Blue Sunday :/

A crappy day to be a Saffa rugby fan. 
Congrats to the Saders who won what turned out to be a much less one sided affair than it appeared at half time.
They were always going to go ahead early in the game and keep their lead until at least thiry minutes in. 
Am proud of the Lions for the way they fought but I do feel that Faf and JSVR should been introduced much earlier. Voster's knee is fked.
Obviously Kwagga's red changed they game and to my mind his brain fart eclipsed that of SBW's by a long way since I am still of the opinion that SBW's shoulder hit was more of a reaction in a weird tackle situation than anything else. Kwagga had all the time in the world to avoid being sent off. He could have jumped, he could have slowed down etc etc.
To my mind jumping for high balls should be completely removed from the game. When one adds up the amount that it detracts from the game in terms of cards and injuries it outweighs the occasional well contested take. The margins are so small and the rules so strict that a good high ball contest where nobody is penalised has become very rare. That was my opinion before this game and I still hold it. My solution is that the rule should be that whenever a ball is kicked the receiver should either have one foot on the ground or be no higher than what an average running stride would take him. Any jump should be penalised. This would remove a great deal of red cards fRom the game and also add a different dimension to attacking kicks.
After the sending off both lineout and scrums went to hell for the Lions.
I look forward to seeing how the Lions get in under Cois next year and hope that they continue in their present spirit.
To make matters worse for us SA boys, we have gone full quota for our RC squad. Leaving out some of the best white players in the country to put undeserving blacks their place. 
Not to worry. The thin white line in SA will continue to battle because it's in our blood.
 

Yep that squad just demonstrates once again that winning is not the first objective.

 
The entire Super Rugby season is contested with one thing in mind ... the final ... and getting into it ... through consistent hard work ... over several months. 

How disappointing to have it spoilt like that.

The red card destroyed the contest and to my mind the enitre season. All the hard work that went in was for nothing in the end.

A card decided who would be the victors.

Damn ... it was a match I really looked forward to ...

One could see the Lions were starting to settle ... starting to pick up a little momentum ... spending a little more time in the Saders half ... and then the card arrived in all it's glory ... snuffing out any chance.

I wonder what the outcome would have been if we were allowed to contest the match 15 against 15?

The Lions should have been thumped by at least 30 pts ... and yet the Saders only just managed to hang on to their early lead ... with the extra man .

Well played Lions ... maybe next season.

Yeah, the Lions impressed me by fighting until the end. I wanted to stop watching after the card, but we were at a birthday party, so I could hardly leave the restaurant. So I watched on, and I am glad I did. I must add, the Lions were competitive against the two best Kiwi sides, even though they had not played a kiwi team the whole season. I was very worried prior to the semi's that they would be completely outplayed.   

 My commiserations Mr Plum ,I know what a hard-out Lions fan you are  so that must have been hard .After thinking about your suggestion maybe we should take the jumping for the high ball out of the game , feet planted no tackling till the ball is taken .I think they are getting a bit sooky with the supposed high tackles ,seems to be of more benefit to the NH I reckon but I distrust any rule they are all for .Remember the ELVs ? there was some good stuff in there never taken up because it didnt benefit the NH like short arm penalties at the scrum.Anyways kudos to your boys and why arent the Boks looking more like a muscled up Lions ?