What are your thoughts on Bryce Lawrence’s performance during the game? He did make some good decisions; I was spitting chips when he penalised Australian hands in the ruck, and another where he called an Wallabies knock on, but both times, he was shown to be correct on reply.
However, there were some other decisions that I thought were absolute howlers.
The biggest was the Aussie counterattack on half time.
As Bob Dwyer commented on the Green and Gold rugby blog,
“For the record, the ref struggled! Amongst plenty of questions which could be asked of him, can someone please explain his decision to ‘prematurely’ blow up play, right on South Africa’s try-line, and signal half-time?”
The Argentinian commentators over here were of the same opinion.
The Aussies made a break, a ruck formed five metres from the Springbok line, and the Lawrence blew his whistle for a scrum within one second. And then called half time.
If time is up, time is up, and the referee has to call half time. But giving only one second for the ball to come out seemed very strange, and out of line with the time he allowed for the ball to come out of almost all the other rucks in the game.
This was a game changing break, there were almost no Springboks in defence, and a Wallabies try seemed likely.
Lawrence should have allowed more time for the ball to come out.
There was a similar incident on the Aussie line, earlier in the first half. The Sprinboks attacked, the Wallabies managed to recover the ball, and instead of booting it out, tried hit ups to make more space.
When the Aussie ruck was under the posts, I think it might have been Elsom who did the hit up, Lawrence blew up the ruck, to give the Wallabies a scrum as he thought the ball was trapped.
He then apologised to the Wallabies as the ball came out at the same time as he blew the whistle. Again it was a case of not giving enough time to let the ball come out.
There were many other incidents in the game that I saw as questionable. Perhaps the biggest was when Fainga did his crunching tackle, a number of Wallabies cleaned out and Australia was penalised for diving over the top in the ruck.
The Australians were not diving over the top. There were no South African players there defending, so when they cleared out, they simply went over the South African player and some fell over.
There was another incident where Sekope Kepu tackled a Springbok player. As he tackled he remained underneath the Sprinkbok. He was then penalised for not rolling away. Two points:
1. He was trapped underneath the player he tackled. There was no way he could roll away.
2. He was not interfering in any way with the Sprinboks clearing the ball. It was one of those decisions to letter of the law, but which made no sense in the context of the game.
Maybe I am just a one-eyed Wallaby supporter, but I think the refereeing performance was disastrous and very one sided, but the Wallabies didnt seem to have a chance being penalised whenever they were in attack or defence.
The penalty count was 7-1 in the first half. Your thoughts, Roarers?
Rugby Diehard
Guest
Yeah Brett Slotar a great bit of writing that mate - sorry your team had to catch an early plane. I am assuming you are a Prisoner Of Mother England as no one else would try so hard to snidely belittle Australia. "Looking at all these post, it makes me wonder why so much fuss is being made when the Wallabies won" - I am usually someone who defends referees and agree that decisions go for and against you. I would never complain if we had lost the game as that is just sour grapes, however, when you win a game I think it puts you in a fair position to commment on the way the referee controlled the game. At best BL was inconsistent and confusing and at worst he was biased - one of the best examples of this not already mentioned was when Alexander was "popped" in a scrum and a second or so later the Boks also stood up - BL immediately penalised Australia. There were numerous examples of both teams "standing up" however no further penalties were dished out for this. The best example was shortly after B Du PLessis came on and (on SA ball) the scrum wheeled - BDP clearly stood up as the scrum got to 90 degrees so they didn't lose the feed - this was an example of when standing up in a scrum should be penalised - however BL blew this up and reset the scrum with SA feed - please explain. Brett - Rather than just making general statements about how "The Wallabies continuously prevented the ball from coming out and slowed the game down" would you mind making some specific examples. As you use no specifics yourself I am assuming the linesman was "in Australia's pocket" because he penalised the Boks for upending and injuring Samo in that lineout - can you explain to us why this was not foul play?
Brett Slotar
Guest
The crazy thing is that apart from a bad decision to prematurely end the first half, the rest of the rugby world (apart from the Australians) are commenting that the refereeing was totally biased against the Boks. Posts in England, Wales and New Zealand all say the same thing...Sprinboks 15 vs Wallabies 16 (+1 Linesmen...I would like to add) :) The Wallabies continuously prevented the ball from coming out and slowed the game down. No worries about the fact the Boks were on the Wallabies tryline and for no apparent reason , the Wallabies were given a scrum after in front of the referee playing the ball on the ground. I honestly can understand the moaning, because after winning a game with 25% of the possession you are trying to find an excuse or an answer to the small possession you had. Hopefully, for your sakes it work's because the All Balcks wont be so forgiving. They are a far more intelligent, strong, technical and lovely to watch rugby team who go all out and entertain not only their fans but the rest of the world. They are in their own class currently and I see a fairly comprehensive victory next week and I hope they can go on and get the trophy, because they DESERVE it. I am still not sure how complaining about the ref can justify the miniscule possession you had and if you think that it was the referees fault well good luck to you. There is no way a referee would be giving the Boks help, especially a New Zealand referee who would be hoping that they dont need to play the Boks as they were the only team who look capable of defeating them in a knockout stage. I will be watching the Haka next week with much praise and with lots of money bet on the All Blacks to break their World Cup duck. It is like having money in the bank..
Brett Slotar
Guest
Looking at all these post, it makes me wonder why so much fuss is being made when the Wallabies won. I guess the Australians are trying to justify the poor refereeing decisions constantly going their way. Perhaps its a case that as usual they are one minded and fail to look at other perspectives. Dont mention two players tackling around the neck in front of Lawrence, continuosly not letting the ball out. The game was actually 17 vs 15 . Wallabies had the referee and linesmen in their pockets and the All Blacks. The All Blacks benefited greatly by having the Wallabies through. It will make a final spot a breeze. 70 % possession for the the boks... haha. 30 % for Wallabies..but oops that must have been the referees fault. Sorry.. I predict the All Blacks winning by 15 or more points. And when they win , I suppose it will be down to poor refereeing. Sorry for the negative post but can only expect constant bickering from supporters of a team that just won ...embarrasing. Perhaps by 2015 they will still be crying about the blowing up of half time...one bad decision.
Tim
Guest
When referring to an incident in the game it might be useful if Roarers place in brackets the time in the match the incident took place. e.g Obscene Lawrence decision (78:16). The majority (at least in the UK) have digital recorders in their PayTV boxes, would help us locate the incident. Thoughts?
sharminator
Guest
I was wondering about the one you mention too .. A Wallaby player ... not sure if it was Moore "coming in" from the side at the end of the game. I only saw the replay once but was wondering if i was legit or not. I think there was a similar one in the first half where the Aussie cleaned out the Bok ruck and tackled the halfback only to get penalised.
sharminator
Guest
ok cool ... over here we dont get the referee´s microphone noise .. just the Argentie commentators ... so we didnt hear what Lawrence said to Kepu .. from the images we thought Kepu was simply showing disbelief and Lawrence was telling him to shut up. haha. I stand corrected on that one then.
Old Weary
Guest
completely agree a shocker, and truly struggled with the half time call, and why only one team was penalised at the breakdown - but the penalty you reference above was not against Kepu, it was Moore and he did clearly make that point to them, and on replay was a fair call (although fair call and consistency are two different things)
Matthew Skellett
Guest
Absolutely "on da button" Author, Mr Lawrence was trying his best to win it for the South Africans that's for sure , payback i guess for Mr Jourbet deciding to "stay out of the line of sight" when the All Blacks did their throw ins on the line outs at Eden Park :-)
vaguely
Roar Pro
When Kaplan makes a contentious decision you always think that he knows what he is doing; yet does it anyway. Lawrence I thought was an ok ref - until that game. The most poignant thing I have ever heard Kearns say was that Lawrence is soft at the breakdown, it;s where it all started to go wrong, the other mistakes came from there.
Charging Rhino
Guest
playmaker you are so one-eyed it's frightening!! The real truth is Elsom and McCabe should've had 10 minutes in the bin for their spear tackles. What's the deal with their citing anyway??? Those tackles made Jean DVilliers one last year look like a loving hug to the ground (which he copped a 2 match ban for???). Don't moan about Bakkies because he's bigger and stronger than everyone else either. I mean please it's not his fault every else goes backwards when he tackles or runs into them. Who are the real thugs? So I agree... Lawrence was appalling... just looking at it from the other side.
Argyle
Roar Guru
Mate I think you are pretty spot on except for the Kepu incident. i think he actually penalised a second wallaby player, maybe Sharpe. Kaplan and Lawrence have been poor consistently. Steve Walsh is very erratic. Stu Dickenson is all about Stu. That Irish dude with the French name seems OK. I really miss Paddy O'Brien, Peter "Get of it" Marshall and even One Nut Erickson. Who do reckon is the best ref going around?
Doug
Guest
My bad, yes it was off the charge down.
saddies
Guest
Really folks you should hear yourselves. You looking to sooth your own anxiety about a wallabies team that only just beat a very poor springboks side. I agree with some of the criticisms regarding BLs poor calls but many of you are just regurgitating the same whinging that the Kiwis spouted after the 2007 RWC loss. The sad part is you all won. Pathetic. Get off you couches and go ref a few club games before you make any more comments.
Jerry
Guest
That's not quite correct HH, if it's taken into the in-goal by the defending side the charge down also has to be in the in-goal. If the ball has passed the goal line and is then charged down it's a 22m restart. "If a defending team has put the ball into their own in-goal and a defending player kicks the ball so that is charged down in in-goal and then made dead, the attacking side is awarded a 5-metre scrum in line with where the ball is made dead and they throw in the ball." Note - 'charged down in-goal'.
Harry
Guest
Didn't realise that Kraplan (Semi V Blues) and Lawrence (Final v Saders) were Australian.
Happy Hooker
Guest
Kaplan is annoying - Lawrence is out of his depth.
Happy Hooker
Guest
What game were you watching???? Don't you remember Bryan Habana's white sleeves being penalised? (You'd think someone would tell Habana that wearing that white compression garment gives him away every time). You should focus on the positive Shore Thing. Shore won their first game on Saturday - albeit it was only against Grammar.
Happy Hooker
Guest
I'd ask for a translator if I knew what language kiwidi was speaking!
William
Guest
Thank G it was Lawrence refereeing and not Dickenson otherwise the Aussies would really have something to moan about. Ask any Crusader!
Happy Hooker
Guest
It wasn't a kick Doug, it was a charge-down by the Wallabies. Bryce had a shocker, but I don't blame him on this occasion. By way of background, there is an exception to the law relating to charge-downs, but it doesn't apply in this situation. It relates to when a kick by the defending team from in-goal is charged down by the attacking team. The law provides that it is always a 5 metere scrum, irrespective of where the charge down occurs. That is, even if an attacking player is in the field of play (as opposed to in-goal) when he charges down a kick from in-goal, it is still a 5m scrum, even though it is the attacking team that puts the ball into in-goal. In the heat of the moment, I can undertsand Bryce thinking "chargedown, exception, 5m scrum", except he initially forgot that the defending team kicked the ball from the field of play. But that is not to defend him. One of the most important measures of a good referee is how they referee the tacke/breakdown. Bryce failed miserably in this match, as he did in the Super 15 final. He is refereeing without any confidence at the tackle. No other referee has anywhere near as many scrums from an indeterminate tackle/ruck/maul as Bryce has had in these two particular matches.