Brutal, controversial, bloody, thrilling. Just another test between the All Blacks and the Springboks. From a New Zealand perspective some might regard it as a little hollow, for others the gloss may be taken off a little by the card incidents, and there’ll be those who say a win’s a win and that’s all that matters. From a South African perspective there’ll be a lot of anger, something to get their hooks into, and a tendency amongst some to say the Boks were robbed of a chance to score an historic win. The truth is we’ll never know. What matters for the All Blacks is that they emerge with a bonus point victory, a 4 point lead in the rugby championship, and a worryingly growing injury list. Let’s cut to the chase and get the card issue out of the way. There was nothing to justify the first yellow carding of Bismark du Plessis. Surely when asking TMO George Ayoub to rule on any foul play “subsequent” to the Springbok hookers thunderous tackle on Dan Carter he had an opportunity to either revisit his decision, something George was clearly not of mind to get involved in. They’ve now admitted they got it wrong, but the real issue is how could they get it wrong when they had so much evidence in front of them? Both Poite and Ayoub will have to wear that and it will cost them work. It had a dire knock-on effect. The second offence, the raised elbow, was far worse than the first, far more dangerous than people might realise (a blow to the throat can be catastrophic) and was worthy of a yellow - regardless of whether, as some are claiming, du Plusses was taking a “defensive” stance. Leading with a forearm or elbow is dangerous and it deserved a yellow. It’s just that it didn’t deserve the red because the first card was unjustified. Did Heyneke Meyer consider taking his hooker off after the first card? Knowing that du Plessis is one of those who plays on the edge was it a risk to leave him out there in a test that was played against a very tense, niggly undercurrent that occasionally boiled over? It’s just one example of how, for the most part, the All Blacks played this test a bit smarter, until late in the game when their own wee spate of yellow cards opened up the possibility of the Boks snatching what could have been an invaluable bonus point. Kieran Read took one for the team, Conrad Smith was very lucky not to get one for a fairly blatant offence, and Ma’a Nonu’s crude charge marred an otherwise strong game from the AB number 12. But for all the controversy I still think it’s drawing a long bow to say the All Blacks would not have won without the “assistance” their detractors will claim they got from the refs. The set piece had a few early wobbles, and they were on the wrong end of a lop-sided penalty count but they were far more able to threaten on defence, kicked way more effectively and defended better, repeatedly catching the big Springbok ball runners behind the gain line and making an exceptional 93 percent of their tackles, to the Springboks 83 percent. And once again the depth was tested and passed the test with really good showings from Barrett, Cane and Piutau, while Brodie Retallick had another monstrous game. The outcome means that if the All Blacks can grab fivepoints in Argentina - "a big if" but still something they achieved last year, then they would go to Johannesburg either with the title in the bag if the Boks can’t score 5 against the Wallabies, or with the Boks needing the maximum to pip them for the championship. Either way the heat will be on, and just as much on the Springboks. Given their record at Ellis Park, and given how hostile the crowd will be, then winning in Johannesburg will be a huge challenge for the All Blacks, and they’ll want a good win in La Plata to give themselves as much leeway as possible.
Posted on: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 04:47:21 +0000
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