Brumbies lose 25-24 to Stormers in South Africa

These 2 tackles had nothing in common . The tackle by Similer took Burger way passed the 90 (his head was way below his hips) and he was about 3 foot above the ground. The DeAllende tackle was 1ft of the ground and the tackled players head was never lower than his hips. The one (Smiler) was a deserved yellow and the other (De Allende) was a good hard tackle.

I agree wholeheartedly with you, that may have been adjudged a forward pass on review, however Berry was certainly not in any position to make that call - he wanted to make it to favour his countrymen. All the talk about CLL missing the kick, so what -the Brumbies would never have made it through the last 10 minutes without Berry finding some reason to penalise them within kicking distance!

That's pathetic mate. It was actually Jonathan Kaplan that reffed and the Sharks were ALL over the Reds. It was 17-3 after 23 mins, then increased to 20-3 in the 1st half before the Reds scored around 36 mins to go to 10 points. They did not score again until the 80th minute. Sharks had the game wrapped up early on in the 2nd half and subbed players and took their foot off the pedal. It was 30-10 at 80 mins before the Reds scored a consolation try after the hooter. That's a comprehensive victory. Offside?? Think you need to re-watch it if it bothers you so much, and watch the Reds critically too! No amount perceived bias reffing is going to stop the wonderful bursts of JP Peterson, Paul Jordaan and Charl Macloed's intercept. JP and Jordan cut them up silly. I remember laughing at the Reds defence. JP did the same thing to the Stormers a week later, who hadn't lost a game at Newlands all season. Cut them up through the middle.

riddler, it was buckley's after changing WB coaches a year before RWC. Im not sure what to call our chances are now with the kicking fubars

Thanks Harry...I understand

Have just watched a replay of the Lions/ Highlanders game. I have to agree with you regarding Joubert. This guy is widely regarded by many as the best in the world. He has too many shockers I feel. His performance in the last 25 mins of this game was very ordinary. There was the try from the charging maul which was just plainly ridiculous. A few minutes later there was another driving maul from which the Highlanders were penalised which was just as bad.

thought the pass was passable, But AR had a better view... didnt he? The Poey steal. Kitshoff didnt hold on, from what I saw on slomo. He let go. Poey start to pilfer but 3 Stormers clamoured over him to stop the pilfer - held up.

Utah, it is not that the "stats do not tell the whole story", but rather just that the stats we are shown are very basic and rudimentary, and insufficient to comprehensively assess kicking abilities. Here is a link to a site that uses a stratified rating system for individual kicks. Unfortunately they are not doing it for SR this year, but if you have a look at their assessment criteria, you will see the recognise the basis for informed assessment. http://www.goalkickers.co.za/

Of all the Aussie sides, the Brumbies have a track record of playing niggly, negative, ref-baiting, infringement-ridden tactics. I think it stems from the Jake White coached win-at-any-cost mindset. They are a curious mix of styles with the ability to play a terrific flowing fifteen man game but a tendency to revert to the safety or comfort of playing negative tactics that nearly won them a title a few years back. I haven't worked out Stephen Larkham's influence on how this is playing out on the field and the role of particular players being on the field or not.

Firstly, I didn't say let's ignore the stats completely, don't put words in my mouth. I said they don't tell the whole story. I asked for the percentage of kicks out wide because I suspect not many of them have been out wide. So to answer your question, he is missing the relatively easy kicks too often. My point is he hasn't had that many difficult kicks as they keep turning them down (due to lack of confidence in his boot IMO). Therefore he hasn't attempted a lot of the difficult, long range shots that the likes of Harris (or anyone from the NZ or SA conference) would take every day of the week. On top of this, he has missed some very simple and crucial kicks that have cost the Brumbies games.

The infraction that Pocock got away with at 69m occurs far too often in our game. Koch was over the ball. If at this point Pocock had bound onto him and driven him off the ball that would have been ok but what he did was to willfully go off his feet and then grabbed and held Koch by the ankles as you said. These sorts of infringements unfortunately seem to be blatantly obvious to almost everyone watching the game other than the referees.

I don't care what his stats are, when a kicker misses two identical kicks from almost dead in front (see also: the one he missed against the Blues) he has to be considered unreliable until he goes a long time without doing it.

I’d love to see the percentage of those kicks that were out wide.

He’s missed 3 or 4 absolute sitters from virtually straight in front that have cost the Brumbies games.

The time it happened previously, in 2012 with the Reds, their "home" qualifying final against the Sharks was reffed by Jaco Peyper. He allowed the Sharks to stand offside all game (truly not an exaggeration) which ensured the result for the Sharks. They did win a semi away (v. Stormers?) to make the final, so you could argue they deserved to get past the Reds, but fans want a fair contest. You can't complain if your team is beaten in a fair contest. SANZAR might eventually work out that happier fans naturally recruit more fans and help expand the market for rugby. Whinge-worthy reffing might give good copy for journalists but is a turnoff for outsiders to a sport. Ref quality has a long-term effect on the number of paying eyeballs. SANZAR and WR should think with their wallets and invest in improving the standard, and even consider two refs with one concentrating on the breakdown, or put video ref on equal footing with man in the middle so you get the benefit of extra eyes and maybe extra years of experience from refs no longer fit enough to run on the park. Think of all the infallible refs that watch matches on video and get every call right!! I know I do.

Stats don't always tell the whole story. I'd love to see the percentage of those kicks that were out wide. The Brumbies have knocked back most of the difficult penalty shots this year and instead kicked for touch. They've scored very few tries in the corner, as most of their tries have been up the middle by the forwards. I don't think anyone who's watched all their games could say CLL is kicking well. He's missed 3 or 4 absolute sitters from virtually straight in front that have cost the Brumbies games. Great bloke, but he's struggling with the boot and his confidence.

Yes Joubert is married with young kids. I used to live in the same area as him and would see him in the local gym quite often. A couple years ago at the gym, his little boy (only about 3 at the time) was staring through the big glass panels looking at all the girls in the aerobics class. I mentioned to Craig, "He's checking out the chicks hey...!" Craig quipped something to the effect of, "Yep starting him from a young age."

Agree on the commentators; really partisan (and, in my view, unprofessional).

Agreed, Joubert (on average) is better than most, But when he makes mistakes, his arrogance makes them into howlers (like, for example, when he ignores the TMO entirely). Watch Jaco van Heerden, in my view, the up and coming star official.

I also thought Joubert had a really bad game. As a former Lions supporter (with, still, a soft spot for the union, and this team in particular) I thought, on a number of occassions, that the 'Landers were hard done by. Just one example was the Kriel try off an extended maul; how Whiteley and Teckelenburg was not blown for obstruction is beyond me, they were taking out defenders over the final 5 metres without even pretending to be bound to the "maul"...that was a shocking one, and I think the 'Landers must have been just stunned right then. I love the way the Lions play, I love to see them win these close games, but I do not enjoy seeing them win unfairly (which is not to say that they could not perhaps have won this game without help from Joubert). If the roles had been reversed, I would have been furious!

White was moving towards his own goal line and released the ball right over it. The receiver caught it one meter out. The ball travelled forward; there was no case for momentum ie. The pass was forward.