I am going to attempt to be as civil as I possibly can be in my review of Saturday’s game between the Springbok and All Blacks.
It is rather challenging to be unbiased and calm about the events that took place at Eden Park, so perhaps you might allow me some leeway and forgiveness for blurting out my dissatisfaction about the game.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get, so I thought it prudent to get my thoughts down as soon as possible before I lose any sense of level-headedness.
Here goes.
When the Springboks ran out and faced the Kapa O Pango, I was filled with a sense of expectation and excitement.
This was going to be the match of the year – the All Blacks at their brilliant best, and the Springboks looking to put to bed some of their issues of the past to really challenge the World Champions.
When Kieran Read went over after a poor mistake by South Africa, where Willie le roux rushed back and Ruan Pienaar didn’t communicate with him to pass the ball inside to take responsibility, I knew the All Black lineout spelt trouble.
The most dangerous lineout is the first lineout five metres from the line of an opponent; the players have not yet had time to assess each other’s lineout, it is the best time to catch a defensive team off guard, and that is exactly what happened.
All Blacks 7-0. Game on.
At the nine-minute mark, Morne Steyn converted his first penalty goal to open the scoring for South Africa and then six minutes later, from a return kick that went high from New Zealand, the players allowed the ball to bounce.
Owen Franks collected and passed back, Bismarck du Plessis saw Dan Carter standing back and started running towards him.
Carter, in the unfortunate position of being side on, didn’t see Bismarck coming and received ball and man at virtually the same time.
Brilliant, hard, physical hit, and Carter was in trouble. Referee Romain Poite immediately stopped proceedings and a fracas erupted, where jersey pulling and a few handbags were exchanged.
Instead of asking the TMO to adjudicate on the tackle, Poite had already made up his mind that Bismarck was going to the bin for a no-arms, high tackle on Carter.
He explicitly informed the TMO to look only for foul play after the tackle.
I don’t know if the realisation of having to play the All Blacks with 14 men for the next ten minutes was just anger, disappointment or despair.
I knew we were in big trouble, New Zealand would exploit the extra man advantage to the fullest.
The All Blacks immediately recognised the opportunity to strike, and so they did, Brodie Retallick going over after a break from Beauden Barrett as their dominance was immediately apparent with the absence of Bismarck.
At the 25 minute mark Bismarck returned and it took only six minutes for the Springboks to score their first try to close to the gap to four points.
Hope and positivity made way for anger despair and disappointment, we were still in this and we had cancelled the try scored during Bismarck’s absence.
By halftime, Barrett managed to add three points to the All Blacks’ total and they were leading by seven.
The difference so far, a yellow card that resulted in a seven-point lead.
In the second minute of the second half, when Bismarck hit Liam Messam with a leading elbow, the realisation the match as a contest had finally ended was irrefutable.
I looked at the replay in ultra slow motion a few times, trying to find a reason why it should not have been a yellow card, unfortunately my initial assessment of it only being a fend is not entirely correct, it wasn’t a swinging elbow, but it did hit Messam squarely on the Adams apple.
Now I am not going to excuse Bismarck for his actions, all I can say is I don’t believe he intentionally wanted to injure Messam. The choice is yours whether you believe something else.
It took but a few minutes for Read to score his try. New Zealand led by 14 and only needed one more try to secure a bonus point.
At this point it was clear South Africa’s defence was struggling to hold out, they either had to commit numbers to the breakdown to slow the ball, or less to have an extra man in defence.
Their seven man scrum was ineffective, and in a sense it surprised me the All Blacks didn’t use their ascendancy against a seven man scrum to milk more field advantage.
But I guess that is the difference between how the southern hemisphere teams do their business compared to the northern hemisphere.
The single biggest problem for South Africa was the absolutely unbelievable poor passing of Ruan Pienaar.
I counted five passes that went to ground, inaccuracy and taking three, four, five steps before passing meant that the All Black defence had an easy time with an extra man in defence.
When Cane scored the fourth try for New Zealand, the bonus point try, the match was over, the All Blacks had gotten the maximum out of this match and South Africa were too far behind to earn any points from the encounter.
As Read was yellow carded in the 68th minute for interference in the lineout, I was wondering whether Poite at this stage had a conscience or had lost the plot.
Either way, South Africa immediately gained parity and their tempo increased, running back at the All Blacks and putting enough pressure on them in the red zone to be awarded a handful of penalties.
It wasn’t five minutes later when Ma’a Nonu got carded for an illegal shoulder charge on Jean de Villiers and, with a numerical advantage, South Africa scored their second try in the 75th minute.
Sadly they ran out of time to score a try that would have provided them with a losing bonus point.
Looking at the match for a second time gave me some hope.
No, South Africa never had a chance to win, not with 14 men, but even when they had possession they made something out of it.
They managed to gain some territory with ball in hand and as soon as they got parity in the player numbers their confidence returned and their running came improved, albeit too late to effect the result of the match – they weren’t going to score three tries in 10 minutes.
This is the highest stage, the whole rugby world was watching, so what do you do when you suspect a dangerous tackle?
You take the extra three seconds necessary when you have already called for the TMO to adjudicate on the foul play just after the tackle and confirm your initial assessment.
That is what a highly paid professional should do – make bloody sure you are right.
Poite didn’t do that, and the yellow card provided the All Blacks a seven-point lead at halftime.
When you lose a players for 38 minutes of the second half, and concede a further two tries simply because you can no longer dominate at scrum time, cannot dominate the breakdown as you need the players in the defensive line, you can no longer create overlaps with one less player, you are on a hiding to nothing against the All Blacks.
The contest is over, as you have conceded three tries while down to 14 men.
Whether you believe it to be fair to blame the referee or not. Whether you want to blame fate, the man on the moon, or whomever, the fact is the contest is over.
I don’t blame New Zealand, they took the advantage and did what was necessary, I don’t blame spectators on either side for exhibiting biased views and distasteful comments, I don’t blame the journalists for writing one-eyed, biased match reports.
But I am livid and in a serious mood to clobber the daylights out of every administrator and referee that does not do their job and are ruining the game played in heaven.
Had I a teleporter on Saturday evening, I would have been knocking a few blocks off.
CHJS
Guest
Jesus mate have you taken your pills today? Or at all since they were prescribed? (Some time ago I'm guessing).
CHJS
Guest
Hello to you biltongbek: Just wanted to say something about this. I know this is old news now, but I was just recommended/discovered The Roar today (so I’m late!) and having read your article I have something to offer. I absolutely understand your frustration, but seems the general consensus here was the ref was to blame for Boks being down to 14 men for 48mins of the game. My view is the ref was responsible for 10mins, BDP was responsible for the other 38mins. And no-one seems to have expressed that. Simple fact is if you (rightly or wrongly - in this case certainly wrongly) are already on a yellow you know damn well that for the rest of the game if you commit an offense close to a yellow card it might mean red. Any smart player would have made sure he didn’t do so. Case and point: When a team is giving away penalties and the ref says “anymore someone’s in the bin” the team stops infringing, and if they do something further (marginal or not) all watching says “well they were warned”. Players are expected to show extra vigilance in such a situation. BDP chose instead to commit a potentially bin-able offense. He should have stayed the hell away from trouble for the sake of his team. He was ‘understandably angry’? Well giving his team a chance to win should have been more important to him in the way he expressed it. If the 2nd yellow was a terrible ref’s call, rather than the 1st, then sure 10mins player fault 38mins ref. Not when it was the other way around though. BDP’s lack of extra vigilance, which he chose not to apply, cost the Boks 38 of the 48mins in my view.
UNCLE GAVI
Guest
so please could you tell me where is roar's homebase
Waikato07
Guest
Ha ha - You're probably right - that's why you keep beating the AB's nearly 1/2 of the time.
Paul from Melbourne
Guest
But it is good enough, and is a hell of a better achievement than leaking 4 tries against south africa at home.
Quentin Grey
Guest
Everyone know s the only way to beat South Africa is shit reefs /or only having 14 players /giving penalties under the post from /previous games against Australia and The so called Kiwis. As you know we have the best line out in the world we have the best scrum in the world and if you want to be F/UP we do that 1 against 4 no problem.Some of the world don t like the Springboks because not only do they have best looking guys but they are the best team Australia and New Zealand always come in second in every stage,I know its a hard pill to swallow but its the truth and don t forget to tell your kids and future generations.
StrYdeRZA
Guest
Never mind Stevie if all you can manage in reply is a personal insult then jog on.
Stevo TP
Guest
I daresay you think you can bite, StrYdeRZA, pity you can't read.
Superba
Guest
Of course you're not wrong . Of course not . You're one of those guys that are never wrong . Ask your mates .
Superba
Guest
Bryce Lawrence ended his own career .Doos .
Chivas
Guest
The reason is nobody speaks out against genuinely ugliness. Why is the word slunt not moderated? It was feral during the game and nobody said a thing.... Just seemed to be one voice added on top of another. Personally I could care less about Kevin Du Randt and any other number of obnoxious posters. What annoyed me was that a guy whose posts and personality I have genuinely enjoyed and had fun with in the past was quite so willing to sweep those comments under the carpet. There is a real reason that people don't engage with many SA rugby fans. I can't speak for the situation here in Australia, but there is certainly a feeling in NZ that SA rugby fans are both arrogant and obnoxious. Because they were isolated and roundly condemned during the bad old apartheid days, there is still this attitude and anger towards everyone else. Who determines what is acceptable and what isn't. I certainly don't but where it denigrates to something quite feral then I felt inspired to comment. The thing with swimming upstream is you are going to find the going tough sometimes. There will always be detractors, because that is the nature of these sites. If you become over sensitive to it,your perception can quickly and judgement can easily be one clouded. Of course I am sad Biltong has packed his bags and hit the road, but I don't own his decisions or anyone else's. I merely express an opinion and for the record I think it is much more balanced and considered than many on here. After all it is an opinion site. Some people are angry and sad which creates a rather negative overall feel to some discussions and some go beyond. I make no apologies for those comments or suggesting that I think a regular contributes of Biltongs standing should not sweep it under the carpet. To put that in perspective, I would not ask the same of Kevin Du Randt and his ilk as it would complete waste of breath. If that is wrong then I am happy to be adjudged so. In the meantime as I said. I truly do wish Biltong all the very best wherever his travels take him and his family. It has been a genuine pleasure.
Chivas
Guest
And for some the gloss was rubbed off by some further ungracious commentary.
JayCe
Guest
There's nothing I could add to that RT. Respect.
Jerry
Guest
Aha, someone's not familiar with grapping I see.
Jerry
Guest
Well, one of those AB's was sent off for something that didn't even look like a penalty and I don't think you're gonna get many people arguing that Ma'a Nonu is some sort of Rocket Surgeon.
Jeremy Carpenter
Guest
I think you're being disingenuous to make a comment like that about this particular incident. Rugby is a contact sport. Certainly mistakes are made and punished. Correctly so. To expect players to be choirboys on the park during 80 minutes of intense battle for supremacy and not infringe, is simply insane. If the Boks were the only culprits of this particular 'crime' according to your logic, then why were two AB's sent off in the same match. Or are there two sets of rules to your judgement? I think the main point BB is making is well-meaning and stands true. This game was robbed as a contest by the ref. Simple.
Wal
Roar Guru
All this just makes the anticipation of the Sequel that much more, I just hope we don't get feed Police Academy 10 or this website will become unbearable.
Angus MacMillan
Guest
Hey Biltong I few weeks ago I suggested to a friend to read the Roar because there are a lot of fair minded Rugby Followers from all countries. I said that I liked the Roar because you generally did not get a lot rabid supports getting nasty and making crappy remarks about each other. You got a great exchange of views and observations. On Sunday this same friend said he wanted to read what BiltongBek had to say about the game. I have had a glance at what has happened on this Blog in the last few days . I have come to the conclusion that after a game like Saturdays you get a bunch of people from both sides of the divide that find it necessary to talk the biggest load of Kak to justify their teams existence. I also read comments from the regulars (yourself, Kiwidave etc) that have different points of view , When these are points of view are aired and sometimes they differ but you guys react maturely. Nobody resorts to calling people names You chaps should stay on this Blog because you , Kiwidave Wal and quite a few other create an atmosphere that makes the roar a regular great read. Don't let a few immature fly by nights corrupt a great site .
Pakes
Guest
Boet, I thought he was gonna drill him into the ground........damn that would have been disastrous..who knows what poor Mr. ref would have done
IvanN
Guest
haha - did anyone watch the replay of that first yellow? watch the scuffle after - Messam gets owned by Vermeulen.