Loose Pass
16th September 2013 11:03
Not popular in SA: Romain Poite
This week we will mostly be concerning ourselves with the case against Bismarck, the Heineken Cup, and innovative disciplinary procedures...
Another belting physical game between the two best teams in the world, another bout of controversy and calls for 'off with his head' to the referee and too little attention paid to the actual rugby.
I don't think you'll find too many people who would say that New Zealand wouldn't have won anyway (including Heyneke Meyer), nor too many people who would claim that Bismarck du Plessis' first yellow card was not extremely harsh. It was a poor judgement call by Romain Poite and he'll no doubt be dressed down by his own superiors.
But there are three aspects of it nobody is paying heed to - or rather, there are aspects where people are looking at it from the wrong angle and criticizing the wrong people.
First up: the video referee. Poite is unequivocal about what he wants from George Ayoub: "I have a decision on the tackle, but please check if there is any foul play after it," he says. All those furious at Ayoub for not interfering should recognize, once Poite has asked a question for something specific, IRB protocols say the video referee is not to get involved. So Ayoub could not have said anything about the legality of the tackle - video referees have been roundly slapped on the wrist for interfering out of their scope of responsibility in the past.
Second: here's a thought - if you already have a yellow card, you probably shouldn't raise an elbow driving into contact later in the game and risk another one. This is the highest level of professional sport and you should expect players to be mentally tough enough to accept an injustice and realize they must play the rest of the game accordingly. The first card wouldn't have mattered as much if Du Plessis had not so foolishly earned the second.
Thirdly, and sticking to the theme of mental toughness, five minutes after Du Plessis' first yellow came New Zealand's second try, which was ultimately down to four missed tackles within the space of 60 seconds. Two of them were absolute howlers. South Africa as a team are not well-known for reacting well to perceived injustice and they certainly paid the price here - that the last of the missed tackles was a peculiar forlorn goalkeeper-style dive from Bismarck's brother Jannie did not go unnoticed either. The first yellow card rattled them hard. Meanwhile, New Zealand absorbed the loss to injury of the best fly-half in the world seamlessly.
Anybody who spends a little time among New Zealand's highest level of rugby personnel will tell you: mental toughness is one of the aspects they spend the most time on because it wins them games in moments like these. It's why they are just so clinical when the chances present themselves.
As the light of day becomes colder, the Bok fans should know that they can bemoan the referee all they want, but introspection and some video analysis ought to reveal that New Zealand's principal edge over them is more mental than physical at the moment.
The good news is that if this is corrected, South Africa could legitimately be the best team on the planet.
A further note on the above: Poite has received the second-hardest slamming of all time in the media; second only to the horrific persecution of Bryce Lawrence. His Wikipedia entry was savagely re-written, he's been labelled 'a disgrace', 'ignoramus' and 'an idiot' by various newspapers, columnists and television journalists, even the classy ones.
It would be a lot easier to feel sympathy for the South Africa at times if many of their fans weren't so ugly about things like this - and it is worth noting that the team management and players have been exemplary at keeping their feelings on the subject well-hidden, as well as pointing out that they also made mistakes in the game that cost them just as dearly as Poite's.
