Brave, inspired, defeated

[kilo39]

Brave, inspired but still defeated
July 15 2007
By Peter Bills

Ignore the scoreline, forget the one-sided look to this Tri-Nations Test match.

For 70 minutes, Jake White's patched-up Springbok outfit gave one of the greatest scrambling defensive performances you are ever likely to see in Test match rugby.

As a fingers-in-the-dyke exercise, it was a phenomenally successful job and one that frustrated the hell out of the All Blacks.

It was also one of the most courageous, bravest defensive displays I've seen in nearly 40 years of Test rugby.

Didn't see the game but the report certainly brought a tear to my eye.

 

[Omac]

Yup! I do think that this game, and the defeat inflicted by the Aussies, demonstrated that the All Blacks are beatable and are not the all conquering side many think they are!

Thats my opinion!

 

[Abe]

I think the World Cup is the All Blacks to lose, not someone else's to win. They are playing well below what they have for the last couple of years and always seem to botch the world cup.

 

[killadoob]

guys the game was amazing

i'll be honest we never looked like we could score a try thats for sure but neither did NZ until the 70th minute when they ran riot

never seen such amazing defence before
attacking though they sucked

2nd team FTW

 

[Omac]

Boks say refs frightened of McCaw

Boks say refs frightened of McCaw by Andy Colquhoun

Posted on Saturday, July 14, 2007 - 13:27

The reputation of All Black captain Richie McCaw scared referees away from sin-binning the fetcher said Springbok captain Johann Muller after Saturday's 33-6 Vodacom Tri-Nations defeat in Christchurch.

View the latest Bok video highlights

Muller claimed that the IRB player of the year was given special treatment by officials who were frightened to take strong action when he infringed.

“If Richie McCaw had blond hair and wore a green jersey or had dreadlocks and wore a yellow jersey he would never finish a test,” said Muller in reference to Springbok flank Schalk Burger and the Wallabies’ openside George Smith.

“You want to play a fair game and you want to have a fair go at the breakdown and he [McCaw] is really making it difficult for us.

“The first infringement was down in their 22 and the words were ‘playing the ball on the ground’ and that was exactly the same words at the other end. The only extra word was ‘cynical’ -- and I’m not exactly sure what that means.

“If one gets a yellow card and the other doesn’t -- that sends out a message that’s not true,” said Muller.

Muller said that the sin-binning of Wannenburg was the game's turning point and that the Springboks' effort of keeping out the All Blacks failed in the final ten minutes when the All Blacks scored three tries.

"We defended really well but the legs got tired," said Muller.

http://www.superrugby.co.za/default.asp?id=221952&des=article&scat=superrugby/springboks

He also came in from the side on many occasions!

I can't find any referance to censure of Johann Muller for critizising the ref.

 

[justinct]

I watched the game and thought mccaw got away with murder, although i think there were alot of infringements that were allowed 2 continue from both sides. Normally ppl say mccaw gets away with murder and i disagree from a technical point, but really on saturday it was crazy

 

[Abe]

In the Tri-Nations to date. SA have 5 yellow cards from 4 games. NZ have 1 yellow card from 3 games and AUS have 0 yellow cards from 3 games. Either the refs are being a bit rough on us, Jake needs to have a serious talk to the team members or a bit of both. Either way, we are going to lose a lot more gaves if we keep having people sent to the bin.

 

[justinct]

Maybe we can only play for 70 mins cos the other ten were spent trying to cover for the 1 person sent off the field...