Rugby Championship Review - New Zealand 29 - 15 South Africa

Who would be a referee ay?  If it’s not enough pressure having to tell 30 men averaging the size of a small automobile what to do and having a split second to make a decision with the eyes of 20,000 drunk and irritable strangers upon you, you now have to suffer the ignominy of having every tiny aspect of every single call scrutinised by the TV pundits covering the match and the millions watching at home.  It’s easy to say (or scream) that a referee should have made a different call from the comfort of our sofas but, the reality is, at ground level and at full speed it’s simply not possible to guarantee the 100% correct decision every time – even if it ends up being a game altering one.

Those mistakes I can understand.  But others – such as the howler Roman Poite made at the weekend when the All Blacks hosted the Springboks – are more difficult to forgive.  Now Roman Poite is usually a fine referee, but what would have possessed him to sin bin Bismarck Du Plessis following an obviously legal (but bloody hard) tackle, even after the video referee confirmed there was no foul play, is completely beyond me.  And beyond the IRB it seems, who have taken the unprecedented step of retracting Du Plessis’ red card that he received after picking up a second yellow early in the second half.  It changed the course of what was shaping up to be an incredibly tight test match – but it didn’t stop it from being any less absorbing, as the two best sides in the world fought tooth and nail not only for the lead in the Championship table, but also for the right to call themselves the number one ranked side in World Rugby.

And despite the Springbok scrum bulldozing their Kiwi counterparts at the very first chance in a bruising opening, it was the hosts who struck first early on.  An awful, skewed kick from Bryan Habana fell nicely for Ma’a Nonu who planted a delightful kick into the corner that forced Willie Le Roux to take the ball into touch.  From there, Owen Franks went close off a great lineout move before stand-in captain Kieran Read was bundled over from close range by his pack.  Dan Carter added the extras, and the bar had been set by the World Champions.

Five minutes later though, and the Springboks were on the board as Morne Steyn knocked over a monster penalty kick which was awarded courtesy of Brodie Retallick taking out Eben Etzebeth in the air at a lineout.  On 15 minutes though, came the key moment.  Aaron Smith threw a nightmarish hospital pass to Dan Carter in open play, and the hulking figure of Bismarck Du Plessis charged out of the line and levelled the fly half fair and square, forcing the legendary All Black off with a shoulder injury.  Roman Poite though deemed that the hooker had not used his arms, despite the video referee stating that there was ‘no foul play’, and sent him to the sin bin, reinforcing the famous theory put forward by Andrew Hore in a Super Rugby match – “Are we not allowed to tackle Dan Carter?”

You’d have thought this may be an even trade off – the Springboks go down to 14 for ten minutes, the All Blacks lose Dan Carter for the match – but substitute Beauden Barrett made that idea seem laughable as he scythed his way up field, scooting between Willem Alberts and Jannie Du Plessis, to set up great field position.  With the Springbok defence in desperate retreat, Conrad Smith slipped another poor tackle from Jannie Du Plessis to feed the galloping Retallick, who slid in beneath the posts.

At 14-3 down, following Barrett’s conversion, you’d have forgiven the South Africans for going into their cage a bit – but that’s not the Springbok way.  Instead, Bismarck Du Plessis, back from his time on the naughty step, emerged from a pile of bodies to claim a try following a brutal lineout drive from the men in green.  Morne Steyn slotted the tricky conversion, and the visitors were within 3 – but only briefly, as Barrett punished a further indiscretion with another 3 points, making the score 17-10 at the break.

Bismarck had undoubtedly been the key man during the first half – for good and for bad – and his night took a turn for the worse early in the second period, receiving his second yellow for administering a bit of chin music onto Liam Messam with his forearm, albeit accidently.  Although this decision was never in doubt, it brought the first half call from Poite into sharp focus.  Had it not been for that, Du Plessis would have been returning to the field instead of leaving his side having to play 40 minutes as 14 men against the All Blacks.

With those odds, you’re always going to be up against it, and the pressure told within 3 minutes as Kieran Read hammered his way over the line from close range, thanks in part to yet another disappointing tackle from Jannie Du Plessis.  It was the athletic number 8’s second score, and Barrett’s conversion took the hosts out to an unassailable 24 – 10 lead.  Read in fact nearly grabbed a hat trick, but he just failed to hold onto Julian Savea’s deft grubber kick following a great break by Retallick.  It was a temporary break though for the Springboks, as a bloodied and battered Sam Cane, who had had a magnificent game, slammed his way over from 2 metres to take the All Blacks out to 29-10.

The game had been brutally physical throughout, and ended with the hosts actually down to 13 men, with Nonu and Read both yellow carded.  It gave space for a final Springbok flurry, as Zane Kirchner athletically tapped a Steyn cross-kick back into Pat Lambie’s hands for the youngster to reach out and touch down.  It left the final score at 29 – 15, with the All Blacks claiming a bonus point and the Springboks showing real grit despite playing over 50 minutes with 14 men.

Poite has now been chastised by the IRB for making a bad call – but there’s once call I really don’t think anyone could make...who’s going to come out on top in the return fixture?  I can’t wait.