South Africa vs British & Irish Lions - Test 1

[Reiser99]

Yellow. Read the rules. If Lions don't compete they will stil loose the tests. Curry gave away 6 points and Daly at least 3

I love how people say read the rules.

Ok here we go from world rugby.

A player who commits foul play must either be cautioned or temporarily suspended or sent off.
18. A player must not lift an opponent off the ground and drop or drive that player so that their head and/or upper body make contact with the ground.

Where does it say it would be a yellow? The sanction is either a penalty, yellow or red. Now while this area is refereed a bit inconsistently, generally they will look at whether the tackler is in control, was he brought to ground or just dropped, was their force in the tackle, how did the player land, or now how would the player land if they didn't put their hand out to stop them, because it shouldn't be a different card depending on if the victim is able to protect themselves or not.

Now for me Watson lifts him above the horizontal so it's foul play. He didn't lift him too high which would be a point in Watson's favour. However, he is not in control of how the player lands and he doesn't bring him safely to ground. I would say there isn't a lot of forced used, he's tipped him. I don't think he's driven him into the ground though. As for landing Le Roux would have landed on his head if his arms hadn't been in front of him. The head aspect for me is the worst because as far as I can see, even if Watson didn't intend to or use a lot of force, he's still not in control and had no idea if Le Roux would land on his head or not.

Honestly I think red, though I can easily see a yellow given. However, if you can point out in the laws where it clearly says that tackle would be a yellow, be my guest.

 

[Reiser99]

I hate articles like that because they walk dangerous close to the speculative argument of "what if?" and that's a never ending rabbit hole

I think they did make it clear that if you were a Lions fan it is no try and and if your S.A it is a try. Problem is those moments are often what get people interested and talking. They are also almost impossible to avoid, because no matter which was Jonker decided, it would be controversial and in this case game-changing.

For me I think there was no clear and obvious evidence to overturn the decision. I think the pass was forward, but I wouldn't bet money on it. I think Le Roux was possibly just off-side, though you could argue Am's boot was further forward. Again I wouldn't put money on it. Basically, we've seen in football the issue of been too meticulous. It disrupts the flow of the game and leads to more arguments. TMO should be used to correct obvious mistakes or when the officials can't actually see what has happened. In this case there was no obvious evidence to overturn the decision.

Now you might say, but they got the correct result. Yes, but now every borderline decision like that has to be checked, if not it's inconsistent. Another TMO in another game might go there is no clear evidence for something that is almost identical. Jonker has set his stall out now, and so can't say there is no obvious evidence in another similar situation because he was willing to make a call here.

 

[mania]

yeah go the Lions
this is soo cool and a good lesson to SA that you cant hide and have to put you #1 spot on the line at some stage

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

I see the trolls have come out with the narrow SA loss LOL.

 

[dougal76]

Thought it was a game of two halves but thought the lions cost themselves points rather than south Africa working for them. Didn't think there was 9 points between the teams at half time. 2nd half the lions sorted out their discipline and they executed their game plan and although it wasn't particularly pretty it was effective. I know people will point out that South Africa were rusty but that it is a squad that has more or less played together for at more than 2 years. As it was pointed out when the Lions squad was announced only 1 of the combinations had played together. So that Lions team had never played together as a fifteen, never. So to return that result was great for them. There might be a couple of tweaks here and there but for the most part I thought the majority of the squad did enough for another shot at a test match. I do expect the boks to be better in Saturday but with the confidence gained and another weeks preparation I do expect the Lions to be stronger and hopefully more disciplined. Really looking forward to the 2nd test now.

 

[AlRums]

Duhan van der Merwe defused the Bok Bomb Squad

Mega-wing Duhan van der Merwe was key in negating the Springboks’ renowned bench as the British & Irish Lions stunned the world champions in the first of a three-Test series in Cape Town, writes ZELIM NEL.

www.sarugbymag.co.za

SA media take of first test

 

[retired9]

Duhan van der Merwe defused the Bok Bomb Squad

Mega-wing Duhan van der Merwe was key in negating the Springboks’ renowned bench as the British & Irish Lions stunned the world champions in the first of a three-Test series in Cape Town, writes ZELIM NEL.

www.sarugbymag.co.za

SA media take of first test

Interesting reading the what the other sides take on it is, obviously bigging up their Saffer exile but maybe this is what the coaching staff have kept VDM in the running for, he is a monster to beat!

 

[mania]

about that leRoux try being disallowed. we've been told this season that if your borderline on/off side then the ref will rule that your off. you have to be clearly onside and leRoux wasnt.
plus it was definitely a forward pass

I wouldn't say the Boks dominated the first half, but they were ascendant. only problem was they didnt make the most of their adv. not going for tries or even using set moves to light up their backline cost them.

who dares wins

 

[mania]

and why the hell would u play kwagga at 8? WTF? Steph has a better body and physicality for 8 than kwagga. kwagga is a specialist 7