Who could've guessed that a combination of Mathieu Raynal as referee and Ben Whitehouse as TMO, can be this bad. Let's get the first 20 minutes out of the way, no team deserves to win a game by playing that bad in the first 20 minutes. The All Blacks destroyed us, and made us look like kids. Shannon Frizell absolutely ran over us and made us pay at the breakdown. It's been a while since a Springbok team got overpowered like that. That said, the boks came back and didn't give up. There were moments where we had the momentum and where we started getting into rhythm but then we made stupid mistakes at times we couldn't afford to make them. So I know already people are going to talk about this being an excuse, when you lose 35-20, or when you're 17-0 down in the first 20 mins. No matter how good or bad the ref was, that is on you.
But yeah, now let's focus on the officiating, because it was terrible. The main talking is obviously the Cheslin Kolbe try that got disallowed by Ben Whitehouse. It has to be one of the worst TMO decisions I've seen in rugby. When a TMO has clear evidence of grounding and a player whose hands are pressing downwards and touching the ball as the ball is touching the ground, and then he still manages to screw it all up by saying Kolbe's hand was never pressing down. How on earth is Ben Whitehouse a World Cup TMO if he can't even get that right? I knew he was a bad ref in the URC, but he is starting to become the Welsh Marius Jonker. His logic when making decision is absurd. Then you have him not even reviewing the questionable passes on the other Kolbe try and the Frizell try. Then there is him getting involved and spotting a neck roll from Lood de Jager, but after that he simply ignores all the other dangerous neck rolls and cleanouts. What was he doing?
Then we have Mathieu Raynal who was just as bad. The Springboks simply had no chance at lineout because Raynal didn't apply the laws. The All Blacks were offside and standing on the Mark of Touch on almost every single lineout, and he called it once, then just never does it again. Then there is the the incidents where the All Blacks are pre-binding onto the Springbok Lineout whilst the jumpers are in the air. Not to mention the Marx try where 2 of the New Zealand player were cynically collapsing the mall 1 meter from the try line, yet they didn't even get a warning. Then there is just inconsistent calls all round with the breakdown and scrums. he had no control whatsoever. The best had to be when South Africa gets scrum advantage, we run 20 meters, which he never calls advantage over, then at the ruck, Lood de Jager, cleans out an All Blacks player, completely from the side and off the ball. Then Sam Cane comes from the side of the ruck, completely offside, goes headfirst into the back of the head of Faf de Klerk, and takes him out, all the while Eben Etzebeth has Ardie Savea in a headlock. And the ref manages to miss every single infringement and also ends up not giving the Springboks any advantage for the scrum. It was an absolute joke.
At the end of the day, the All Blacks win us regardless of who was the ref. But boy, this game is making me extremely worried about the World Cup. Of this is the best that World Rugby has to offer, then we're in for a wild ride at the World Cup.
Lastly, I would also like to thank VHA Accounting Solutions for their partnership during this 2023 Rugby Championship. This video was sponsored by them. We look forward to a great partnership during this Rugby Championship
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