New Zealand rugby ref Lawrence wary of South Africa

I must have missed Wayne Barnes refusing to ref in NZ since 2007.

Not sure if you're going to read this because it was days ago but you obviously didn't read my post very well. If anything I've been defending Australia to the many South Africans I know and been saying that the Boks didn't do enough to win it where it counted... the score board. I've been trying to convince people to take off blinkers and look at the game from an unbiased perspective. But everyone would surely have to agree that Bryce had a shocker and it adversely affected the Boks far more than the Aussies. I'm not saying he was biased but the BIG calls went against the Boks. I'm not the clutching at straws here if you actually read it. I'm simply describing the South African psyche and rugby culture. Yes, perhaps forward pass in 07, I should watch another reply sometime. But back to this game are you not forgetting the pass that was not forward from from De Villiers to Lambie when he went through but Bryce called it forward?? Even Australians on You Tube have proved that this pass went backwards?! Shocker of a decision. That WAS a guaranteed try. Anyway whatever... I'm over it. ..and I would take Wayne Barnes in 07 any day of the week before that performance from Bryce thank you very much. Perhaps Bryce will bounce back and prove us all wrong... Who knows??

As an Aussie I have to agree with some of the South African comments. South Africa deserved a semi against NZ. Through all the pool games, Australia never once looked like a team capable of upsetting NZ at home. I'd also agree that Lawrence had a very poor game. However I know of a lot of players who have had very poor games as well (Quade Cooper tends to have at least one absolute shocker for every three good games he plays). I have never been a referee, and frankly I wouldn't be a referee for all the biltong in Cape Town, and I do so love good biltong. So while I'll scream every evil under the sun at a referee during the game, once the game's over, it's over. I'll also scream at opposition players for every infringement my biased eyes see. But at the end of the day, it's only a game, I respect the opposition players, and I respect the referees for doing something I'd never have the guts to do. As they say, put up or shut up - and applications for referee positions are available from your local rugby club.

@Sage: No murderous intent from me.... i just know that my country is just a little less than civilized and it can be the Wild West where anything goes sometimes. You are very right we dont like losing.... but we love a good battle and deserved more for our efforts in that game even with some extraordinary defending by the aussies. The game of rugby also deserved more as it was patent the real battle of the WC was gonna be NZ vs SA even though France did us all a favour and finally came to the party.

Probably in jail or looney bin lol

The saffas (insert French) wouldnt care if the boks (insert AB's) lost fair and square. they are quite gracious in defeat.. (From my experiences.) 'If the wallabies (insert AB's) had of played them off the park there wouldnt be all this talk.. but its not the case.. its the same old story.. the refs have too much power!!' 'that game had bias written all over it.. maybe even back hander material'. And some would say (have actually) the very same about the last 20 minutes of the cup for the French onor. No doubt you wouldn't though. He said he's OK but the officials are concerned. With some of the past performances and ludicrous comments by the Saffa supporters it is no great wonder

Such gracious losers. Realistic murderous intent. Jeez, get a life. I wouldn't go either with nutter comments like that

Yawn

That's tosh Riccardo. I think we all know who needs to have a cuppa and a lay down. Shame they don't make Bex anymore

CR I'm a kiwi - was disappointed by Lawarance's preformance but rugby has had these arguments since the beginning of the game its all part of the fun. Disagree Rugby is not a game its a religion at least in NZ

James, Please see Tui's response for an accurate summation of reality: "Pocock didnt “murder” the Saffas that day, he got away with Murder. He was continually not releasing the tackled player not supporting his own body weight off his feet and hands all over the ruck. It was ridiculous. The following week he was refereed properly and got owned by McCaw playing on one foot" Now go have a cup of tea and a lie down. That is all.

Couldn't agree more. In fact the Boks may have closed it out if he was on the field but coulda, woulda, shoulda...

South Africa should be begging Lawrence to come and referee as he will doubtless if unconsciously be hugely favourable towards them to compensate. Smit's comment shows what a bad sportsman he is and always has been.

Rhino, I've got some straws you can clutch too if you like. It doesnt matter how passionate a country is about a game, there is no excuse for the carry on about this issue. The point is not one person on earth can actually prove that bryce cost them the game. There are no such things as crystal balls....so what if he had have pulled Pocock up a few times...would have the Saffer won NO QUESTION? The kiwis have so much more to be angry at Barnes about. Lawrence - did he make some bad calls? Maybe- Maybe not. Did those calls cost South Africa the game? Maybe - Maybe not Barnes - 2007, was it forward? no question Did this cost the Kiwis the game? no question. Now, did the kiwis carry on like a country of children for months after? no, they still talk about it but not with the same child like anger as the boys in green. For the record, I have no doubt Bryce is shocking ref, have been saying it for years. I just dislike the BS comments and behavior coming out of South Africans toward him.

It is my very honest opinion that there is a good chance ol' Brycey boy will get hog tied, bundled into the back of a bakkie ( ute) and end being fed to some farmer's wildlife. i would definitely consider my options if i was him. Seriously.

One thing is for sure Deans s/b sending BL an Xmas card this year ... Without his input Robbie may not still be trousering $1m pa

Wayne Barnes

lawrence needs to get over it.. hes gotta go back sooner or later.. why wont he take it on the chin? If he doesnt go maybe its a sign that he made a few mistakes during the game and the outcome of the match was wrong. The saffas wouldnt care if the boks lost fair and square. they are quite gracious in defeat.. (From my experiences.) If the wallabies had of played them off the park there wouldnt be all this talk.. but its not the case.. its the same old story.. the refs have too much power!! all i can say is.. get stuck into him.. Im an allblack supporter and that game had bias written all over it.. maybe even back hander material..

Mate.... there are a couple million South Africans who live, breathe and dream RUGBY.... like there are in NZ. If anything these couple million will tell you that the media hasn't done enough and the IRB should do more to hold refs accountable. And they will tell you in a very emotionally fuelled manner! To say Bryce Lawrence's name is not popular is an understatement. You see many South Africans boys start playing rugby from about the age of 6 and go through the age groups, (Under 7, U8, U9,U10,U11,U12,U13,U14,U15,U16.... until Open or U18 in High School) By the time they reach Open High school level, in boys schools of roughly 1200 boys there will be about 13/14 rugby teams in the Open category (that's over 200 boys just in open!). In U14, U15, U16 etc will go up to the I's and J's, that's 10 rugby teams. So do you know how hard it is to make the U15 A team... or even B team for example?? There are many many schools like this. Then a 1st Team school boys rugby match can attract a crowd of 10,000 people plus for the big derby games. And this is just school boy rugby.... let alone University, Club or pro. So rugby is engrained into the psyche of many South African boys or men from a young age. Which is great. Just like in NZ. And the ultimate is the Springboks. I guess it's why the Boks and All Blacks hold the the best win/loss ratio's than any other team by far over the whole history of the game... over the past 120 years or so. (All Blacks win/loss only bettered Springboks in 1996 by the way) So it's far more than "just a sport" to many people. It's part of the culture of many SA's. And Lawrence messed up. Big time. He knows he did, which is why he says that a day hasn't gone by since when he hasn't thought about his mistakes during that game and what he could've done better. Now I'm not saying the Boks definitely would've won had somebody else reffed and the other buts and excuses and reasons etc.... I've said congratulations to Australia many times and their defense was immense. However the stats and blatant mistakes are hard for anybody to ignore. And yes the Boks should've been blown up too on certain occasions and but the calls went their way, I know that, but the majority where against the Boks and just shockers... one big one being the "forward" pass from De Villiers to Lambie to score the disallowed try. This is why it hurts soo much for many South Africans, so understandably many feel cheated out. I however say that with the that much possession and territory the Boks should've closed the game out earlier and won convincingly, they didn't convert their opportunities into points and points is what counts to win the game regardless of the stats. And I reckon that the Boks would've given the All Blacks a much better run for their money than the Aussies, as Tui pointed out. We've beaten them twice in NZ recently, they had no Dan Carter (out of six attempts without DC they've only beaten the Boks once... back in 04 or 05). And the win/loss since last WC stood at All Blakcs won 6, Boks won 5 (2 in NZ). So anybody was going to beat NZ it would've been SA. But know one will ever know because they never got to play each other!! Ha ha ANyway take care guys..... remember.... rugby's only just a sport ;-)

Pocock didnt "murder" the Saffas that day, he got away with Murder. He was continually not releasing the tackled player not supporting his own body weight off his feet and hands all over the ruck. It was ridiculous. The following week he was refereed properly and got owned by McCaw playing on one foot. The wallabies should have been out in the quarters (for the 3rd time) as it so happened it benefited us Kiwis greatly in the end as the Boks would have been much harder to get past than you guys.