Four Southern hemisphere sides are in the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup for the first time ever. Some will claim that this confirms that the Rugby Championship is a tournament a notch above the six nations, even if it lacks the passion.
Herein maybe lies the reason why South Africa, New Zealand, Argentina and Australia find themselves in the semi finals. There is so much more to the game than just passion and there is so much more to the game than simply executing a game plan set out by coaches and analysts; as England discovered.
South Africa were made to work very hard for their victory against Wales. Yes they stuck to tactics that work for them time and time again, but due to the fact that they have the discipline to stick to those tactics and they execute them so well, they knew that they would pay dividends. Yet even so it was wonderful handling from Duane Vermeulen to find Fourie du Preez for the winning try.
New Zealand destroyed France. There is no other way to put. They certainly laid to rest any ghosts from 2007 at the Millennium Stadium. Argentina too were in devastating form against an injury depleted Ireland. The injuries to key players may have had something to do with it, but it was the intensity with which the Pumas started the match that saw Ireland on the back foot immediately. Having had to compete with South Africa, New Zealand and Australia in the Rugby Championship Argentina has learned that they need that intensity from the first whistle if they are to be competitive, and it paid dividends.
Scotland have come a very long way since New Zealander Vern Cotter took over the coaching reins, and they made the Wallabies work extremely hard for their victory. Scotland’s scrum was outstanding, so too was Laidlaw’s kicking, and their tackling was committed. Australia scored more tries but Scotland were more than competitive.
There are many who are claiming that referee Craig Joubert should not have given a penalty for offside in the final minute. The Scotland player was ahead of the ball but the question was whether the ball was deflected to him by a fellow Scottish player or as it appeared off Australian Nick Phipps. Scotland made a terrible misjudgement in the final minute not throwing to the front of the line out and securing possession. The minute they threw beyond the front, in the pouring rain they did not play those percentages that often ensure victory. They paid a very heavy price.
However debate will rage on as the view of many is it should not have been a penalty to Australia, but a scrum. The reason being that replays seemed to indicate the ball had come off a Wallaby player. Joubert called a deliberate offside and awarded Australia a penalty.
Some Scottish fans were upset that this decision was not referred to the Television Match Official, yet the rules state that:
“The match officials may suggest that the referee refers the matter to the TMO for review if they observe an act of foul play (prior to the next restart in play) where:
- They may have only partially observed an act or acts of foul play
- They are unsure of the exact circumstances
- The views of the match officials reporting the act(s) of foul play differ
- There is doubt as to the appropriate sanctions to be applied.”
Sadly for Scotland fans there appeared no doubt on the part of any of the officials.
The decision that Scotland have every right to complain about was the yellow card to Sean Maitland just after half time. Bernard Foley attempted an offload that Sean Maitland grasped at instinctively. The ball was knocked on of that there is no question. However despite having been unheard of in the previous quarter finals the blight of the tournament, the Television Match Official popped his head over the parapet. Ben Skeen, the television match official, who must have been the only one in the stadium with his opinion informed Craig Joubert that there had been a deliberate knock-on. Some would say that the slow-motion replays made a perfectly innocent act look a lot worse than it was. Joubert administered a penalty and a yellow card. Australia took the lead and that meant Scotland were chasing the game again.
What has upset many fans is also how the TMO was mute when it came to a late challenge on Scotland full back Stuart Hogg with three minutes to go. Had that been picked up the line out which cost Scotland the game, where some believe the Australian’s knocked on would never have happened.
To add to Scotland’s ire referee Craig Joubert ran straight for the tunnel at the end of the match following the final blast on his whistle. He may well have had an upset stomach, but tradition sees the referee shake hands with the players and it did not look good.
It is sad that a game such as this will be remembered for refereeing decisions, but it will be; along with Foley’s poor kicking and the fact that Australia’s scrum is far from being as good as they claimed.
