PCFormat Forum Archive

Stuart wrote:... an intriguing counter.

Stuart wrote: ... failure to convert advantage to points again?

Stuart wrote: ... dubious interpretations of the law on Pocock's behalf

Sojourn wrote:Yea Star. I am gutted.
Frankly, I will need a week or two just to get this worldcup out of the way and out of my system before I worry about related news.

Stuart wrote:I see there is a helluva lot of red bashing on Foozebuck today.

Sojourn wrote:

Stuart wrote:I see there is a helluva lot of red bashing on Foozebuck today.

I don't understand this, hit me with a wet fish.
You mean the English?

SykomantiS wrote:I'm guessing it should be 'ref' bashing.

Chris Evans wrote: LIMITING THE POWER OF THE WHISTLE

There are no doubt a lot of Australian rugby supporters celebrating
our victory over the Springboks yesterday. There are also a number of
us that are wondering how on earth we managed to pull it off against a
side that dominated possession and territory and lineouts. Now, I
don't want to take anything away from the Australian victory - our
boys did perform superbly but on the day the Springboks were, we have
to admit, the better side. The boks, as always were magnanimous in
defeat with a somewhat pragmatic approach to the result. I wonder what
our boys would have said faced with the same situation of blatant
incompetence by Mr Bryce Lawrence.

I support Australia and always will but for those of us that believe
in fair play this was a hollow victory. This was very much like
fighting a worthy opponent with one arm strapped behind his back - it
leaves a bad taste. There were rumours about Mr Lawrence's
impartiality before kick-off from a lot of ex pat South Africans now
living in Australia but we tend to dismiss these conspiracy theories
with a grin. Certainly, Mr Lawrence's performance on the field did
nothing to dispel those theories. His performance was nothing short of
abysmal. He did not award the bok try because of a dubious forward
pass. I have looked and looked and to me, anyway, it did not look
forward. Minutes later when the boks once again breached our defences
and were well on the way to scoring another try, he called them back
for a forward pass. If the first call was contentious, there certainly
was nothing wrong with the second one. Here, I must ask - why not use
the "eye in the sky"? An impressive expensive piece of equipment that
should be used for such decisions.

He failed to penalise Pocock for slowing the ball down. If we had
played like that against the All Blacks, they would not have been so
quiet about it. - and rightly so. In the dying minutes of the game he
was in full view of at least 2 high tackles by our boys that went
unpunished. Any of these transgressions, if properly acted on, would
have surely given the game to the Boks with their advantage over
territory. To rub salt in the South African wounds, he awarded a high
tackle to the Wallabies for a chest high tackle.

We won, but did we really? Our sport has always been regarded as a
"hooligans game played by gentlemen" - If we do not want rugby union
to degenerate into a farce that soccer can become we need to make sure
that our refs are of suitable calibre. They need to be trustworthy
gentlemen.

Mr Lawrence, I would advise against any planned holidays to South
Africa for a couple of years.

Chris Davis

The Australian

SykomantiS wrote:That letter was also quoted on Highveld Stereo...

Stuart wrote:I call turd until I can be pointed to an original source.

The Roar wrote:Controversial Kiwi referee Bryce Lawrence has run his Rugby World Cup race – and the relief is palpable. The IRB has appointed Irishman Alain Rolland to control the Wales-France semi on Saturday, and South African Craig Joubert the All Blacks-Wallabies clash on Sunday.

Exit Lawrence.

And before the bleeding hearts tear hamstrings racing to his side, Lawrence wasn’t only a bad referee for winning and losing teams. He was bad for rugby.

That was his greatest crime.

Rugby has only one chance every four years to showcase itself, the time to swing fringe dwellers and disbelievers into full time supporters.

Lawrence not only killed off any remote interest from the fringe and beyond, but many long-term supporters as well. It’s not all Lawrence’s doing – it’s been a refereeing disaster throughout the tournament.

But Lawrence has attracted the most attention, because he’s an attention seeker.

To his credit, Lawrence has admitted to making multiple mistakes against the Wallabies in the shock 15-6 loss to Ireland, especially scrummaging, which accounted for six penalties at critical stages.

“And there were other mistakes as well,” Lawrence admitted to publicly, without being specific.

Retiring Springbok captain John Smit swooped on those admissions by giving Lawrence a gobfull after the 11-9 quarter final loss to the Wallabies.

“His refereeing of the breakdown was disgraceful. He let David Pocock get away with murder. Little wonder he won the man-of-the-match award,” beefed Smit.

Even Wallaby coach Robbie Deans chimed in with a rare chip: “Both sides were hard done by.

“It was a hotly-contested area, and maybe it evened out. Maybe it was fair”.

But there are no maybes where Lawrence has been criticised most – in New Zealand. The media and fans are embarrassed one of their own has generated so much adverse publicity.

The well-read internet publication, Trueblue NZ, sums up the reaction in general to the refereeing standard at the seventh Rugby World Cup:

“One of the worst outcomes of the IRB’s management is that games are now won and lost based on the capricious judgment of referees, and their wildly changing approach to the rules.

“Very few referees do a good job. But too many are hopeless, and the most hopeless of them all is Bryce Lawrence”.

Bleeding hearts, have a Bex and a good lie down.