s comments and given the nature of them (a phone interview with an NZ radio station rather than an official release) it looks more like O’Brien wasn’t authorised.
Bay35Pablo said | December 28th 2009 @ 7:17pm | Report comment
O’Brien came out after bollocking Dickinson in public, and apolgoised. That he said it, not for what he said. So either he manned up or more likely was told to pull his head in (or out).
Paddy used to be a decent ref, but in recent years I have grown disillusioned with him as an administrator. The directions on interpretations refs are told to apply have a huge impact on the game, and make a huge difference to how it is played. Paddy and the IRB in recent years have applied what has resulted in many ways a worse game and spectacle.
If Paddy manned up he’d be arguing for the refs against some of what the IRB asks for. Instead he comes across as their man, making sure the refs apply what are often poor interpretations, and ruin the game.
I can’t stand Stu Dickinson as a ref usually, but in recent years he has presided over some very good games, due to the way he has reffed them and allowed the games to flow. Which is something I never thought I would say about Stu Dickinson ….
Lindommer said | December 29th 2009 @ 3:46pm | Report comment
Funnily enough I’m with you here, B35P. Dickinson started off at the same referee association I belong to in Sydney, he occasionally attends meetings and carries on in his typical lecturing fashion. His style has always been to browbeat, not to engage others in a dialogue. Those who’ve read my posts here (and elsewhere) would know I reckon Dickinson is an overly prescriptive referee who, I think, shows off his encyclopaedic knowledge of the Laws. Simply put, I think he whistles too much. And yet, while we’ve all been roundly criticising refs for mistakes which affect our team, Stuart makes very few howlers and/or errors. That includes the ABs game in Milan where I think they were bloody lucky not to see a forward, or two, carded. In my opinion O’Brien was manifestly incorrect in his summary of Dickinson’s performance. The fact he’s of the same nationality as those complaining robs his statement in this instant of any legitimacy.
The performances which have pissed me off for their sheer incompetence the last few years have been those against the Wallabies whistled by Lewis, Kaplan, Bryce Lawrence and Joubert. There’ve probably been equally poor performances by other referees but as they weren’t against the Wallabies I didn’t see them. Barnes seems to have a very good feel for the game as most games he refs are invariably good to watch. Wayne Erickson had, and Steve Walsh also has, this ability to ref a game which is mostly good to watch while missing very little that’s important.
O’Brien’s immediate future at the iRB is somewhat problematical. His ruling re the tackler holding on to the ball was poorly tought out, and, it would seem, without much consultation. And Dickinson’s exclusion from the 6 Nations refs’ panel is tantamount to petty foot-stamping; his overly prescriptive style is EXACTLY what the NH scribes have been callling for and what their rugby public seem to like. I sincerely hope the iRB are putting plans in motion to find O’Brien’s replacement. Andre Watson seems to be doing a good job with the junior Saffer referees, maybe he’s the man for the job.
PS. The fact Paddy’s a Kiwi doesn’t affect my opinion of him one way or the other. Apart from his comments on NZ rugby, that is.
hammer said | December 29th 2009 @ 4:11pm | Report comment
funny it could easily be said the fact you are of the same nationality as the man you’re defending and the team you reckon have been robbed by so many different refs of various nationalities robs your statement of legitamacy
Lindommer said | December 29th 2009 @ 5:34pm | Report comment
“…you reckon have been robbed by so many different refs of various nationalities robs your statement of legitamacy”. In case you’ve missed it, H, Australia ALWAYS gets “different refs of various nationalities”. It’s called neutral referees.
I’m not an apologist for Dickinson, in fact I don’t enjoy most games he reefs as I feel he’s overly officious. But I find it difficult to criticise him as he doesn’t miss much.
Hammer, Barnes is a Pom. And Watson’s a Saffer. I’m neither, I’m an Aussie if you’d like to know. Do try and keep up.
PS. Steve Walsh is a very, very good referee.
hammer said | December 30th 2009 @ 7:13am | Report comment
Neutral refs wow who would thought – it’s more a reference that poor old misunderstood Australia are actually found out by a number of different refs from either side of the globe
Jerry said | December 29th 2009 @ 6:05pm | Report comment
How do you know there was little consultation re the tackled ball ruling? As far as it being ‘ill thought out’ it was merely putting in writing what was effectively being ruled already.
chief said | December 29th 2009 @ 7:12pm | Report comment
I have to agree with Lindommer, I definitely think Dickinson is a top referee, and I would regard him one of the 5 best in the world. No not at all the best, but from this year we have seen Dickinson’s British and Irish Lions match which as I said earlier was one of the best International refereeing performances of the year, for O’Brien to drop him like that and ensure that Dickinson’s test match fixtures are becoming more and more limited, despite his performances increasing.
My top 5.
1. Barnes
2. Rolland
3. Walsh
4. Kaplan
5. Dickinson
Andre Watson would surely have to be the perfect replacement. One of the best rugby referees, and definitely one of the better rugby administrators going around. You can tell with the upcoming SA talent, all you have to do is watch the Currie Cup and see the likes of Jason Jaftha, and Stu Berry.
As for Steve Walsh it is Lyndon Bray actually keeping him off the main panel. I get the feeling Lyndon and Steve weren’t exactly best of friends when they refereeing together which occurred for so long. For Bray to be the current SANZAR referee panel manager is a joke. No one can doubt that Steve is a good referee, he was probably going to get the 2011 RWC final providing NZ were not in it. He is like Barnes, his games are always freed up and entertaining affairs.
I was reading Peter Marshall’s blog (http://bloggers.heavensgame.com/Main/?p=211) and it pretty much sums up the disarray which the ARU is going through. You get 20 something year old guys who are starting off in first grade and they have really no chance of moving forward.
allblackfan said | December 30th 2009 @ 1:27am | Report comment
If Walsh is accredited with the ARU refs panel, there’s a good chance he could end up controlling the ABs in the 2011 RWC final (provided the ABs make it that far!)
Jerry said | December 29th 2009 @ 8:19pm | Report comment
I’ve always thought Dickenson was a bloody awful referee. Whether it’s not carding Brad Thorn for his throw on Smit and claiming he “didn’t see it” when the replay showed it happened 2 metres in front of his face right in his line of sight or stuffing up the Hurricanes v Waratahs match in the S14 this year. His reffing in the Italy game was bad too, not just the scrums at the end.
ohtani's jacket said | December 30th 2009 @ 1:16am | Report comment
I love how people bring up one good game Dickinson reffed as though Dickinson was the reason it was good. I also love how Steve Walsh is some kind of victim.
chief said | December 30th 2009 @ 10:07am | Report comment
Steve Walsh admittedly bought it on himself. But he was still a damn good referee. And if it is true that Lyndon Bray is keeping one of the best officials out of the game, then he seriously needs to get over it and realise that the current bunch of officials are lacking Steve Walsh’s feel of the game. Steve Walsh had his chances, and he blew them. The NZRU maybe was right to sack him, but look at all the other players out their who have been sacked, they have been given more chances, and it certainly isn’t stopping them from moving forward which Walsh is trying to do.
Allblackfan- I believe Walsh will not be able to referee NZ games but will still be able to referee Australian games.
How a referee controls the game is how the game will be played. Dickinson indeed cannot make a game spectacular, but he can ensure that it is played with very much attacking flair. It used to be Dickinson whistling a lot but he has made drastic improvements to his performances of recent times. As for Dickinson not carding Thorn, he didn’t see the ’spear’ result, he saw the lift after being provoked and then the tackle. It was an unusual style of tackle not the traditional ‘lift, twist, dump’ or the ‘lift, twist, drive.’
Jerry said | December 30th 2009 @ 11:21am | Report comment
That’s a load of crap, he saw the whole thing. Watch the replay http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZchPz1xQII , it happens 2 metres in front of his face and he’s looking straight at it the entire time.
allblackfan said | December 30th 2009 @ 10:58am | Report comment
The problem we’re seeing here is not that the refs are missing a lot of minor misdemeanours (which we can pick up at home thanks to slow mo replays).
The issue is that match officials (including refs) are missing major transgressions, or are being inconsistent with how they treat them.
Consider the recent Irish-Wallabies test: how does Palu get a yellow card for that tackle yet the Irish covering defence on Rocky Elsom as he scored gets away with a blatant shoulder charge?
Or that NZ-SA Test match which Dickinson controlled: Thorn gets banned for one game yet Bakkies Botha gets away with illegal thuggery on the field (I remember counting at least four incidents) which goes unnoticed by all officials. Granted, the weather was atrocious but at least one oof these incidents was breathtakingly blatant (a forehand smash to Nonu’s face 5m away from the breakdown).
As for Barnes … don’t get me started.
It’s time for refs to be appointed on merit (a la NRL) … you don’t perform, you get dropped to a lower level. And vice versia.
chief said | December 30th 2009 @ 11:45am | Report comment
Jerry he saw the tackle, but he didn’t see the landing point of the tackle.
I am not denying that he saw that, I personally think New Zealander’s need to really get over Wayne Barnes, and get used to seeing him for at least another 10 years. It wouldn’t surprise me if Wayne Barnes gets a senior gig in refereeing administration once he’s finished as well. Wayne Barnes actually truly knows his scrum laws, and the ruck is an actual competition when he’s refereeing. If you infringe under Barnes players will know they will not get away with it. Time to face it, Wayne Barnes is the best referee in the world at the moment, and either he, Steve Walsh (if bought back to IRB panel) , Jonathan Kaplan or Alain Rolland will all recieve Semi-Finals, 3rd and 4th play offs and the final.
It’s something you’ll have to get used to, because a lot of people will agree that he’s the best referee in the world.
Jerry said | December 30th 2009 @ 12:28pm | Report comment
Barnes is pretty good (1/4 final aside, obviously) though he seems to really struggle to communicate with players.
As for the Dickenson incident, I dunno what you think you’re seeing. The whole thing was right in front of his face – there was no reason why he would have missed any of it. He bottled the decision then tried to hide behind not seeing it. If he didn’t see that then there’s something wrong with his eyes cause he was looking right at it.
hammer said | December 30th 2009 @ 3:20pm | Report comment
Barnes may well have improved – he should do over time, all refs should continue to improve (massive emphasis on should) – that’s not the issue with most kiwis – the issue was that at time he was no way experienced enough or ready enough to control a W/cup quarter final – that was an IRB problem and one O’Brien should have owned up to – basically he f@#ked up a quarter final of the IRB’s showcase tournament ….
best reffing display of ‘09 – I’d plum for Rolland in the NZ v France game – I don’t think Barnes is anywhere near that level yet … a level Dickinson could only dream of achieving
chief said | December 30th 2009 @ 1:03pm | Report comment
Once again Jerry he didn’t see the outcome of the tackle. Believe me, Stu Dickinson is probably the number 1 referee in the world who will make use of his cards whenever he deems appropriate.
AllBlackfan- I have to agree, referees should be appointed on merit, but their nationality could still play a significant part ie; Australia verse New Zealand you wouldn’w want Bryce Lawrence refereeing. But you would want Barnes or Kaplan doing so.
Jerry said | December 30th 2009 @ 2:37pm | Report comment
What does that even mean? “He didn’t see the outcome?”
Why not? He was looking right at the whole thing. Start. Middle. End. All right in front of him. All in his line of sight. He doesn’t look away at any moment. And quite frankly, the outcome is the most innocuous part of the whole thing anyway – Smit doesn’t actually land that dangerously.
MM said | January 2nd 2010 @ 10:41am | Report comment
Chief – I agree with you. The ref should firstly be far removed from the players and the game – i.e. from as “neutral” a country as possible – and if it’s a northern hemisphere ref – he should have been more acquainted with the ELV’s at the time – and into the future – he should be able to ref the test taking the relevant culture in mind – not merely blowing that “thingy” called a whistle to such an extent where the game or test has 20 minutes odd outage of their game time. We’ve seen it how many times???
Wavell Wakefield said | January 4th 2010 @ 6:27am | Report comment
‘he should have been more acquainted with the ELV’s at the time – and into the future’
What does this mean?
‘he should be able to ref the test taking the relevant culture in mind’
What does this mean?
chief said | December 30th 2009 @ 2:43pm | Report comment
The ‘outcome’ in this instance was how he landed, maybe he should have yellow carded for what he saw, as an off the ball tackle. But he thought it could come across of too harsh, as he didn’t see it as a spear tackle. It is pretty easy to miss the spear element of a tackle you know.
Jerry said | December 30th 2009 @ 3:08pm | Report comment
He landed on his bum – he didn’t see the ’spear’ cause there wasn’t one. But it was pretty obvious that Thorn was reckless in how he dropped Smit, even if he didn’t drive down.
But seriously – I’m baffled how you can argue that Dickenson missed any part of that incident.
MM said | January 2nd 2010 @ 10:49am | Report comment
Hey Jerry….
Mate – in fairness if that wasn’t a spearhead tackle – then I’d love to see the genuine thing….
Be it to my detriment, I try to look at the fair side – and so many can’t be wrong – or shouldn’t be.
Could you or somebody please enlighten me as to how John Smit’s fall had any impact on the game – and whether the unforeseen landing was in any way erroneous??
Jerry said | January 3rd 2010 @ 8:26am | Report comment
It wasn’t a spear cause he dropped him rather than driving him down and also cause Smit landed on his back/arse rather than head/neck. It was a dangerous reckless tackle and deserved a yellow card.
Ai Rui Sheng said | January 1st 2010 @ 4:25pm | Report comment
So the Wannabe’s have lost so many games, (some say closely), this year because the refereeing is so bad. Could it be that poor refeeing has kept the Dingoes in games where they were clearly outcklassed, e.g. four Bloody Slow Cup matches???
Paddy favours his own country? He used to sing Advance Oz Fair E when he refereed. He has probably cost the AB’s two RWC’s so he needs a bit of balance I suppose.
chief said | January 1st 2010 @ 6:49pm | Report comment
He has cost the AB’s two RWC’s? You’re off your head. You are completely deranged, and really need to fix up your arguments mate. They are all flawed, and they are all disgraceful.
First Bledislo- Joubert unfairly penalises Australia at the ruck and breakdown. Not to mention the scrum. Australia clearly outclasses the All Blacks.
Another Bledisloe match- Kaplan does a decent job at handling it despite his reluctance to sin bin both teams. Australia not neccessarily outclassed, just were not the full team. That is not a full 40 minute match.
Ai your comment is stupid, and utterly ridiculous. No one is getting apologies from Paddy O’Brien but NZ. Even though they won that match. Your a bit of a genius aren’t you. Gain a better understanding of the game skip.
Jerry said | January 3rd 2010 @ 8:44am | Report comment
It’s not like it’s been a regular occurance. There’s been one time he spoke out about refereeing decisions and it was regarding a controversial match 5 days after the IRB announced it was going to be concentrating on cleaning up the very area that the controversy was surrounding.
Ai Rui Sheng said | January 7th 2010 @ 5:05pm | Report comment
chief
Your comments are ill founded and emotionally immature. (Play the ball and not the man)
Kaplan is not a always a wonderful referee. When the Kiwis arrested half the Mossad, he penalised the All Blacks off the park. Hardly neutral.
Paddy O’Brien sent a Fijian off, instead of a Frenchman, and the French went on to win and then beat the All Blacks. Possible cost of RWC?
Paddy appointed an inexperienced and obviously partial referee in Cardiff and the French won. That the All Blacks had beaten everyone of note in the preceding months, it is possible to infer that he cost them another RWC.
ohtani's jacket said | January 7th 2010 @ 6:15pm | Report comment
The Wallabies haven’t outclassed the All Blacks since the Sydney Test in 2008, and even then it was a case of the All Blacks slipping up much like they did in Melbourne in 2007. You’ve just come off back-to-back hidings from the All Blacks and are further away from beating them over a three or four Test series than you were in 2008. Unfortunately, the players think the way you do, which is why they always give away stupid penalties. Pure frustration. The All Blacks copped the same from South African refs from ‘98-02. Deal with it.