SA Refs up to their old tricks again in the Republic

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/112831616/super-rugby-aaron-mauger-questions-local-referee-as-highlanders-get-caned.

It swings in roundabouts...mate

Edit: Please refer to last weekend's Jags game for clarity.

I'm loathe to made a habit of criticising refs no matter where they stem from because I feel generally they do a good job and it is not easy...in fact it is a very hard and thankless task.

However,the stats in the Lions/Landers are indeed a matter of concern...it does not add up.

I watched the Stormers/Crusaders match only and I felt that that intervention by Marius Jonker calling a forward pass was indeed incorrect.

It was not forward as it left the passers hand but tended to drift forward. It might be contraversal but I'm not going to suggest that it was a "crooked" call but nevertheless a bad one. .

Seb

At least the fake forward pass call didn't cost them a WC ;)

There should not be local referees. Anytime a wrong decision is made, it appears as though there is cheating. 

I'm all for NH refs here and SH going north.

Absolutely, I've always said that...it will give results that give credibility to Super Rugby and competitions in Europe.

Furthermore it will help SH and NH national teams get used to refs from both sides of the RWC competitors and understand what goes and what doesn't in complicated decisions.

Nobody likes winning when the ref helps...it just doe not feel good inside???

Poor AB's they have been on both situations and yeah so has SA but it was not a NH ref that was the demon.

Anytime a marginal decision goes against them the kiwis scream blue murder and they will usually quote the Wayne Barnes debacle.

They of course will gloss over endless amount of wrong calls favouring their unscrupulous players who are schooled on how to cheat.

All this has led to comments around the world about the kiwis being rugby cheats. Think of course of their captain Mccheat as he was universally known. Or that gas bag Sean fitzpatrick who was as bent as they came. Their ref of the year was the now infamous Bryce Lawrence. Recall how the French captain after that RWC finals said the ref didn't want them to win - how obviously true. Again and again kiwi cheating has been documented on this forum with the stock reply being look at the scoreboard.

Hakwa

The Highlanders were excessively lucky the previous week when playing the Jaguares,   The latter team was playing 19 players - the 15 on the field plus the ref, the line judges and the TW monitor.  So why the sudden complaint this week - when that wreck of a team,  the Highlanders - got beaten?        

       Hint Mike                                             

I feel the nitty/picky decisions should always favour the attacking side especially when it's crucial...initiative and spirit of the law should come in to play rather than the letter but (warning) never abused. That's why the integrity of the decision should be respected and not criticised...the positive should dominate the negative as long as it is not abused.

100% Behind ball tracking too Rooi. I'd combine that with the tracking chips already carried by players.

Could solve lots of issues. 

The four trained professional refs tasked with adjudication of matches are, too often for my liking, not up to the task. Every season, every week, every competition, shit game changing calls appear to be inescapable. 

Compare Willie getting binned for a clear attempt to catch the ball to yesterday's game where an intentional knockdown on the try line results in nothing. 

I don't watch rugby to learn about how some twat interprets the rules. 

Refs are admin staff, nothing more. Hopefully automation replaces them sooner rather than later.

Edit: Just something extra. Game consoles have for the last decade come with cameras that interpreted feeds of player motion. No chips or special gear required. 

That type of system can easily be made use of to track every player on the field. That crucial data puts you right at the point where you could automate tons of adjudication.

Honestly, I didn't see the pass, was a bit "happy" at that point already. Saw the try, next thing I knew it had been reversed. Did watch the rest of the game though.

JL Du Plessis is coming back nicely. I rate that chap.

 Rooi

See my edit above.

JL was awesome before his injury. And he looks like he's getting back there. A bit slowly, but he is moving forward.

For me, he's got the goods. 

What do the Stormers fans think of him, I wonder?

Honestly, I've not seen him hyped much. Not saying that he isn't hyped, just that I've not really seen it.

I rate him based on what I've seen. Especially prior to his injury.

Well the way I see it we don't want a game played by human beings being completely dominated by devices and technology...it's a human game by human beings and adjudicated by human beings not a computer game...that would sterilise it. Golf is the same...I once played a bad shot, it went into the rough, hit a tree and bounced on to the green. It's all in the game and makes it interesting which I believe is the essence of sport. Ofcourse it can happen the other way round but a sportsman excepts it. I once recall Gary Player playing an impossible bunker shot, he was always a master of these predicaments but this time he did not get it right...it clipped the top of the bunker went right up in the air did a spin or two and rolled into the hole. A bystander remarked : "what luck!" Gary turned to the chirper and said : "My friend, as in this game as in life the harder you practise the luckier you get!"

There will always be the controversy's that happen, ref's indiscretions are part of the risk...true sportsmen take the rough with the smooth.

Plum, I like JL but think he will always be injury prone because he is rathers small...

Ja Rooi, his dad could play a bit, so I was hoping he could be almost as good. Not bad, but I can't see him being an all time Bok great....same for his cousin.

Here's the video of Reece's great TRY ..Why the Crusties did'nt pass the ball to him more is the question...

Obviously a Try stuff.co.nz >

Even South African fans stunned as TMO decision rubs out Crusaders

https://www.rugbypass.com/news/even-south-african-fans-stunned-as-tmo-decision-rubs-out-crusaders-match-winning-try

Seb

How much worse is cricket now that the vast majority of bad calls have been taken out of the game?

For me, it's way better. Even if there is still the very occasional bad call. 

Hakwazeeeee and Plum have so much in common.

Both bitch about the ref continuously.

They hate each other's country ... and people.

Buggery is an acceptable way of life for both of them ... and both partake in it frequently.

So well suited.

Awe did mommy's lil sad fucker wake up on the wrong side of the tracks this morning?

Poor chap. 

Have a cookie. You'll feel right as rain in no time.

In fast motion the pass looked good,flat ,as the camera was right in line.We u sually get it wrong because we discount the angles of the camera as a spectator.

One fervently hopes ou hacked waugh isn't causing unnecessary controversy! 

 As Moz explains it was obviously forward.

There is a problem in rugby - for many years NZ has ruled the rugby world, but other countries are slowly going forward in development of their own game,   Defeats regarded as impossible  are now happening occasionally.

Just like the team the NZ refs set the tone when it comes to refereeing decisions,   The referees are learning the finer tricks of refereeing from them as well.   Now that the same methods used by NZ refs in the past being applied to them at present it is an unhappy situation for the NZ fans and they moan about it,

What about the ancient idiom - Those living in glass houses should not throw stones?     .