posted Jul 5, 2009

We can argue for ever about whether Shaw and Botha should have been suspended. They were both penalty offences which may or may not have been deliberate. At least they were both treated consistently.

However if the SA team are so concerned about justice I think it is far more important that they speak out against Burger, who sank to the lowest imaginable level for any sportsman in deliberately trying to maim an opponent. If there were justice he would have been banned for avery long time instead of the hopelessly inadequate 8 weeks.

Robust and over physical play happens in Rugby, but Burger's was a deliberate and inexcusable act which has no place in sport.

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posted Jul 5, 2009

Well, I really want to say something here, and as a part time referee who observes the laws of the game and the players charter...I think that an excellent series has been slightly tarnished by the officials.
Let me explain, the laws have to be applied consistently and in both the scrum aand the ruck there appears to be a significant gap in either the interpretation of the laws or the way in which they are applied. In particlar the ruck where several times the Boks (in all 3 tests) back row have been realy quick to the breakdown and whilst not going to ground (both knees off the floor) have stolen the ball. Poor Phil Vickery yesterday did exactly the same thing and was pinged for it.
All I want is a consistent game. To me the series demonstrated two things that the IRB have to do immediately - (1) be absolutely clear how the game is to be played on the floor (2) if you are going to try ELV's then they must be introduced in a controlled fashion, not just thrown into the pond like a cox after the Ox/Ca boat race.
Sorry to drone on, but to me its really important as an ex-player, a spectator and a ref

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posted Jul 5, 2009

Fenranger....
"Can anyone else believe the ridiculous citing of Shaw for stumbling onto the scrum half???!!"

Try falling with a deliberate knee in his kidneys. It was intentional just as Bakkies Botha's clearing out was but, hey, only the Boks are "thugs" and need citing.

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posted Jul 5, 2009

Payman 101....

"Oh please. Obviously your stats don't include the times you were excluded from playing in the world cup because of your segregation policy, but do include the time the NZ team suffered mysterious food poisoning before the 95 final"

I am sure the majority of S.Africans of all races were not a willing part of the segregation policy so to demean the multi-race World Cup winners achievement of 2 out of 4 tournaments is out of line. No other team has achieved this sort of ratio so do I detect some jealousy from the English ?? I hope you're not also suggesting the food poisoning was deliberate as this was proven to be a malicious press story. 14 years on and you still have to drag the dirt.....says it all.

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posted Jul 6, 2009

I just want to congratulate the Springboks for winning a very hard fought lions series. Well done, you deserved it and won the respect of a lot of lions fans who like their rugby to be a bit tougher that netball.

There is an awful lot of bull flying about in the aftermouth but give it a couople of months until the domestic season start up again and the 2-1 result will be all that remembeed and that the crux of a lions tour.

As off for the lions I'm very proud of you guys, we didn't lack for passion and its great that we won the last test in the end!

This lions tour has been fantastic.

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posted Jul 6, 2009

well done to the lions (as one is not alllowed to critisize the opponenents on this thread) I think you played really well against the B side, we needed to have the guys get a bit of training in, thanks. we were not wanting to humiliate the lions with a white wash, because we knew that, if that were to happen, no one would have been at the airport to meet them on their arrival back home. Looking forward to the next series, make sure you are prepared.

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posted Jul 6, 2009

I hope that was tongue in cheek!

We were being told before the 3rd test that the players coming in were better than the players they were replacing! The only players you really missed were Habana and Pietersen, and they didn't get the ball at all in the 1st test, so i can't see what difference it would have made.

It was the Lion's 3rd choice backline, too...did you realise that?

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posted Jul 6, 2009

Yeah, everything is tongue in cheek.

The only problem I had with the whole series, were the commentators on the game at hand, why can we not get neutral persons who see the game objectively & therfore deal with the game being played in front of them, instead of going on about irrelevant issues, that has no place in the sport, is it a strategy to get the fans watching all riled up??

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posted Jul 6, 2009

I thought Barnes was his usual idiot self. I knew the Williams was going to be MotM after 20 minutes, you can tell he has picked his favorite player and no matter what they do, he will always put a positive spin on it.

Not that SW didn't take his tries well, but he made some errors as well, three or four players were ahead of him in the MotM stakes, including two other Welshman.

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posted Jul 6, 2009

Hold on, didnt simon shaw get cited and banned. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and whinging about it, how many players will be wearing armbands saying justice for simon?? None i think you will find.

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