Cards stacked in All Blacks' favour
BY MARC HINTON
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OPINION: Hell, even I'm embarrassed now by the dream ride being afforded the All Blacks. Maybe the wildly eccentric Peter de Villiers actually has a point.
Call off the judicial Rottweilers!
Goodness knows Graham Henry's men don't need any help beating their rivals, the form they're in this year, and the confidence and efficiency they're playing with.
But they certainly got some on Saturday night from otherwise exemplary South African referee Jonathan Kaplan in Bledisloe II in Christchurch.
It was a special match for All Black loosehead Tony Woodcock as he became the most capped prop of all time with his 67th test appearance. But it was nearly a night of notoriety for the part-time farmer from Kaukapakapa as he committed a second-half indiscretion that should have seen him sinbinned.
Quite why Kaplan refused to reach for the yellow card isn't certain, as Woodcock brutally thumped Wallaby hooker Saia Fainfgaa from behind at the back of a ruck. But the experienced official's lack of a response to what was a borderline piece of play – at best - by Woodcock does nothing to refute the popular notion that the All Blacks are some sort of protected species in the eyes of the game's referees.
What's gone on – or in last Saturday's case hasn't gone on – with regards to referees and the judicial process through this year's tests should not detract from the All Blacks' impressive start to the test year.
They have been magnificent as they've peeled off seven consecutive victories to take their test winning streak to 13 and now head to Johannesburg with a 10th Tri-Nations title all but theirs.
But so far this international season the All Blacks have had quite a legup courtesy of some hardline rulings by match officials in tests. Ireland were reduced to 14 men early in New Plymouth when Jamie Heaslip was red-carded, and played 10 minutes with 13 when Ronan O'Gara also copped a yellow.
In Hamilton, the Welsh lost fullback Lee Byrne for 10 minutes, and late in the piece Sam Whitelock and Gavin Thomas were both sent to the bin for nothing more than handbags at dawn.
In Auckland, the Springboks lost Bakkies Botha for a crucial 10 minutes and then for another nine weeks when a separate offence was picked up by the citing commissioner.
In Wellington, Bok lock Danie Rossouw was despatched to the bin for an innocuous tap on Richie McCaw – and again the All Blacks made their undermanned foes pay.
And in the judicial room the Boks also saw Jean de Villiers banned two weeks for a dangerous tackle – the same offence for which Jaque Fourie (four weeks) and Quade Cooper (two) were also pinged following the South Africa-Australia match in Brisbane.
Then, finally, in Bledisloe I in Melbourne, Wallaby wing Drew Mitchell received two quite pathetic yellow cards that earned him an automatic ejection, though All Blacks prop Owen Franks also saw yellow in that clash.
In total thus far the All Blacks' opponents have received six yellow and two red cards, against just two yellows for the New Zealanders.
No All Black has even yet had to make a trip to the judiciary.
So, what does that tell us?
Certainly that the All Blacks are disciplined. That they play hard but fair. That their technique is pretty sound. And that teams under pressure tend to commit more dubious acts than teams creating the pressure.
I would have backed that school of thought until Saturday. Then when Woodcock came thundering in, a ball nowhere in sight, and struck Faingaa like a missile in the small of the back, well it seemed like the choir boys had finally erred.
That was when Kaplan did himself, and the game, a disservice.
He swallowed his yellow. And merely issued another lecture to an All Blacks side that had already been warned.
What must the Boks have made of that watching from back in the republic? You can only imagine their disgust.
That Kaplan – ironically a South African – felt disinclined to punish the All Blacks for an act of ill-discipline was a major mistake, to my way of thinking.
I understand where he was coming from. Yellow cards were becoming a blight on the test game. They were heavily influencing matches. He'd made a clear call to only brandish if necessary.
But surely this was one time when it was. A referee needed to be seen to hold the All Blacks to the same account as their opponents had been in the six tests hitherto.
What was possibly even more astounding was that Woodcock also survived the citing commissioner's eagle eye.
OK, Faingaa wasn't badly injured, and you could make a case that it was just a clearout of a guy on the wrong side of a ruck.
But, given the standard that had been established in every other test this year, Woodcock's indiscretion appeared much more than that.
It would seem Paddy O'Brien has some more explaining to do.
- © Fairfax NZ News
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Did anyone notice how the Australian player who got smashed by Woody took a moment to check and see if the referee was watching before then deciding to flop around on the ground like a fish, reminiscent of the Prima Donnas loose in the so called "beautiful game" A.K.A. Soccer/Football? It certainly was a 50/50 call and Woody was lucky not to get binned for that. Does anyone remember the game against England last year? One of the English props went into a ruck and punched twice and All Black player who was in there. Kaplan was the referee but he only awarded a penalty to us for it. I can't recall whether or not there was any bleating from angry ABs fans over it.
Anyway, on a more serious note, are many people aware that the All Blacks are in fact being hammered in the penalty counts by the referees? Apart from Tony Woodcock, Owen Franks and Rene Ranger's hits, most of the penalties we've coughed up were for things like holding on or offside. A lot of the things the Springboks have been penalised for are for poor tackle techniques (Jaque Fourie, Jean De Villiers), unnecessarily playing the man (Danie Russouw) and killing the ball in the red zone (BJ Botha and Bakkies Botha). So basically the seriousness of offences committed by the Springboks are far worse than what NZ has done and that has lead to their players being carded more often and has made that outspoken coach of theirs believe the referees are against his side and favouring the All Blacks. Simple really.
in my opinion what woody done wasnt illegal or dirty..just dangerous. I cant believe all the emotional rubbish saying the ref is bias .. the all blacks get a free ride.. The first thing i saw was this bloody aussie on the wrong side of the ruck and he didnt seem to be keen to roll away very quickly.."ohhh hes in the way refff offside!!".. next minute in comes a black missile!!.. "ohh that didnt look good!!".. but when the replays come i see no headbutting, no shoulder charge, no eye gouge, no swinging arm!! ... and guess what?...neither did the ref, linesman, oppsition coach, or even citing commissioner!! you could analyse any ruck situation and alot of cleanouts would make you cringe!! Just bc it looks bad doesnt mean its illegal..aka rennie ranger did go in with his arms just the soft bok bounced off before rennie could grab him!!( citing commissioner thought so too!!) After melborne the aussies had a clear mandate to protect their ball and to slow the all blacks..hence all game they illegally took people out on the other side of the ruck and were constantly slow to roll away. Im not that blind to suggest the all blacks didnt have the same goals . Opinion is ok but only if it is ballanced with fact.. has anyone asked the ref or the citing commissioner why woody wasnt sent off?!!
@bruce.N #49. Mate I think everyone gets the point but just don't get as frustrated as obviously you are!
The refs have been consistent. The yellow cards for the other tests were deserved.
Woodcock has just blown out a guy who had been consistently lying on our side of the ruck all night! Then Fainga became a soccer poof and took a dive!
Well done Kaplan, who by the way is a South African ref. I think he did a great job.
One thing I do agree with is I do like the League report rule to keep it a fair contest but the preceeding tests were already won whether Sth Africa and OZ had 15 or not!
As a Scot sitting in the Scottish borders I look on with interest not that Scotland will inflict any great surprises next year.I read this site as someone interested in rugby and would like to comment on Mr Hinton's coments. Yes NZ have played well, SA look tired and the Aus short on talent. I think NZ are falling into a big trap. The All Blacks game is based on playing outside the laws of the game and hoping they have a ref that turns a blind eye. Rolland should have been dropped sine die and Lewis just really poor. Bob Dwyer is no fool PDV is but his comments are valid. A neutral looks at how many times NZ got away with forward passes(Nonu try against SA started with a 2m forward pass)Diving over the ball, playing the ball on the ground. It was clear Franks had the role of blocker always offside and always in from the side.ritchie McCaw is a star partly because he is allowed to play to his rules.Sean fitzpatrick after the first SA game even said on Sky sports the ref was biased towards NZ. This does NZ no favours in a year the Auss and moreso the Boks will outgun Nz and if the ref is fair what then? PS As Scots we never wanted an irish ref or Paddy O,B
The article is spot on. The ref was wrong! The ABs are great at the moment, they don't need help from the ref. They should punish any play that can can cause injury. Sadly, no other team would have gotten away with it not even SA. This may be paranoia, but the ref being SA was telling a story "The ABs get away with everything" that should be a worrying thing. The SANZAR judiciary (or the NZ ABs should suspend Woodcock for one game. The ref should also be disciplined. No thanks to you Kaplan everything the ABs have done up to now has been brought under a light of suspicion, you silly guy!
I think some people on here are missing the point. No matter how much you may cast an envious eye back to the good old days of rucking, etc, what Woodcock did, in todays game, was an illegal no arms clear-out of a player not part of the ruck, which deserved a penaly and a card due to dangerous play.
The argument that some say the bias is against the AB's due to the number of penalties given against them in the games so far only re-enforces the fact that they should have more yellow's to their name for continous infringments - note Alain Rollands multiple last chance warnings.
None of this takes away from the fact that the ABs have been the best team by far this year and deserve to be where they are.
NZ public bleats when someone touches Cowan, McCaw et al (Botha, Tuquiri,etc) but the majority can't objectively see past a massive bias (with about 10 exceptions in 60 posts). Even Smit (SA capt) said a few years ago NZ seems to lead a charmed life.
The crux of the article was in the second-last paragraph - "...but given the standard that had been established in every test this year..." - it's in black and white - it's not about rucks of a few years ago, dirty convicts, or cheating aussies.
Think of the Aussie cricket team - the team all other supporters want to lose...many of the NZ supporters have turned their team into the equivalent in rugby circles with their blind support and ever growing arrogance. Thankfully, there is still hope with Richard, Jem, Harry, Sleven, etc and of course, Marc Hinton.
I have just read all the comments on the Woodstock incident, and have to say the vast majority of the comments from AB supporters are really one-eyed.If it had been a Saffa or Australian, it would have been replayed over and over again, and all the remarks about thugs and convicts would come out agagin. You AB supporters need to be consistant and fair. I think the travelling supporters of all the other teams in the World Cup should brace themselves for a heap of abuse when /if they visit NZ. They cannot even win gracefully. HUGH.
Bakkies hits a ruck and Adam Jones unfortunately gets a dislocated shoulder - 2 weeks (BIL tour 2009). Woodcock hits an unsuspecting victim in the back from behind and not even a citing. There was another example of Robbie Kempson who charged into the back of an unsuspecting Aus no 8 (2002?) and got a long suspension? Its not about conspiracies, its about being even-handed. Punish the offence, not the record of the offender!
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Mike#62 if that is the way you used to play rugby, tackle smack a guy from behind without him expecting and yes it was illegal as he didn't have his hand on the ruck, was over a meter from the ball and was complying with what the referee asked. Any supporters that agree this was a fair tackle are the same ones that turned a blind eye to Umanga's on O'Driscoll. It was a bad hit, plain and simple and just because you wear black doesn't make it better. It is supporters of the game like you and the ones in the stands hurling abuse at opposition fans that are giving NZ rugby a bad name. Grow up and start showing NZ as fair minded, otherwise the little respect the NZ AB fans have left will quickly evaporate.