Man Of The Match

[leannelizzy]

Clearly I need to go back and read the rule book. I thought I saw:

• Several high tackles on our boys - a couple of coat hangers and an adjustment of headgear.
• James O'Connors tackle looked very legal, just a solid tackle imho
• Attempted eye gouging or close to it on Sharpie

Yet we still ended up with a yellow????



Clearly the refs don't like coming to Perth, we need to make it more appealing for them... ...

[chiraag]

Thankyou Ecky for a very fine response. While I may have been a bit over zealous with my statement of the ref single-handedly winning the game for the bulls after coming home angry, I still stand by the sentiment of the post.

I do not think it is too much to ask for there to be at least 7 decent referees in the combined resources of Australia, South Africa and NZ. If the "lower ranked" referees are indeed that bad, then perhaps they should be given the directive to put the whistle in the pocket and let the fans watch some rugby unless there a blatant infringement. Instead we are treated to a stop-start penalty fest where the ref is looking for anythiung to blow his whistle for.

The ref may not have failed to organise our defense when we were a man down, but he was the person responsible for sending the man off. I'm not sure what exactly that was for as I was at the other end of the ground, but I'm guessing that it was for repeated infringements, the majority of which I don't believe were really there.

I did hear the Matfield interview at the end of the game. I think it is pretty easy to adjust to a ref who has seen that the bulls are on the top of the ladder and the Force are on the bottom, and is adjudicating the game according to this preconceived differential.

I'm not sure what the penalty count for not rolling away against the bulls was in the end, but I believe it was rather high, yet I did not see them getting a talking to for it. They were all over the ball at probably every second breakdown on our attack.

I am by no means a one-eyed supporter (although am obviously biased), and acknowledged a fair few of the penalties that the ref did award as being legitimate. I think their forwards were also a fair bit better at getting to the breakdown early which probably caused a fair fedw of our problems.

Anyway, I'll stop ranting. Perhaps after seeing the replay I will change my tune. I'd just like to see some rugby in Perth at some point this year instead of some guy blowing his whistle every 2 seconds.

Regardless, the boys put in a bloody good performance last night, and I'm proud to be a supporter of the FORCE!

[unipirate]

Ecky all supporters on twf know you are the god of rugby law on this forum and we must praise you for you knowledge.

However can you tell me why we can't get a consistent referring system? Why aren't the refs all on the same page or level. I realise some have more experience, but they should all at least read the game the same for every game and every team, right?

That is the only issue I see with this season and the officials. Why does there have to be a ranking system for refs? They should all be calling the same!

Do we need to set up a preseason competition just for the refs to get all on the same page?

Having officials with different levels of experience I understand, but I haven't seen a very good standard level this season!

Thanks you two - I have been waiting for this thread for ages!

Let's play a game of pretend, shall we?

You, dear reader, are to pretend you are in charge of an elite sporting competition which spans 3 different nations and has, say, 14 provincial sides playing each other.

You have a pool of officials to appoint to each match in this competition. These officials have a ranking system, so you have an idea whom is near the top of the rankings and whom is near the bottom.

With me so far? Great!

Now, mid-way through the season, you have a match between a team who has yet to be beaten and are atop the log, as they say in South Africa, and a team who has yet to either win a game or even register a single bonus point for their efforts to date. They are, therefore, stone cold, motherless last on the same log.

Now the $64 question to you, the person in charge of the competition:

Under what circumstances would you even consider appointing an official near the top of the rankings for this game?

No?



Can't think of any?



Need more time?




Still no?

Wake up people. The game against the Lions will be more likely to have an official up the top end of the rankings than tonight's game. Two teams in the top half of the comp playing each other will get the really top-ranked refs and then it filters down based on the ranking of the game relative to others in that round. If 1 plays 2 between now and the end of the season, you will see who SANZAR/iRB is ranking at the top.

Now; back to the comments that start this post: The ref let through those Bulls tries, did he? The ref failed to organise the defence when a man down to prevent the glaringly obvious overlap/extra man, did he? The ref made the decisions throughout the game as to when and where the should play/kick/run, did he?

Did either of you listen to the Matfield interview after the game? How he mentioned they figured the ref out in the first half and adjusted their play in the second? Is that a skill that only players/coaches from the one team has? Is that something that a supporter should also consider when supporting their team?

I would completely understand your comments if the Bulls won by less that 3 points by a dodgy decision in the last moments of the match, but that didn't happen in the game I saw.

Maybe try opening up the other eye for a while, see how that goes.

[brokendown gunfighter]

I noticed our esteemed ref from last week reffing the brumbies game this week
suprise,suprise,this week every penalty(no scrum penalties this week!),bar one was awarded to the attacking team for ruck & maul offences.
Do you reckon someone had a quiet whisper in his ear during the week?

[unipirate]

Ecky please enlighten us?

I stand in the shed and next minute Cross was off! No idea why, and the replay that was showed didn't really show anything!

It couldn't have been offside because I am pretty sure he was onside when the bulls played for the line! I was also sure once the ball is over the line there is no offside, right?

Did the ref call him for coming in late or something? It didn't look like he did anything wrong he was just sliding to stop the ball from hitting the deck!

I think he cross was as confused as the crowd!

Clearly I need to go back and read the rule book. I thought I saw:

• Several high tackles on our boys - a couple of coat hangers and an adjustment of headgear.
• James O'Connors tackle looked very legal, just a solid tackle imho
• Attempted eye gouging or close to it on Sharpie

Yet we still ended up with a yellow????



Clearly the refs don't like coming to Perth, we need to make it more appealing for them... ...

[blueandblack]

Clearly I need to go back and read the rule book. I thought I saw:

• Several high tackles on our boys - a couple of coat hangers and an adjustment of headgear.
• James O'Connors tackle looked very legal, just a solid tackle imho
• Attempted eye gouging or close to it on Sharpie

Yet we still ended up with a yellow????



Clearly the refs don't like coming to Perth, we need to make it more appealing for them... ...

The yellow was because of alleged repeated offsides. The ref did warn Sharpie about it earlier and he went and told everyone. Then Crossy allegedly went offside twice, so ref carded him. Thats what I heard on the 'refs only' channel of sportsears. Didnt help that Fox was broadcasting over that channel also.

[palitu]

yeah he got done for repeated offside, thoguh in the case where he was called for it (the second time) i believe he was behind the try line, so it should not have been offside.

The ref... Yeah matfield was in his ear from 5mins onwards. he even asked fro a card after 5 mins. The bulls gave away a lot of penalties and never gotwarned,m which pissed me off and walsh was shitting me, i even yelled out to stfu. probably didn't hear me though...

I watched the Jaco game, and wow! he was so much better... he even allowed for reset sscrums... what a duck head...

[BDAVEY]

I noticed our esteemed ref from last week reffing the brumbies game this week
suprise,suprise,this week every penalty(no scrum penalties this week!),bar one was awarded to the attacking team for ruck & maul offences.
Do you reckon someone had a quiet whisper in his ear during the week?

yeh, I think 15000 people had a very loud whisper last week!!!!

[hertryk]

Well Deserved Sharpie......You have my vote every time..

[GIGS20]

IK watched the leadup to the Corss carding several times on the replay.....he WAS offside, after a team warning it was pretty fair that he be binned actually.

I was more pissed about the conversation with Steve Walsh later on
"Did you see anything wrong with the tackle by #11?"
SW "No"
Opinionated Dick "You Sure?"
SW "Nothing"
Man who seemingly got paid to kill the Force "I'm going to give a penalty, I'm pretty sure it was a dangerous high tackle"

Now I don't know how f@ckin' good Nathan Pierce's eyes are, but from across the field, approximately 40 metres away from the play, he managed to spy something that one of the top ten refs in the world couldn't see from 3 metres.

Sorry, I've calmed a lot after watching the replay, He didn't cost us the game (Even if Steyn did get up and jump forward out of the tackle to play the ball forward and score) Cross got himself sent off, and that would have been enough, we might have got a bonus point, but we were done!

[hertryk]

Ryan was sent off for "continually" being offside..

[Ecky]

Cross wasn't "continually" offside - the team was. Ref warned Sharpie that the next offside would be a sin bin.

In the two phases prior to the penalty and Cross' yellow card he was offside and never got back onside. That was before the ball crossed the goal line, which you all know cancels out the offside lines. He was clearly offside prior to that and, as far I I know, it might have ben the first time he was offside all niight, but the team was warned about repeat infingements, so Cross went to the bin.

Simple as that. Sorry, we was warned.

[BDAVEY]

IK watched the leadup to the Corss carding several times on the replay.....he WAS offside, after a team warning it was pretty fair that he be binned actually.

I was more pissed about the conversation with Steve Walsh later on
"Did you see anything wrong with the tackle by #11?"
SW "No"
Opinionated Dick "You Sure?"
SW "Nothing"
Man who seemingly got paid to kill the Force "I'm going to give a penalty, I'm pretty sure it was a dangerous high tackle"

Now I don't know how f@ckin' good Nathan Pierce's eyes are, but from across the field, approximately 40 metres away from the play, he managed to spy something that one of the top ten refs in the world couldn't see from 3 metres.

Sorry, I've calmed a lot after watching the replay, He didn't cost us the game (Even if Steyn did get up and jump forward out of the tackle to play the ball forward and score) Cross got himself sent off, and that would have been enough, we might have got a bonus point, but we were done!

I can feel your fustrating coming through your post.........i am stilling loking for the words to describe this and another way to call the ref a dickhead... Sharpies ready to knock the next ref out.
It was great to see him push the ref away when the Bulls were on their line. The ref was standing right where the Bulls were ready to barge over....
Next week

[Burgs]

I was a bit mystified with that to Gigs but time has unfortunately backed him up with the suspension.
As far as I was concerned there was no issue of double movement either, he wasn't held and you are allowed one movement anyway.
There were dubious calls but none that were howlers that cost us the match.
That said, not sure why they would have Walsh running touch and a numby pulling the levers...

[GIGS20]

As far as I was concerned there was no issue of double movement either, he wasn't held and you are allowed one movement anyway.

He was clearly held Burgs. The only thing that's at issue is whether gaining your knees and jumping forward is considered playing the ball forward. I contend that it's improving your position and therefore he's played on after being tackled, in the same way that I called somebody (not sure who now) for gettign tackled on the five and rolling with the tackler in tow until the tryline last year.

I reckon that playing the ball forward should be from where you're tackled, not a metre in front of that!

But I could be wrong