Drew Mitchell - not suspended

[Gagger]

Wheres the replay showing it went past he horizontal? When Kearns is even saying "there's nothing in that, what a load of rubbish", u know that there seriously must be nothing in it.

If you are suggesting that this tackle is inline with Cooper's, then you need to remove the eye patch.

I don't need to. The guy got done for a dangerous tackle, and the ref said he would have yellowed if they'd had got a number. The replay had his number.

To be consistent with every other dangerous tackle this 3Ns it should have been cited.

Whether any of these tackles have been actually dangerous, or even worth a YC in my opinion is another story. I'm talking consistency

 

[chief]

Hope the players aren't thinking like that.

Nah isn't Mark Lawrence?

 

[MajorlyRagerly]

I don't need to. The guy got done for a dangerous tackle, and the ref said he would have yellowed if they'd had got a number. The replay had his number.

To be consistent with every other dangerous tackle this 3Ns it should have been cited.

Whether any of these tackles have been actually dangerous, or even worth a YC in my opinion is another story. I'm talking consistency

Doesn't the citing commission look at the game and decides what needs citing?

And only if it's a card is it an automatic citing?

I thought that was the case, and therefore nothing wrong with the consistency. I am happy to be corrected though (not by Gnostics opinion, by IRB rulings).

 

[Scarfman]

Nah isn't Mark Lawrence?

For the record:


10 July:

NZ vs SA in Auckland
Referee: Alan Lewis (Ire)
Ass. referees: Alain Rolland (Ire), Stuart Dickinson (Aus)

17 July:

NZ vs SA in Wellington
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ire)
Ass. referees: Alan Lewis (Ire), Stuart Dickinson (Aus)

24 July:

Aus vs SA in Brisbane
Referee: Bryce Lawrence (NZ) [Replaced by George Clancy (Ire)]
Ass. referees: Keith Brown (NZ), Vinny Munro (NZ)
TMO: Matt Goddard (Aus)

31 July:

Aus vs NZ in Melbourne
Referee: Craig Joubert (SA)
Ass. referees: Jonathan Kaplan (SA), Cobus Wessels (SA)
TMO: George Ayoub (Aus)

7 August:

NZ vs Aus in Christchurch
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (SA)
Ass. referees: Craig Joubert (SA), Cobus Wessels (SA)

21 August:

SA vs NZ in Johannesburg
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wal)
Ass. referees: Alain Rolland (Ire), Simon McDowell (Ire)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (SA)

28 August:

SA vs Aus in Pretoria
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ire)
Ass. referees: Nigel Owens (Wal), Simon McDowell (Ire)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (SA)

4 September:

SA vs Aus in Bloemfontein
Referee: Wayne Barnes (Eng)
Ass. referees: Nigel Owens (Wal), Simon McDowell (Ire)
TMO: Johann Meuwesen (SA)

11 September:

Aus vs NZ in Sydney
Referee: Mark Lawrence (SA)
Ass. referees: Jonathan Kaplan (SA), Christie du Preez (SA)
TMO: Matt Goddard (Aus)

 

[PaarlBok]

missing the point, PB. very few (if any) have claimed that the cards made sweet fuck all of a difference in the result. everyone knows the AB's were better. blaming the refs for dodgy calls is different.

Boet honesty, they are human beings and human beings make mistakes, one cancel out the other and the end sum of it all = blaming the ref for whatever.

Kaplan this weekend, nice, he has been out of action for a while.

 

[JJJ]

Doesn't the citing commission look at the game and decides what needs citing?

And only if it's a card is it an automatic citing?

It was a card though. He said it was a card. He just couldn't give it out because neither he nor Eagle-Eye-On-The-Aussies got the number. For which he bizarrely apologized to McCaw.

 

[Scotty]

So not one game is refereed by a New Zealander or an Australian? What is the theory behind that? Don't give the South Africans anything to make up a fellow 3N conspiracy theory about?

I was looking forward to having a kiwi ref, but we are stuck with the NH ones again in SA.

 

[JJJ]

My guess would be that they're only using refs who have a chance of reffing the RWC.

 

[MajorlyRagerly]

It was a card though. He said it was a card. He just couldn't give it out because neither he nor Eagle-Eye-On-The-Aussies got the number. For which he bizarrely apologized to McCaw.

But he didn't give a card - therefore it's not an automatic citing. As he didn't give a card.

Agree that is was bizarre he apologised to McCaw - he should have apologised to Elsom. However, it wasn't Elsom who was clearly doing everything he could to co-operate with the ref.

 

[#1 Tah]

My guess would be that they're only using refs who have a chance of reffing the RWC.

Agreed. I think that they are building referee depth, so that next year, we are not short of referees who are ready to step up to the mark and perform.

 

[JJJ]

But he didn't give a card - therefore it's not an automatic citing. As he didn't give a card.

True he didn't actually give a card. I'm not likely to forget that. But if he says "I would've given a yellow card if I'd gotten the number" it should surely trigger the same post-match process as actually giving the card. Even more so as it wasn't punished during the match.

I don't think it merited a card btw, but I do want to see consistency in how they handle dubious offences, or at least some measure of transparency if they decide not to show consistency. There's really nobody in Aus who will keep the bastards honest though. The ARU won't, Robbie won't, and the media evidently won't. The media especially won't after clowngate. I'd like to think that Robbie and the ARU are just choosing their battles, but it didn't seem to help them with the Cooper appeal, so why bother?

 

[MajorlyRagerly]

True he didn't actually give a card. I'm not likely to forget that. But if he says "I would've given a yellow card if I'd gotten the number" it should surely trigger the same post-match process as actually giving the card. Even more so as it wasn't punished during the match.

Not a bad point there, but I don't believe thats in the regulations.

Either way, I'm sure the incident was looked at by the post match citing commissioner anyway - regardless of if the player was cited. So although I can see your argument for consistency, the right result was still reached in the end, which I'm sure is all the IRB is truly concerned about.

 

[chief]

Gotta wonder why Dickinson isn't there. Didn't Dickinson beat both Kaplan and Bryce Lawrence to Semi Finals in the S14? Oh well, real focus is on the complete failure of our national team.

I think Alain Rolland was great in his game this year, aside from the yellow card and the failure to Yellow card Ritchie McCaw.

Alan Lewis was pretty good as well.

George Clancy was okay, he missed a bit but he didn't seem too good.

Joubert was fantastic, but was let down by some touchies

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Is Chris White still reffing? I always liked him. Rolland gives me the absolute shits though.

 

[Gagger]

Not a bad point there, but I don't believe thats in the regulations.

Either way, I'm sure the incident was looked at by the post match citing commissioner anyway.

How do we know that?

Surely, they cite an incident - which you would've thought a ref saying "I would have binned a guy but didn't get the number" was a pretty easy cue for a citing -
then they have the review
then they decide whether action is required or not - like they did with Shmoo

That would be the process, rather than someone making decisions in his bedroom with a video recorder

Whether the fucker shoulda been carded or binned at all is entirely different argument, but if it was to be consistent with the latest 'crackdown', I wouldn't have been surprised

 

[Richo]

In addition to the utter softness of the first yellow on Mitchell, you clearly hear Joubert (repeating Kaplan) that Mitchell was penalised for "late in and no arms". The replay shows that not only was the hit soft as hell and McCaw flopped, but Mitchell's arms were up and in fact the only thing that touched McCaw. If there was any accountability in rugby, Kaplan would be canned from all remaining international fixtures this year for that call.

I think in the case of Kaplan you have a referee who thinks that 50,000 people come to the game to watch him blow a whistle. You see this is a lot in American sport and it's become a big problem.

Generally, though, my guess would be that South African rugby probably told it's referees "call the game tight as hell" so that their blokes aren't the only ones getting sent off all the time. Or SANZAR did under pressure. I just hope we're not going to see more and more yellow cards for soft and / or bullshit calls.

 

[Scott Allen]

It was actually Wessels, not Kaplan, that reported Mitchell for the tackle and he's just been replaced for this weekend's game

"The International Rugby Board has confirmed a change to the Match Official panel for Saturday’s Tri-Nations match between New Zealand and Australia. Cobus Wessels (South Africa) has been replaced by Keith Brown (New Zealand) as Assistant Referee for the top of the table clash in Christchurch.

Wessels, who will now perform the role of Television Match Official, has been stood down as Assistant Referee 2 following a routine review of match official performance in last weekend’s Tri-Nations match in Melbourne.

The appointment of a replacement Assistant Referee from the Host Union is owing to the logistical and preparation pressures of selecting a neutral official for Saturday’s match and will not be a precedent for future appointments."

 

[Richo]

I'm very pleasantly surprised. Good stuff, IRB.

 

[MajorlyRagerly]

Gagger - so u now don't believe the citing commie is doing his job? How did bb get done then?

Chief - agree on all counts.

 

[Gagger]

Congrats, how many posts did it take? BB?