Super Rugby Round 14 proved to be a complete lockout for the South African Franchises. Stale ideas, poor tactical decision making and some awful refereeing all combining to ensure that South African rugby fans experienced a bitterly disappointing weekend.
Due to the highly controversial nature of the Waratahs versus Sharks game we will focus mostly on that game.
Blues 23 Vodacom Bulls 18
Blues – Tries: Lolagi Visinia, George Moala. Conversions: Ihaia West (2). Penalties: West (3)
Vodacom Bulls – Tries: Jan Serfontein (2). Conversions: Handre Pollard. Penalties: Pollard (2)
When the team leading the South African conference takes on the team at the bottom of the New Zealand Conference and dominates both the possession and territory statistics, there can surely be only one result – an easy win. Not so in the case of the Bulls this weekend and they really only have themselves to blame.
They were very timid in the rucks and mauls and were often wrestled off the ball by a much more determined Blues pack. The loose trio of Botha, Spies and Labuschagne were ineffective at the breakdown, which has been a concern for the Bulls for a while without a true fetcher on their books. Their play in general was sloppy and were often caught out around the rucks with their pillar defence often not being place. Their so-called “exit strategy” was also poor with no consistent plan being in place, often coughing up possession or conceding a penalty on the restart.
Jan Serfontein did manage to cross over for two tries for the Bulls, but in reality most of the work had already been done for him before receiving the ball. For the first try, Pollard took the ball to the line and Serfontein simply had to crash over with one defender on his back. The second try was fairly similar as he received the ball from Rudy Paige after a ruck on the Blues line and the Blues had run out of defenders.
An interesting development in the Bulls camp was the announcement that backline coach Pieter Roussouw would be leaving the franchise at the end of the season. He has decided to enter the business world in Cape Town after the Bulls could not give him clarity on his employment for next year. If a franchise cannot offer that kind of clarity to an assistant coach at this stage, we have to ask if the head coach’s position is secure?
Waratahs 33 Cell C Sharks 18
Waratahs – Tries: Adam Ashley-Cooper, Taqele Naiyaroravo and Bernard Foley; Conversions: Bernard Foley 3; Penalties: Bernard Foley 4
Cell C Sharks – Tries: Odwa Ndungane and Frans Steyn; Conversion: Frans Steyn; Penalties: Frans Steyn 2
I dropped a comment into a Facebook chat group a couple of days ago regarding the appointment of Rohan Hoffman as the referee for this encounter, stating that he was right up there with the worst when it comes to odd decision making. He was also the ref the blew the Waratahs out of the game against the Force the weekend before in Perth. I had no idea that his officiating during this game would be as diabolical as it was, but more on that later.
Sharks coach Gary Gold pulled an Ian McIntosh on the Waratahs, as Willem Alberts ran out with the starting fifteen after originally not being named in the match day squad. This did nothing to upset the Waratah’s rhythm and they attacked the space either side of the the flyhalf channel, scoring in the very first minute. Will Skelton managed to kill off the Sharks rolling maul as an attacking option by continuously getting his big mitts on the ball before the Sharks get set the maul.
Odwa Ndungane scored a particularly pleasing try after flyhalf Lionel Cronje caught the Waratahs napping. Instead of kicking a penalty out into touch, he kicked it downfield for Ndungane to chase down, collect and score. Frans Steyn also scored after the Sharks sent the ball wide. Kurtley Beale shot out in defence and a simple draw and pass saw Steyn in for the score.
So about the quality of refereeing in Super Rugby… As stated before, Hoffman’s officiating was diabolical and that is being kind. TMO George Ayoub also made an incredibly poor decision to disallow a try by S’bura Sithole. For most of the game Hoffman was on the lookout for phantom forward passes and knockon’s by the Sharks, very few of which the television coverage could find evidence of. The Waratahs first try should not have been awarded for two reasons. Firstly, the rolling maul before the try was scored should have been penalized as a truck and trailer offense. Stephen Hoiles received the ball before binding on the ruck. Only after receiving the ball did he join the advancing maul ahead of him. Waratahs winger Taqele Naiyaroravo went over in the corner, with Lwazi Mvovo wrapped all around him. Sharks captain Marco Wentzel pleaded with Hoffman to not only review the visuals for a possible try, but also the possible obstruction. Hoffman stuck to his guns and decided that his original decision was correct. The visuals proved him to be incorrect. What he did send upstairs to TMO George Ayoub was the question “Try or No Try” based on the grounding of the ball. What is important here is that the TMO should not base his decision on opinion, only the facts available based on the video replay. At no stage was a clear grounding of the ball visible and there was a strong possibility that Mvovo had his hand under the ball. The fact that Ayoub went against the evidence presented to him and made a decision based on his perception is indefensible as it runs against the grain of everything that the TMO is appointed to do.
Just before the hooter went for half time, the Sharks were awarded a penalty on their own tryline. Hoffman is clearly heard saying to Sharks flyhalf Lionel Cronje “That will be the half”. Cronje duly obliged and popped a short kick over the touchline to end the half. The Sharks were shocked when Hoffman then called the lineout while they were busy heading off to the change room. Mr Hoffman, it takes a weak man not to admit he made a mistake that could potentially have a direct impact on the outcome of the game. The sporting thing to do would have been to allow Cronje to retake the kick. We simply cannot blame Bismark du Plessis for the very skew lineout throw to his brother Jannie to ensure they retained possession and Hoffman’s arrogant decision and attitude making did not cost the Sharks any points.
This was not the end of the refereeing shambles that we were presented with on Saturday. S’bura Sithole dived over in the corner with two Waratah defenders trying to tackle him into touch. Kurtley Beale’s tackle was marginal and many referees would have called the tackle a shoulder charge to prevent a try being scored, which is a yellow card offense and a penalty try. Hoffman was obviously not on top form and decided against this, a stance we hope, but doubt, will be the standard going forward. This decision was once again sent upstairs to Ayoub with he question being “Try or no try?”. Again, the TMO would need to make a decision based on the video evidence in front of him and not use any form of opinion or supposition. Without any clear evidence of Sithole landing any part of his body outside the field of play, Ayoub dropped another clanger and decided that Sithole had his knee on the touchline.
Sharks CEO John Smit would not be drawn into the controversy over the weekend and simply Tweeted that he trusted SANZAR’s abilities to do the right thing. Good on you John, but you are the only one who does.
Emirates Lions 20 Brumbies 30
Emirates Lions – tries: Jaco Kriel, Andries Coetzee. Conversions: Elton Jantjies, Jaco van der Walt. Penalties: Jantjies, Ruan Combrinck
Brumbies – tries: Tevita Kuridrani, Ita Vaea, Christian Lealiifano, Joe Tomane. Conversions: Lealiifano (2). Penalties: Lealiifano, Jesse Mogg
After trading three penalties, Tevita Kuridrani bust through two would be tacklers to score. Almost immediately afterwards the Brumbies scored again after Henry Speight ran down the touchline and chipped the ball ahead to collect. From the ensuing ruck, Ita Vaea crashed over to score. It did not take long for the Brumbies to score again. After an over-complicated lineout, Robbie Coetzee threw a wild pass from the touchline, only for Christian Lealiifano to latch onto the pass and run through unopposed.
The Lions were paying the price for a high error rate, with handling and tactical errors costing them dearly. Their linout was once again wobbly and far too many times they left the ball unsecured at the back of the ruck. The twenty minutes after half time was dire for both sides and neither team produced any form of quality rugby. Jaco Kriel and Andries Coetzee scored for the Lions, but a further score by Joe Tomane ensured that the Brumbies had done enough to win. The Lions will be concerned that their scrum dominance had vanished once their front row replacements were brought on. They have had a fantastic run in Super Rugby this year and we hope that this is not the end of their campaign.
Toyota Cheetahs 24 Highlanders 45
Highlanders – Tries: Ryan Tongia 2, Aaron Smith, Patrick Osborne, Ben Smith 2 and Gareth Evans; Conversions: Liam Sopoaga 4 and Marty Banks
Toyota Cheetahs – Tries: Willie Britz, Carl Wegner and Francois Venter; Conversions: Deon Brummer 3; Penalty: Deon Brummer
As fantastic as the Highlanders were, the Cheetahs were as woeful. The Highlanders arrived in Bloemfontein and put in a razzle dazzle performance that the Cheetahs simply had not answer to. The Cheetahs were hit a body blow during the week, with their halfback pairing and senior players Sarel Pretorious and Joe Pieterson both being ruled out through injury.
The Cheetahs comeback after being down by 30 points would not have excited out-going coach Naka Drotske as the Highlanders had already won the game and were wondering which gift from the local curio store they would take back home with them. The highlight for the Cheetahs was the celebration between Willie Britz and Rayno Benjamin after their first try, with the two using the ball to “phone” home to mum. Otherwise, there was very little to celebrate for the Cheetahs.
So to wrap up… the South African franchises suffered their first shut out since 2008 and it was a dire weekend for all teams. The good news is…. there is a sixth franchise on the way to stretch resources even further in 2016…
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