Cape Town - Referee Steve Walsh is fortunate that the Springboks had the composure to ensure that the right team still won the game at Twickenham on Saturday or he would have been as big a villain in South Africa this morning as Romain Poite was after the Auckland Test against the All Blacks last year.
Had it not been for the yellow-carding of Victor Matfield and the abysmal decision by the assistant referee just a few minutes later, England would not have come close to winning and we would not have had to spend the last minute of the game gnawing our nails.
Like against the Kiwis the previous week, the final scoreline flattered England, and if there is any team that have problems ahead of the World Cup, it is the hosts. Against the All Blacks they were awarded a penalty try with a minute to run to put a false gloss on the final scoreline, and that masked the reality that England were well beaten and were only helped by the poor goal-kicking of Richie McCaw’s team.
On Saturday they were helped by some missed kicks from Patrick Lambie – but also by the refereeing team. Walsh had warned the teams before the Matfield misdemeanour that the next infringer when the opposition got a lineout maul going would be yellow-carded. That is fair enough, except that until then it had been almost all England doing the infringing.
England scored a try from the lineout that they set up from the penalty that was awarded when Matfield was carded, and then came the moment that could really have embarrassed the referees had the result been different.
Bryan Habana had his foot over the touchline as he fielded an England kick on the full, and it was the right thing to do as it should have meant a Bok throw back where the kick was launched.
The assistant referee advised Walsh otherwise, the lineout was England’s in an attacking position, and with the Boks missing their key lineout man, it was a crucial call. So it proved, as England powered through to score. They had been 14 points down, but within the space of a few minutes that disadvantage was turned around and it was 20-all.
Well done to the Boks for the way they refused to be put off their stride by the massive setback. The thing about the Boks is that they are always up for a game against England, and one of the defining characteristics of their performance yesterday was their refusal to lose.
That was shown by the way they struck back with 14 men, with Man of the Match Schalk Burger capping his great performance by being up with the equally excellent Marcell Coetzee as the No 6 forced his way over from a lineout maul. That gave the Boks the lead again, and they never relinquished it.
Yes, the Boks may have been fortunate because they did profit from a first-half intercept try scored by Jan Serfontein, but generally, even though England did win the lion’s share of possession, they were more accurate, more forceful and, in the end, more composed of the two teams.
England did make some headway in the first half through fullback Mike Brown and their No 8 Billy Vunipola made some metres, but it was the Boks who won the collisions and ultimately that was what won them the match against an England team that lacks proper thrust and cohesion on attack.
It was an important win for the Boks in that it was achieved at the venue of next year’s World Cup semi-final and on a day when they were lacking some important elements of what should be their World Cup plan. Well though Burger played, Willem Alberts will reintroduce a missing dimension when he returns from injury, and of course there is also the tactical kicking of Fourie du Preez or Ruan Pienaar to be factored in.
Not that the man who did wear the No 9, Cobus Reinach, doesn’t deserve kudos for the way he played yesterday, and the experience should hold him in good stead if the first-choice scrumhalves are out injured during the World Cup. It’s just that the Bok exiting and other aspects – and there were a few charge-downs yesterday – could be so much better with Du Preez or Pienaar present.
Talking of charge-downs, although Lambie did kick a late drop-goal that may have redeemed him in many eyes, he did miss some important kicks that he should have slotted and which would have made the win more comfortable for the Boks. He also kicked the ball too long in probing touch with a penalty at a crucial stage.
So there is some work for him to do if he wants to be considered a realistic alternative for Handré Pollard when the global showpiece event arrives in September.
Weekend Argus