Do rugby refs cheat, are they affected by personal bias or are they just blind?

[LancelotSA]

I have often wondered this but now I am wondering it even more so....

We are always told that refs are just human and make mistakes which is fine when you are caught up in the live action but what when the ref has the benefit of multiple replays and still gets a decision wrong?

In the Sharks/Waratahs game the replay I was watching clearly showed Kanknowski's hand under the ball when a try was apparently being scored. The TMO looked at it numerous times and decided it was a try My question is HOW?!?!? The replay clearly showed a hand under the ball... what was he watching?

Please can someone who has the capability to do so post a screen shot of the hand under the ball.... I would love to watch it again just to ensure I am not in fact the blind one.

I am leaning towards personal bias affecting the decision as the one eyed Aussie commentators also failed to see the hand in about 5 times of watching and we know how biased those "boxes" are!



And while I am bitching another rugby rule that needs to be looked at.... penalty advantage when you are 5m out from the opposition line! When is advantage over? The only way to cross the advantage line is to score a try! Earlier in the game the Sharks held the 'Tahs out for what seemed like ages on their line under a penalty advantage, the 'Tahs eventually passed the ball back, a player fumbled and the ref called them all the way back for the penalty 5m from the Sharks line! You should get something like three phases before your advantage is over!!

 

[Riot2]

wow
so blatent
the ref raped the sharks
i am convinced he has money on the game;
HOW can u send a player off for a knockdown and NOT award a penalty try in that situation (the field was open, no defenders in range, no reason to believe the sharks assisting player would not have gone on the score)

 

[Stephen]

Even as a Stormers supporter I think the Sharks got robbed

 

[Sheepbot]

That should have been a f****** penalty try FFS!!!

 

[LancelotSA]

wow
so blatent
the ref raped the sharks
i am convinced he has money on the game;
HOW can u send a player off for a knockdown and NOT award a penalty try in that situation

Exactly. And then call some random obstruction at the ensuing lineout! Throw in the TMO try which was not one. The desperate attempt to give the 'Tahs a leg up with the two yellow cards early. Playing 5 min penalty advantage for the 'Tahs and 5 secs for the Sharks... etc etc etc

Fsuk them!

Glad to see John, in his ever diplomatic manner, stating that they are not "getting the rub of the green from the refs".

 

[dal2000]

The Super 14 is broken somewhere...

 

[ToxicBunny]

Totally broken

I'm losing interest in watching our local teams getting shafted on a regular basis.

 

[LancelotSA]

The Super 14 is broken somewhere...

I think the problem lies with the fact that the big talkers in the Super 14 seem to lie outside of South Africa...

 

[Riot2]

well ill add that i am a bulls supporter but i always support all south african teams
the super 14 is broken cuz south africans have an amazing godlike ability to play rugby
the rules get changed specifically targetting out strengths and we adapt
so eventually the rest of the world is growing tired of our amazing superiority and have to resort to alternatives to win
such as terribly biased calls, unmerited citings and extremely long follow up bans
the ref seriously either should have to get retrained on how the rules work especially wrt penalty tries or just outright be fired
repeated delibrate infringements metres out from ur line should get u carded but what ever, stop a try by any means necessary

and this is why i cant be a professional sportsmen (apart from my lack of talent in anything related to ball skills)
i WOULD leave the field after a call like that, and the follow up when the beast was standing near the ref after he called that CRAP obstruction call.... that ref would have been lights out if i were a player

 

[Globetrotter]

I rarely complain about refs because successful teams just make a point of adapting to the ref, instead of complaining about him. However in this case I have to agree, the ref was simply hopeless and made some seriously flawed decisions. I'm an avid Stormers supporter but I always support other SA teams whenever they're playing a team from another country. That said, the Sharks are not exactly playing top rugby this season (so far).

 

[hashbrown99]

We were robbed

 

[dal2000]

Was the last yellow card meant to be a penalty try? The SS commentators didn't say anything about it.

 

[Riot2]

im my mind there is no doubt that was supposed to be a penalty try
however penalty tries are very subjective and rarely given
no doubt boots and all tomorrow and well as all out rugby will offer some in depth discussion based on the matter from people's whose opinions carry more weight than mine in the matter

 

[alternate]

I'm disgusted with this Sharks game. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON? If there was nothing going on with that ref and TMO they should be sacked. Can we please go back to neutral refs? How am I supposed to enjoy a game of rugby where it's just refs dictating a game!?

 

[Mephisto_Helix]

And it's been happening to all of our teams for years ...... I remember a year (can't be exact coz I don't remember that well) when it was happening on a hardcore scale to the Bulls. No matter what they did, they were being dealt with harshly. And for me to feel pity for the Bulls you know it had to be harsh

 

[GreGorGy]

My loyalties are well known. I watched that rubbish this morning and at half time I left home to go to the Grandslam and watch the second half with beer.

Already surprised at one of those 2 cards (Goode) and somewhat bemused by the "try", I arrived sporting my BULLS away jersey while the viewing public inside that place were obviously all wearing the black sharks jersey, and upset. I turned to one of my good friends (after I secured a beer) and asked him this exact question. Me and Mr D have been watching the game together for years. He - like Lance - is black through and through while I am bluer than Avatar. It makes for a difficult friendship and still interesting outings (Kings Park has always favoured him, for example, when we have been there except May 2007, as he will quickly remind you.)

I asked if these refs are cheating. Does he think, at all, that match fixing may be happening at an official level, rather than a player level. Because, despite my allegiances and even my open dislike for the sharkies, rubbish is rubbish and this morning, after the "penalty try" failed to make it, Rory's crossing and obstruction "penalty" (seriously, I did not write that - I am merely reporting what I saw) and the 'tahs narrow victory, I gotta say: that fkucing match was fixed!

 

[GreGorGy]

Oh, and I hasten to add, not a single media site (even news24) bothers to mention what must be controversial refereeing in any man's book! They all pretend like everything is OK...

 

[Mephisto_Helix]

Yoh, you know how shocking it must have been when even GreGorGy agrees


but it does show you that when a bad call is a bad call, anyone will call it as such.

 

[MielieSpoor]

F o k kit. Julle klink soos 'n ou tannie met 'n nat broek.

 

[LancelotSA]

Oh, and I hasten to add, not a single media site (even news24) bothers to mention what must be controversial refereeing in any man's book! They all pretend like everything is OK...

I say screw this diplomatic crap! Say it as it is. Fill the papers with it. Show Kankowski's hand under the ball. Why the hell should we keep quiet? The Aussie commentators sure as hell don't. That is sometimes the problem with us... we are sometimes still just grateful to have been accepted into international sport so we don't want to stir the pot and cause ***!

but it does show you that when a bad call is a bad call, anyone will call it as such.

John Smit even alluded to the bad refereeing and he is usually extremely diplomatic! Garth Wright also criticised the refereeing after the game after stating that he is not usually the type to do this. But as you say when you analyse the footage one can only conclude that there was some crap decisions made. Yes, the ref misses the odd thing but FFS the TMO was watching the replay of that try 6 times! If he was in doubt he should have called it held up (although there was no doubt!). And the ref yellow carded that chap for the knock down of Stefan's pass so he clearly felt it was deliberate. Did he not then see Kankowkis's unmarked outside him with the try line beckoning? And then in that final line out he must have literally been watching it looking for something he could try and penalise the Sharks for. I have never seen a penalty given for that. Never.