The Springboks have been appalled at the standard of refereeing, believing it to be the decisive factor in their 2 opening Tri-Nations matches.
A frustrated Springbok coach Peter de Villiers
After two successive losses to the All Blacks the Springbok coaching staff have left their feelings in no doubt as to the major contributor behind the losses.
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers highlighted at Monday’s press conference who he felt was to blame. He mentioned that the Crusaders were the most penalised side in this year’s Super 14, with 96 penalties at the breakdown, with the Hurricanes the second highest offenders.
He asked how could All Black captain Richie McCaw be penalised 5 times in the test in Wellington with no further action, whilst Bakkies Botha and Danie Rossouw were yellow carded in Auckland and Wellington rspectively with their first offences?
de Villiers expressed his extreme frustration with the effect the referees are having on their matches, saying how can a side know how to play when there are inconsistencies in officiating, and no one at a higher level is prepared to give him any answers as to what the Boks are doing wrong.
A case in point in Wellington was the fact that Francois Louw was penalised early in the game for not releasing the tackled player, yet just minutes later Conrad Smith did the exact same thing that caused the ball to come out of the ruck, and the loose ruck ball was hacked ahead by Ricky Januarie before it was scooped up by Piri Weepu who set up Mils Muliaina’s try.
The Springbok coach is clearly reaching the end of his teether, and has suggested his side needs to become more street-smart. He does not favour this approach however as he said that next year the new law interpretations will be in effect and he doesn’t want his players getting into bad habits.
Whilst I agree with de Villiers, and I’ve always maintained that the South African sides are always prejudiced against by the referees, the Boks have to be better than that. It makes it hard to get any momentum going, but did it cause them to lose the game?
I’d rather see the Boks try to take control of their own destiny by rising above the adversity rather than complaining. Nothing changes, and constant whining only deflects our focus.
I also disagree with de Villiers who felt the Boks played well, and had a strong second half. The Boks were once again out-scored 2 tries to 1, and 8 tries to 2 for the series. No matter how they look at it, the side has been out-muscled, out -thought and outplayed.
