Lawrence blunders his way out of a RWC semi-final

I wonder if you still think the same it will be sad if you still do

All your biased lengthy objections here are pointless, Lawrence has subsequently spoken frankly of his mistakes against SA, adding "I had four good games at the World Cup and then I had that." "What transpired was that I didn't make decisions against Pocock that I should have made."

New Zealand, Australia, England, and South Africa have not made the Quarter Final in every Rugby World Cup

Bryce Lawrence new that the All Blacks and Australia were knocked out of the 2007 Rugby World Cup Quarter Finals, so he wanted to make things even by making the 2007 Rugby World Cup Champions lose the Quarter Final, same reason when Steve Walsh Refereed the England vs France Match.

As a former referee myself for almost 12 years, it was a bit of a dissapointment that someone with the stature of Bryce could allow himself to openly cheat, yes cheat. In 1995 the All Blacks cried wolf about Suzie the waitress. Now this might be or not, what stop South Africa to cry NZ government involvement in match fixing. If Australia win Ausies will flock over the ditch. Qiuck flight, favourable spending power, economy boost assisting Christchurch. Cospiracy?Whatever the situation if Bryce did make mistakes(as one writer says more so against Aus) then if he made 10 mistakes say 7 to Aus and 3 to Sa then Sa would have most probably scored 9 points for they were camped inside Aus Territory. The only thing Aus could have been able to do was clear their lines. Still a SA win. Bryce new this therefore his reluctance to penalise. Cheat both sides and reduce the blame for cheating the bettor side. Bryce should never be allowed to ref again he stole from 48,000,000 people and is therefore a common criminal. Nor he or Paddy O Brain(less) has come forward and commented, I know their reaction would be we do not need to we did nothing wrong. Anyone who remotely believe Aus deserved to win has serious issues with reality. The game was rigged no argument and the stigma that will follow Bryce for the rest of his life is that he is a cheat and spoiled a game that officially makes World cup 2011 a huge failure.

you are a cruel man! :)

Mike Me thinks the Aussie doth protest too much. Your argument for SA being favoured at the breakdown is nonsensical and unsubstantiated. Your posts are too long because you are obviously overcompensating.

Thats right Jerry. If Jean was not stopped dead in his tracks the pass would have looked above board, as it was.

Snakker/Mike - As an observer is the child the one resorting to name calling and taking his bat and ball and going home or the one constructing an argument using real examples. I admire your persistence Mike but arguing with the irrational is very difficult. You should try getting married to get some practice at it!!

like talking to a child...I'm out of here

"Dare I say it Mike….I told you so." Nice try Guzilam. All Blacks were always favourites for this game. If the loss of Carter had really hurt them, then things might have been different, but as I commented several times after the Argentina game, Weepu stepped mightily into his playmaking shoes. So no, you don't get a leg up for your poorly constructed arguments, just because the team that was more likely to win, did so. "Just as I predicted yesterday…Wallabies exposed, sadly. You still believe the Boks would not have given the All Blacks a better game?" Yes, I do, Guzilam. If you stated some rational reasons for your argument, I might think differently. The Boks only did as well as they did because Lawrence's loose refereeing allowed them to ignore penalties and rules at the breakdown and in the rucks. Where exactly in this tournament or in the lead up to it have the Boks shown that they have the style or skill to have played better than Australia in this game? (Note, this is not a denigration of the Boks. They are a great side with a proud history. But this is one of their low points. The suggestion that only the Boks could give the ABs a tough game at the present time is ludicrous). "Our scrum went backwards…" Yes, something that the Boks singularly failed to do. They had one only good scrum result against us. "Pocock, Cooper, Genia…well the entire bladdy team cannot play rugby on back foot ball and the All Blacks knew that." No team can play rugby on the back foot. You don't need to be an All Black to know that. "As I said yesterday, watch this space…the Wallabies will in future loose against weaker opposition….cause their game plan is exposed." Yes, I take a lot of notice of your predictions Guzilam – they display such deep knowledge of rugby! "NZ made Genia and Cooper look like schoolboys. Did Pocock actually play? Oh yes he did…but was nullified against a ref who actually knew how to police the break down." Pocock wasn't "nullified" (or whatever other schoolboy adjectives you may come up with). He was one of the better Australian players last night. But he and Richie McCaw played exactly the sort of game you would expect good No 7s to play under a tight referee. Under a loose referee, McCaw (or Brussow or Warburton for that matter) would have played exactly the same game that Pocock did last week. "We simply did NOT bring the physicality the Boks would have brought to this game…face it!" Bok "physicality" does not win them test matches against either All Blacks or Wallabies … face it. To decent Bokke supporters, let me add, I have no doubt that will change. This seems to be one of the lower points in your cycle, but you are a great team and will bounce right back, especially as the new generation comes through.

Dare I say it Mike....I told you so. Just as I predicted yesterday...Wallabies exposed, sadly. You still believe the Boks would not have given the All Blacks a better game? Our scrum went backwards...Pocock, Cooper, Genia...well the entire bladdy team cannot play rugby on back foot ball and the All Blacks knew that. As I said yesterday, watch this space...the Wallabies will in future loose against weaker opposition....cause their game plan is exposed. NZ made Genia and Cooper look like schoolboys. Did Pocock actually play? Oh yes he did...but was nullified against a ref who actually knew how to police the break down. We simply did NOT bring the physicality the Boks would have brought to this game...face it! Guz

Doesn't say much for the All Blacks does it, if that was poor performance by Australia? But don't pity the Boks - they did get a shot at it, and they didn't make it. In all likelihood they would have been minced by New Zealand tonight. This was a game for teams with strong back lines, and with a strong referee, not Bryce Lawrence who is so good for the Boks.

Craig Joubert is no more consistent than the others. They all have shockers. But I agree he had a reasonably good game tonight (semi-final AB v Wallabies).

Nice try, Guz, I suggest you read a number of other blogs on roar. I am by no means the only one to hold this opinion, I am merely the last one responding on this particular thread. The reason for my responses is because most of the posts of the "we wuz robbed" variety don't even attempt to put any reasoned argument in support of their case. Its just an attempt to drum up a chorus of discontent. We've seen the same thing before with many kiwi supporters from 2007 (not all, I must admit). The Boks lost because of Lawrence' crowd seem to be fleeing to blogs like this because they aren't getting much support on South African blogs, where there seems to be reasonably high awareness of Boks problems. Boks would not have done any better against New Zealand tonight. They are at one of the lower points in their cycle and need to rebuild.

Well a similarly poor performance as last week by Australia nets them a one-way ticket home. Pity the Boks didn't get a shot at this - think we would have had more of a game then...

Guz - me thinkest that you are a bok in wallaby clothing. I smell an African rat.

Or maybe we are missing the obvious? That Craig Joubert is currently the best ref in the 2011 rugby world cup? He is consistent...cannot say the same for the others?

Mike, let's face it, the fact that you are responding to every comment on the SA Aus game says lots to me and I am Australian. SA played the game in our half for most of the game...those who suggest that we should have lost the game is correct, we were never the better team on the day, i'll admit it. I always said that SA would have given NZ a stronger games and Bryce knew that, my friend I can give you a letter as they say that we will NOT beat New Zealand tomorrow...cause the team that stood a chance of beating them is back home, robbed of a final. As others suggested, go watch the game again, if you understand the rules of rugby you'll know that we should not have won that game. What's the chances that a team with 80% possesion and territory end up loosing the game? Only a ref can influence that statistic mate...make peace with it. Final comment...I feel sorry for our boys in future games against SA, we've been exposed in this world cup...if you don't believe me, watch all our future games against SA. Guz

Coming back to this piece after the match. Not so much relief at Rollard's appointment now, I reckon. What a mess when the officiating is a bigger story than the match itself...