The Brumbies face the unenviable task of toppling the Stormers at Newlands Stadium on Saturday in one of the two quarter finals that sees the loser exit the Super Rugby competition for 2015.
The biggest issue for the Brumbies could well be the penalty count – given that the Referee, Jaco Peyper, the assistant referees Craig Joubert and Jason Jaftha, and the TMO Deon van Blommerstien – are all from South Africa.
While I am I no way suggesting the match officials are consciously biased, it seems illogical for Sanzar to appoint a South African referee, two South African linesmen, and a South African TMO to such a critical match held in South Africa, between a South African team and a foreign team.
For no matter how you view this, it is undeniable that the opportunity for bias exists, even if it not conscious. Why allow for the possibility, when it could easily be avoided by appointing at the very least, a referee from a neutral country.
Anyone who has been to South Africa knows that it is no place for the faint hearted when it comes to rugby. The home crowds are not shy in voicing their pleasure or displeasure with referees, linesman, the TMO and anyone else who comes within their line of vision.
Let’s face it – match officials are only human after all. While it is potentially unfair on the Brumbies, it is also unfair to put the Referee Jaco Peyper (in particular) in this position, no matter how accomplished and impartial he may be.
On top of the pressure that Peyper will inevitably be under, World Rugby has instructed referees, quite rightly, to be stricter on the rolling maul. There is no doubt that some of the mauls constructed and executed by teams in the Super Rugby competition have been very loose and it is imperative that the rules be enforced properly.
While the construction and execution of a properly constructed maul is an art in itself, the difficulty does not lie in doing it lawfully – players simply need to join the maul from behind the foot of the hindmost teammate in the maul and ensure they are caught in or properly bound to the maul at all times.
Given the driving maul has been one of the Brumbies main weapons, there will be added pressure on referee Peyper to police it properly. This of course is a two way street as properly constructed mauls are extremely difficult to stop, so the onus will be on the referee not to just police the attacking side but to scrutinise carefully the tactics employed by the defending side to thwart them.
While both teams may be concerned about the referee’s interpretation of the driving maul, the Brumbies other big concern may be their scrum. I strongly suspect that whoever gives away the least penalties will win this game and the last time these sides met, the Brumbies were on the receiving end of a 5-19 penalty count largely from scrum infringements.
There is little doubt the Stormers will come at the Brumbies’ scrum with all guns blazing. While they have lost their inspirational captain and Number 8 Duane Vermeulen, the rest of their pack is intact and remains a formidable force.
The Brumbies have struggled with their scrum at various stages throughout their 2015 Super Rugby campaign and they will be looking for a massive effort to ensure that it does not become their Achilles heel. Having prop Scott Sio available is a plus but whether that is enough remains to be seen.
Both teams have extremely good goal kickers, and the Stormers will no doubt look for field position so they can unleash the tremendous goal kicking skills of their No 10 Demetri Catrakilis, who will make the Brumbies pay for any penalties awarded against them within kicking range. With an 88.9 per cent success rate in the 2014 season of Super Rugby, and an even higher success rate over 89 per cent in 2015, he is a very big threat.
His opposite number, Christian Lealiifano is also no slouch at goal kicking, despite his uncharacteristic crucial miss the last time these two teams met.
This game is an even money bet, with the Brumbies having the benefit of being in this position a number of times before.
Nonetheless, I think the Stormers might just get over the top of the Brumbies, as I will be surprised if the latter end up on the positive side of the penalty count.
And whoever wins the penalty count should win this match.
Sluggy
Roar Guru
Is Angus Gardner injured?
atlas
Guest
This weekend's officials for semifinals. Time to re-hash last week's complaints! read it and weep Super Rugby Semi-final One. Match No.123:Hurricanes v Brumbies Date : Saturday 27 June 2015 Venue : Westpac Stadium, Wellington Kick Off : 19:35 local, 07:35 GMT, 09:35 SAST, 17:35 AEST Referee: Glen Jackson Assistant Ref 1:Chris Pollock Assistant Ref 2:Nick Briant TMO : Ben Skeen Super Rugby Semi-final Two. Match No.124: Waratahs v Highlanders Date : Saturday 27 June 2015 Venue : Allianz Stadium, Sydney Kick Off : 19:55 local, 09:55 GMT, 11:55 SAST, 21:55 NZST Referee: Craig Joubert Assistant Ref 1:Andrew Lees Assistant Ref 2: James Leckie TMO : George Ayoub
Muzzo
Guest
@ tinfoil hat Well mate, whose fault is that, that bugger all people watch super rugby? My guess, & from what I know, that it is entirely the fault of the ARU, who keep on succumbing to the Murdoch media, instead of getting off their rectums & look for profitable sponsors that will challenge what the other mob has put in place. Super Rugby needs free to air TV. I know myself I would rather watch provincial/state teams from other countries compete against what we have to offer, than just boring repetitive club league games. If you can call it a game. There is nothing better than true international competition. NZ & SA have free to air, why not us?
Sluggy
Roar Guru
Tomane certainly finished well. Before last night A back 4 of Kuridrani Tomane/AAC Folau was looking likely, with Horne and/or maybe even JOC on the bench, and Speight challanging.. However, Kuridrani made a few defensive mistakes last night, Speight rubbed himself out for about 4 weeks, and some new questions were raised.
GWS
Guest
After the performance of Rohan Hoffmann in a couple of matches this season gone, Australians should not be throwing any stones.
joeys78
Guest
I presume Tamane's performance now puts and end to the Tamane /Horne debate. Tamane tonight showed his absolute class, please Tahs tragics' acknowledge who is in the better form and who deserves the first shot at the Wallabies !
Sluggy
Roar Guru
Good post TF. Hoffman can ref the semi in Sydney, and you can quote the Saffers here on why that's all OK.
ThugbyFan
Guest
I know that at times SANZAR is the synonym to stupidity, but may I suggest the reason for the all-Saffer referee team was based on a number of factors. 1st: Most of the good NZ refs were involved in the SF between the highlanders and chiefs, so any refs from NZ would have to be 5th best or worse, 2nd: As the brilliant post from Armand van Zyl (4:48am below) suggests, if the refs were a consortium from a number of countries they would spend all day arguing/ignoring each other's interpretations and 3rd: Perhaps money. Surely the clowns at SANZAR could see the problem here and defuse the issue by having the team as two SA and two from Australia (not Canberra). If they are considered by SANZAR to be the better referees, then keep J.Peyper or C.Joubert as the main men (ref and TMO) and the two Aussies run the lines. I don't think anyone would have had a problem then. Next week will likely be the same problem as two kiwi teams slug it out for the final and the NZRU wants an all kiwi referee group. If its the Tahs vs Stormers, I would be screaming blue murder if it was an all Aussie ref team and I am a Tah's fan. Its too late for tonight's match but two refs each from SA and Oz sounds good, no matter who the mighty Tahs play. However to be seen as totally fair after tonight's debacle, the ref and TMO are Aussies and the Saffers run the lines. After all, all referees are neutral, right? :)
Charging Rhino
Roar Guru
What about the Lions? They lost less games than the Brumbies and Crusaders??! Stormers won more than both these sides plus the Chiefs, and would've won more than the Tahs and Highlanders if they hadn't thrown the last game, had it not been for these pesky bonus points that blur success. So what's really fair then?
tinfoil hat
Guest
Because bugger all people watch super rugby in Oz?
2211
Guest
Or Hoffman?
Taylorman
Guest
Yes but where does it stop? Are we saying we want a neutral ref for the current match but also one that isn't from the country likely to be in the next match? That automatically rules out four countries from which to pick a ref., if it wasn't known at that point whether NZ would be playing. And what's that telling the refs about our confidence in them? That we can't trust them to pickup a whistle at all?
Lroy
Guest
I think the heading of this article underlines what is wrong with rugby at the moment. Its a sad day when the guy with the whistle is the most important guy on the park.
HiKa
Roar Rookie
Some sense from those making the appointments would see them not putting refs in those positions. It wasn't fair to Lawrence to be reffing that match. If they don't have the sense to avoid appearance of conflicts of interest, then they should have rules to force that on them.
markie362
Guest
Its funny u say about the ref being biased towards the s.a. style of play whn thats the brumbies style as well.jakeball sux.go landers
markie362
Guest
Its funny u say about the ref being biased towards the s.a. style of play whn thats the brumbies style as well.jakeball sux.go landers
PeterK
Roar Guru
what has any of that to do with your contention re the rule on which refs are allowed to ref. The only rule in the rwc is that a neutral ref (and other officials) for that game must be neutral. There is no rule whatsover in regards to games that are played subsequently even if you wish there were.
markie362
Guest
What a cr$#p post.ur makin excuses already.if the brumbied were good enough they would b further up the ladder.not that that helped the landers and chiefs.
Victor
Guest
Remember what happened to bryce Lawrence after that match? Would he have wanted the all blacks to play the wallabies or boks?
Victor
Guest
I'm glad you mentioned that peterK. That situation was a notable error from the organisers...