Pro1,710 posts
22 Aug 2013, 08:18
#1
22 Aug 2013, 08:18#1
Before the kiwis start getting personal - I didn't edit the videos.... just presenting it. Clearly shows a tactic of spoiling any Australian momentum and that Joubert should have gone to the pocket earlier than the 79min... hes lost a lot of fans in Australia based on this performance...
ARTICLE READS:
What we see is clear run of penalties:
1.Richie McCaw slowing down the ball at 10:50
2.Sam Whitelock not rolling away at 20:44
3.McCaw entering from the side at 26:07
4.McCaw (and Whitelock) holding onto the ball in the ruck and not bearing their own weight at 45:34
There is a pattern, but as you can see the penalties are
a) interspersed, not back to back;
b) for different offences, though all ruck related; and
c) certainly for the third penalty at least, a strong case could be made that this was a “contest error” not a deliberate slowing down of the Wallaby play.
I might even add d) the ruck penalties come on the back of Julian Savea being in front of the kicker and Kieran Read taking out Rob Simmons in the air. Paradoxically, the extra non-ruck penalties dilute the impression of a string of specifically ruck penalties.
The first penalty is particularly bad. If we look carefully at the clip (and the replay) we see McCaw enter the ruck, stand up, showing real strength. But he then falls over the ball, and then kicks out at it with his leg: two offences, the second little short of blatant. The second penalty reflects this pattern: Wallabies on the advance and Whitelock just doesn’t roll away. And the fourth, well, I was yelling at the tv by then.
Disclaimer: Craig Joubert is a mate of mine. But the fourth penalty above – a third against McCaw, all in his own half, all with the Aussies on the attack – has to be a yellow card. The score was 19-25 at the time
