Gatland verdict on Kolbe yellow and what irked him in the 2nd half
After a week when the first Test post-mortem on the level of refereeing reached extraordinary new heights with Rassie Erasmus’ 62-minute video, Warren Gatland felt it best to limit his take on the contentious first-half yellow card for Cheslin Kolbe and on the refereeing in general following Saturday’s 27-9 defeat for the Lions by the Springboks.
Commenting on Sky Sports when the 25th-minute incident took place, the Test centurion referee Nigel Owens felt the Springboks winger was in red card trouble after he took Conor Murray out in the air. However, second Test referee Ben O’Keeffe felt the collision only merited a yellow card, leaving Kolbe only heading to a sin bin already occupied by Lions winger Duhan van der Merwe for his cynical 23rd-minute foot-trip on Kolbe.
“I’m not going to comment on the referee’s decisions,” responded Gatland at his virtual post-game Lions media briefing in Cape Town. “We’ll have our meeting with the referee next week and see what the assessors come back with in terms of their decision and then get find out what it was. It didn’t look great from where I was but he decided it was a yellow card decision.”
The try-less Lions were 9-6 ahead at the break but they fell away in a second half where they were held scoreless and how they lost out on the penalty count by 15-10 will be a source of frustration as well as how the Springboks slowed down the pace of the match.
Last week’s opening Test and the mid-tour game featuring South Africa A had seen the hosts struggle with their conditioning in the second halves but they countered that in this latest second half in Cape Town by preventing the Lions from building tempo and quickening up the play.
The Lions versus Springboks second Test was expected to be fractious and that angst quickly materialised in dour but feisty first half#CastleLionsSeries #LionsRugby #RSAvBIL
https://t.co/0FAxKKp5Tn— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 31, 2021
“The referee was continually talking to them about trying to speed the game up and keep it moving,” admitted Gatland. “That is something we will probably look at raising next week in terms of how we get some more tempo in the game and that every stoppage isn’t an injury stoppage which we seemed to have, in particular in that second half. It’s difficult to change that. Alun Wyn (Jones) was working with the referee and he was talking to Ben in terms of trying to speed the game up and keep it moving but it was very, very stop-start.”
Reflecting on a build-up where the refereeing became the dominant narrative, Lions boss Gatland hoped it doesn’t set a precedent for how such matters are handled in future and that there will be no repeat of Erasmus so publicly airing his grievances.
“I hope that doesn’t happen. We have got systems and processes in place and hopefully World Rugby looks at that in terms of making sure everyone follows the protocols and that is important. We do press conferences and try to give you guys some feedback and some information and we deal with the referees through World Rugby and that is the process.
“I just hope we don’t get to a situation where we end up with things on Twitter and people airing their views in that way. I found it quite strange that that approach was taken but it is definitely not something I will get involved in and it is important that we keep the integrity of the game up as much as we possibly can.
“The last thing that we need is a war of words and being accused of doing certain things. It’s amazing how the narrative changed with regard to the TMO. I didn’t make one comment leading up to the game last week on the TMO and yet I was accused of questioning his integrity.
“That’s the message that they were giving out. We will just keep things to ourselves and go through the proper channels when we deal with the referee, talk to the referee after reviewing the game and then hopefully get some feedback from him and us giving him so feedback as well.”
PLAYER RATINGS: The Lions faced a roll reversal in Cape Town, fading before a second-half Bok onslaught.
Here's how we rated the players #LionsTour2021 #LionsRugby #RSAvBIL https://t.co/Y1gAvsHpE8
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 31, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Seems to have been a bright start but it tailed off. To win the big matches you have to get used to putting your foot on the throttle and your opponent’s necks in an 80 minutes performance which is what the All Blacks were renowned for. An example in the Women’s game is England v Ireland in the 6N match played at Twickenham in April. Watch on YouTube.
1 Go to commentsBobby has been a first grade bonehead since high school. Like a true Cape Tonian, his own reflection is more important than anything else.
1 Go to commentsNo comment on the textbook red card for Ramm that was just ignored? Amazing that
4 Go to commentsThese rule changes have been implemented with good intentions, but much like every other rule change focus on isolated symptoms instead of the root cause. If you cannot croc roll, and cannot risk any head contact with a front on clear out, it is not clear how you are supposed to lawfully clear someone out who is attempting a jackal. This will backfire massively and lead to substantially more kicking. Teams will simply not want to take the ball into contact. Or it will lead to even more dangerous methods to clear players out who are over the ball. I much prefer having the set piece on a 30 second shot clock over no scrum on a short arm infringement. Resets are not a problem in themselves, but 90 second water and tactics breaks before every scrum are a big problem. Trainers constantly coming on to the field to help players pull their socks up and delaying the game are a problem. DuPont law was a blight on the game and should have been changed the day after it was first implemented.
77 Go to commentsAh yes, the opinion of Andy Goode… Andy Goode, the man who knows what some of the Irish players said to Eben Etzebeth after the QF, better than what Eben himself knows. And, judging by this piece, the Grandmaster of clichés.
2 Go to commentsI think this is a fair view. As a South African I am concerned about the depowering of the scrum but let’s be honest, until the SA vs FRA quarter many people didn’t even know you could take a scrum from a free kick. As you say it’s going to come down to interpretation… until then we don’t really know how this is going to impact the game. That would lead to my own objection. Do the unknowns of changing a law outweigh the cons of said law. With such an obscure law that most people had never heard of, one that had never really had an impact on the game in the first place is it worth changing to invite so much uncertainty. Better the devil you know then the devil you don’t as it were…
2 Go to comments162 comments so far and counting. i didn't realize that rugby fans are on the way to join the football brothers. what is the point to share personal opinion only to get all this shi*? it seems IRB bosses are doing the great job by killing the spirit of the game both on and outside the pitch. too sad, indeed. btw, was there anything on eben’s point of view from the boys in green, who he mentioned?
164 Go to commentsJob done guys. Great win in a game where things can quickly go wrong.
1 Go to commentsAlex Sanderson fantastic coach and person .So pleased he has signed another contract great days ahead for Sale under his leadership.
1 Go to commentsAndy Goode cant kick to 12
164 Go to commentsDoxed himself. Great work Johnny. You are well suited to the Saders
1 Go to comments_Best game players _
1 Go to commentsWho's Jarrad Hohepa?
1 Go to commentsSo let me get this straight. Say you have the dominant scrum. You are 99% sure you can go for a scrum pushover try on the line to win the game. The opposition knows it too. They give away a silly tap kick instead. You are now not allowed to scrum. This is ridiculous! *%@ing the game up as usual! The fact that the attacking teams are not allowed to scrum from a held up over the line is just as ridiculous. Really world rugby? Careful people might start a rebel league called True Rugby or Real Rugby.
77 Go to comments12 subs during a game? How has that been allowed to happen NB? I hate when the game goes in this monopolistic direction closing up shop, it just becomes non sport. Btw have you seen anything of how Liam Coltman was tracking for Lyon? He has just signed to return to Otago though we have a couple of young hookers developing here. He was a popular gentle natured character down here and I’m glad to see him back but maybe he will be a mentor primarily?
12 Go to commentsGreat breakdown and the global politics always confuses me a little. The southern hemisphere seems to be left out a bit but I wouldn’t even know where to start with fixing it. Club challenge could be a step in the right direction
12 Go to commentsSince he coached Free state, from that time onwards, I maintained he was the coach for the Boks. A nice, no nonsense guy with an excellent brain, who gets results.
11 Go to commentswell - they only played against 14 men and had the TMO team on their side - and still should have lost… so actually that makes sense.
35 Go to commentsSouthern hemisphere Rugby is exactly that, boring. Northern Hemisphere Rugby is soooo much more entertaining and better with better players.
2 Go to commentsIf he was to be cited for a dangerous behavior, then it’s natural that he should be. Then NTamack too, yes? And I’ll add a good whataboutism - Yeandle eye-gouging on Richie Arnold: not cited. Eye-gouging. Not high tackle. Eye-gouging. It was on French TV, with French TV directors.
5 Go to comments