14-man Boks deserved everything they got

Since that farce of a rugby test in Auckland on Saturday I have been watching the reaction of the New Zealand public on social media to gauge their response. Having a few Kiwi friends - who have all reacted differently - I was interested to see if the majority of New Zealanders felt that they had won with an unfair advantage. What I found was that most Kiwis were in complete denial, believing the Boks were just unlucky and the All Blacks would have won anyway.

Update 10/20/2015:
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/investigate-world-rugby-officiating.html

Updates 9/18/13:
http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/RugbyChampionship/Barnes-Refs-favour-All-Blacks-20130917

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/opinion/9175065/Reason-Boks-too-nice-for-their-own-good/

http://www.pharside.co.uk/rugby/nick-mallett-on-ballz-radio-talks-romain-poite-and-the-boks/

To perpetuate the myth of the invincible All Blacks, I find the tactics being used are very similar to those used by right-wing Americans, who, when faced with an obvious truth, create a web of lies and misinformation in order to distract from that truth.

Firstly, when Bismarck is wrongly penalised for the tackle on Carter, the New Zealand commentator says, "Ah that's for offside". He doesn't correct himself,  and so the first untruth is told: "The tackle may have been legal, but Bismarck was offside, so it would have been a penalty anyway". There is just a slight problem with this statement - it's completely incorrect. Carter kicked off from a 22-drop out. The All Blacks won the ball back from a knock down, and the ball is immediately passed back to Carter. There is no ruck, no maul, and no offside line. So the offside myth, which is completely irrelevant in any case, is created. And it is perpetuated over and over again in the media and social media to somehow justify the incorrect call.

Any reference to the Ma'a Nonu retaliation that sets off a mass brawl? Nope.

Second is the New Zealand coach Steve Hansen who says that, while he felt the first yellow card "was unlucky", he thought the elbow incident later could have warranted a straight red card. Now we see the propaganda machine in full swing. The Bismarck elbow was debatable at best, highlighted by the TMO's wording of his advice to the ref. I'll admit on some replays it looks bad enough to warrant a yellow card, but from other angles it appears that the elbow barely brushes the New Zealand player. So at best it's a debatable yellow. But Hansen has now created the idea in the Kiwi consciousness that it was deserving of a red - so the Boks should have been playing with fourteen anyway.

So Bismarck was offside and would have been sent off regardless of that first yellow card. OK.

Any reference to Ma'a Nonu's assault on our Captain? No. Do yourself a favour and google Ma'a Nonu. Here's a player that specialises in the no-arm-shoulder-barge to the head for which he has been red-carded many times, yet never seems to get banned. If there was any dirty play on Saturday worthy of the red card, it was his hit on de Villiers. Of course we have other issues to talk about, so that gets ignored. But this is just par for the course. The All Blacks are honest and clean, the Boks are dirty players.

Now for the third bit of subtle truth-bending that allows the New Zealand public to justify their profiting from a blatant injustice. I scoured Kiwi websites to see if there were any right-thinking, fair minded New Zealanders who would agree with some ex-All Black players, and most of the international rugby public, who felt the Boks were robbed. Instead I find this statement: "We would have won anyway".

I'll be the first to admit the Bok backline were having a bit a of a nightmare. They missed tackles, their kicking was all over the place, Kirchner couldn't take any high balls, and they gifted a 7-pointer (although that first try was highly debatable) to the All Blacks.

The Bok forwards somehow forgot how to secure a kick off, and at every restart in the first half seemed in a panic. But despite that and being a man down for 10 minutes, the Boks only trailed 17-10 at half time. In the first half (up until Bismarck's yellow) they were dominating the scrum and had forced the Kiwis to use short and surprising line-out throws. With Carter off the park and Bismarck having an awesome game, I was confident the Boks could go on a win the game - or at least lose with a bonus point - which would have put the Boks in a good position to win the championship at home.

So the idea that "the All Blacks would have won" is a joke. The reason we play the test is to see who will win, not who would have won.

It seems the All Blacks don't have to compete in a fair contest anymore, and the New Zealand rugby public justify their victory despite a massive assist from the officials. Sure the Boks were unlucky, but that happens, that's rugby, that's life. Funny how the All Blacks don't get unlucky. Yes, they had one bad call against them in the 2007 world cup. South African rugby supporters can only dream of having just one bad call go against them every half.

Bismark was offside when he tackled Carter, he would have been sent off anyway, and the All Blacks would have won the game. My, it must be nice to live in the All Black fantasy world. AIG is an apt sponsor.

Now a question about the officiating by the linesmen on Saturday. When Bismarck was blown for the elbow incident, it seemed like the linesman brought it to the attention of the referee after watching the replay on the big screen. I have no problem with that, apparently that is how foul play is supposed to be blown now, with the officials watching the replays for clarification. What I find outrageous is that during the first yellow card incident, that none of the linesman thought to point out to the referee that replays were clearly showing that the tackle he was penalising and yellow carding Bismarck for was completely legal. It begs the question: did those officials have an agenda?

For the second game running a ridiculous yellow card in the early stages of the game put the Boks on the back foot. Last week against Australia the referee brandished an extremely harsh yellow card to the Boks for a "deliberate knock down" which was outside the 22 and in no way stopping a try scoring opportunity. This decision did not receive much attention or criticism because the Boks were just too strong for the Wallabies and ran out comfortable winners. Professional fouls by Genia and Cooper in that same half went unpunished by a yellow card. Again the question arises, did the referee have an agenda?

Thanks to people responding with the below links. I have included at the bottom some sent to me by New Zealanders who have responded.

http://www.rugby365.com/article/56248-nonu-serial-offender

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdr-W775hk4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeoOidN15bI

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/opinion/9093139/Reason-The-magic-and-the-myth-of-All-Blacks

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/boring-lucky-and-a-bunch-of-cheats-20111011-1li6b.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/rugby-world-cup/8816349/Rugby-World-Cup-2011-Bryce-Lawrence-reduced-breakdown-to-a-farce-in-Australias-win-over-South-Africa.html

http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/untouchables/

http://www.rugbydump.com/2011/06/2004/the-crusaders-head-into-the-semis-with-win-over-the-sharks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KPP0k1GQVM

Here is s typical response from NZ media. They will try and paint Bismarck as a dirty player now. Again, where is the criticism of Nonu?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/all-blacks/news/article.cfm?c_id=116&objectid=11125091

Speaking of elbows, here's a real one. Watch to the end to get the best view. No linesman call, same referee. No citing. I enjoyed some of the comments: "If you're going to tackle Hosea Gear like that you deserve a nice elbow to the face." Funny, no Kiwis were saying that about Liam Messam.
ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBk6PjwsILA&feature=player_detailpage#t=80

Below is the Brad Thorn spear tackle, after the whistle, on John Smit. This was miraculously missed by the ref, for which he only received a one match ban.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZchPz1xQII

In the below video watch from 8 min 30, see how No.15 comes in from an offside position, and from the side to help the All Blacks win the ball, right in front of the referee. The try that ensues is then referred to the TMO,  who overlooks  a blatant forward pass and a debatable one to award the All Blacks a try. This was just one example. I watched the first two tests against France this year, and they were getting away with infringements the whole time. Oh, and guess who the TMO was for that game, our friend George Ayoub, who TMO'd Saturday's debacle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hch-1AipRrY

Below is a report on our favourite ex-kiwi ref Walsh, who epitomises everything that is wrong with world rugby, he cheated South Africa for years and how he still gets paid to referee games is a mystery. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/england/9941194/England-unhappy-with-referee-Steve-Walshs-performance-in-defeat-by-Wales-as-they-report-official-to-IRB.html

What I love about the below article, is the justification for the All Blacks being handed the world cup final by a bias ref. The writer thinks that ONE forward pass in 2007 justifies that. Typical All Black mentality. They get away with cheating over and over again, they get one poor decision and it justifies every wrong they commit ever since.

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2011/oct/24/rugby-world-cup-france-new-zealand

World Cup 2015 is coming up in a couple years, and guess what? The top four ranked teams in world rugby once again find themselves in the same half of the draw, just like in 2011. The powers that be in world rugby will make sure that the All Blacks won't have to play the Boks in the final, and that the Boks will have to play either England or Australia in the QF. And no doubt the next Bryce Lawrence will make sure the All Blacks won't have to face us, just in case. Can't have the World Champions inconvenienced!

http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/home/fixturesresults/index.html

And of course, let's not forget how this all started, this was the famous "Let's get those Japies" email that a NZRFU ref sent to the Aussies. If the name Lawrence sounds familiar, it's because Keith Lawrence is Bryce Lawrence father:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=4302

Richie McCaw is known by most rugby pundits as a player who bends the rules, and pushes the laws to their limit. He is known to others as a blatant cheat. You'd expect a player who is known to try and get away with pushing the laws to their limit to have received his fair share of yellow cards. You'd think, wouldn't you? Total yellow cards: 1.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsP3Y1dDcb0

And here are contributions from some Kiwi responders. While I feel hits on McCaw have no real relevance to what he gets away with, I was surprised at the level of foul play he has received and felt it only fair to include these. I was also surprised that some of these incidents were not cited.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FQkwYfqDnU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS_Qi586rtE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9RYZStDdDI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1znXpoxWRs