Wallabies v Springboks - Adelaide Oval, Sat 27th August, 2022

[Pfitzy]

I was quite impressed how Noah used the ref to hide his run to set up that try - that was very clever

The key was Slipper putting the ball into the space rather than throwing it at him.

 

[Kenny Powers]

With the whole Nic White contact to the head and Koribete tackle are based around player welfare and driven by World Rugby Rugby. Due to the current and future legal action they face I am somewhat perplexed by an obvious problem that is not being addressed.
All the concern around player welfare seems to be restricted to Senior rugby. In Junior rugby you can have players 2 - 3 times the size up against each other.
Just seems utterly bizarre and inconsistent. The again inconsistency seems to be a key cultural value of Rugby administrators.

 

[Derpus]

Dives are the inevitable outcome of a crackdown on dangerous play. Same thing happened in football when they tried to crack down on leg breakers... they didn't always go straight to ground.

 

[DELETE ACCOUNT]

Hate players taking a dive regardless of field position or anything else. We'll end up like the Italian soccer team, with all our supporters screaming for justice.

As an old dinosaur I am hopeful that a couple of hard asses from his forward pack gave him a serve about it after the game behind closed doors.
Every cheeky bloody halfback needs ripping into line at some stage.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

You know, I would have been going hard at White if the perp hadn’t been Faf. That bloke does so much low rent shithousery in games that he deserved it. This might be a sign of our boys being a bit more streetwise after being on the wrong end of it in the England series.

 

[KevinO]

If Skeltons fitness is anything like Arnold, we cant afford to carry both in test matches

Skelton would at least be doing a pre-season with La Rochelle atm. When the EOYT starts, he probably will have played at least 6 games of the regular season. Arnold came back 6 weeks after his last game for Toulouse and had a calf injury which likely restricted him from regaining fitness.
Different scenarios - I hope.

From what I read about a previous pre-season, Skelton wouldn't dare come back over weight again. O'Gara has a take crap stance to this and worked Skelton extremely hard when he came back over weight.

 

[Slim 293]

As an old dinosaur I am hopeful that a couple of hard asses from his forward pack gave him a serve about it after the game behind closed doors.
Every cheeky bloody halfback needs ripping into line at some stage.

I'm certain they were more relieved about not having to pack a 5m defensive scrum with one player already in the bin...

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

As an old dinosaur I am hopeful that a couple of hard asses from his forward pack gave him a serve about it after the game behind closed doors.
Every cheeky bloody halfback needs ripping into line at some stage.

There is never a bad time to give a yappy halfback a clip

 

[qwerty51]

Nic White didn't dive.

If you had a linear scale of unethical/unsportsmanship behaviour, diving would be at the end. Milking/exaggerating contact is somewhere in between.

It's not a good look but, come on he was actually hit. Faking a hit would be significantly worse. We can talk unsportsmanship and yeah it's a grey area and we all want milking gone but there's also plenty of unsportsmanship stuff that goes on during games that Springbok fans themselves wouldn't like to discuss like players constantly slowing the game down, going down with fake injuries before scrums etc.

 

[Viking]

That's an odd post to quote for your reply.

Obviously boredom is a factor but the main thing that interests me on this topic is the cognitive disconnect between how different supporters see it.

Also, if you're gonna say 'move on', perhaps don't rehash the argument in the sentence directly beforehand?

I can see where you're coming from, some ref's could have gave a yellow for that, especially with how conservative the refs have been going the last couple of years. There really is no consistency in ref's these days.

The real question is, do you actually want a yellow given for that tackle?

My answer is no! This is rugby, a contact sport, he did at least try and attempt an arm, there was nothing in that tackle which screamed misconduct or intent to be dangerous.

I hope that similar tackles will continue to give the benefit of the doubt to the tackler because it is very very rare that players are going out there trying to drop other players on their head or blatantly shoulder charging. Now contact to the head is probably a different story too.

 

[fatprop]

The key was Slipper putting the ball into the space rather than throwing it at him.

yep, @4.21

great pass, great deception from Noah - you can't number when someone is lurking behind the ref

 

[Viking]

Nic White didn't dive.

If you had a linear scale of unethical/unsportsmanship behaviour, diving would be at the end. Milking/exaggerating contact is somewhere in between.

It's not a good look but, come on he was actually hit. Faking a hit would be significantly worse. We can talk unsportsmanship and yeah it's a grey area and we all want milking gone but there's also plenty of unsportsmanship stuff that goes on during games that Springbok fans themselves wouldn't like to discuss like players constantly slowing the game down, going down with fake injuries before scrums etc.

He could of at least made it less obvious. If you're gunna milk it, try not to pause a moment beforehand.

 

[Viking]

I'm far less down on Nic White's actions than others. Sure it was pretty lame but he also got clipped across the face while we're trying to clear our own line.

Should we suffer a disadvantage because our play got interrupted illegally by Faf de Klerk?

De Klerk went for a low percentage option and got it substantially wrong. You can't just smack someone in the face.

Ensuring acts of foul play are reviewed has become pretty common place in the game. I don't think this was any different.

I actually feel a bit bad for Nic White, he had a pretty good game despite the theatrics. His cover defence and game management was great!

 

[Braveheart81]

He could of at least made it less obvious. If you're gunna milk it, try not to pause a moment beforehand.

I think that's how it generally happens though. He wasn't hit in the head hard enough to knock him off his feet or immediately impact what he was doing and it then takes a split second for your brain to process that you were just smashed in the mouth.

De Klerk did have his hand clenched (because he was trying to put a significant hit on the ball). It wouldn't have tickled.

 

[dru]

He could of at least made it less obvious. If you're gunna milk it, try not to pause a moment beforehand.

I would have been happy if he went the other way. Once cognition caught up that he had been slapped in the face, stop, ask the ref if he is going to do something. Make it obvious. Curling up on the ground is BS.

 

[PhilClinton]

The thing about White's dive/milking - there was going to be a stoppage in play happening regardless to pack a scrum, which is more than enough time for TMO reviews. Judging by the outcome of a yellow card being issued, it's likely the same result would have been reached, assuming they review every play regardless of players staying down.

 

[LeCheese]

You know, I would have been going hard at White if the perp hadn’t been Faf. That bloke does so much low rent shithousery in games that he deserved it.

Yeah even Faf's hit on White post-dive was pretty grubby imo. Understandably wanted to get one back, but White had already been on the ground for a second, he doesn't pull out at all, and it could be viewed as dangerous contact to head/neck. A bit surprised it hasn't been noted much tbh.

 

[Joe Blow]

I cant admire Nic Whites over reaction and the game is bettor off without it. Both he and Gordon often stop play or leave the pill at the base of a scrum/ruck when trying to influence the ref and often it results in a turn over or lost opportunity.
Negative play that can and often does do damage to our sides progress.

The salty tears of the Saffa supporters is worth the price of admission though.

 

[Braveheart81]

The thing about White's dive/milking - there was going to be a stoppage in play happening regardless to pack a scrum, which is more than enough time for TMO reviews. Judging by the outcome of a yellow card being issued, it's likely the same result would have been reached, assuming they review every play regardless of players staying down.

If White had tried to keep playing though, why would there have been a scrum? Presumably he makes a less effective pass and then we scramble a kick into touch.

 

[Dctarget]

yep, @4.21

great pass, great deception from Noah - you can't number when someone is lurking behind the ref

Just watching those highlights there and focusing on the first try, great run down the wing for Valetini, he gets better and better. 17th start in the row? How beneficial is it to have a consistent 8.

Philip's little offload to Fainga'a was lovely too. The bloke did a little step and managed to get past the first tackle then offload. Coach's dream.