The Crusaders were cheated out of an opportunity to qualify this Super Rugby season because of disappointing refereeing during their game against the Waratahs. There, I said it. Not because I have been a dedicated Crusaders supporter for the past decade, but rather because it is the truth.
To make it clear, the Crusaders did not play their best game. Far too many handling errors plagued their chances of stringing plays together, a far cry from the blistering performance they put on in the first five minutes which contributed to a Nemani Nadolo try in the 2nd minute.
The Waratahs were able to get two converted tries and a penalty past the Crusaders in the first half alone, taking them to halftime well in the lead. The Tahs dominated both possession as well as territory throughout the game, but the scene could have and rather should have been very different from the 17th minute of the game.
Lock Will Skelton was reviewed on three separate occasions throughout the game yet was cleared of any foul play on each occasion, despite each incident being card worthy. It seemed his only intention throughout the game was to injure as many opposition players as possible until he was caught.
The worst offence was a shoulder/tip-tackle on Sam Whitelock in the 17th minute with the help of fellow thug, hooker Tolu Latu. However, it was Latu who received the yellow card despite multiple replays showing it was Skelton who was the main player in the incident, an incident that in a properly referred situation would have resulted in a red card, meaning the Waratahs would have played with 14 men for the majority of the game.
Post-match, a SANZAR commissioner stated that both players had acted in a way that met the threshold of a red card, meaning the Crusaders could have potentially had a two-man advantage on the Aussie team.
Had this occurred, the Crusaders would have had a far better opportunity to win the game, considering their play in the latter half of the match-up was a near 180 of their initial performances in the first half and could likely have awarded them the much needed win.
This was not the only mistake referee, Marius van der Westhuizen made during the game. A yellow card was shown to Crusaders captain Richie McCaw in the 71st minute without any warning whatsoever coming from the South African referee. McCaw should have received some kind of warning from van der Westhuizen and should he have continued to foul, he then should have received the yellow card.
It seemed mind blowing that he was unable to make the correct call early on despite input from his assistant refs as well as TMO, yet without warning pulled out the yellow and further knock the Crusaders down.
Ultimately, the Crusaders eventually succumbed to a 32-22 loss and any qualifying dreams have been cruelly snatched away from a team who will likely fail to make the play-offs for the first time in over a decade of the competition.
Both Latu and Skelton have been cited and will learn their fate this coming week but suspending them now does not help the Crusaders and quite frankly seems pointless to me. The team who is negatively affected by the foul play should benefit from any ruling made by SANZAR, not any future teams who still need to play them.
This game is a bitter pill to swallow for all Crusaders fans but it seems to have annoyed many South African fans just as much, with many people pointing out the fact that if Bakkies Botha or Bismarck du Plessis had done what Skelton had, they would never play rugby again. Your move SANZAR….
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