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159 Responses
Ford and Gray both reinstated to the starting team….BVC rolls those dice yet again.
It’s time to roll the dice
Scotland played a fantastic match today and all credit to the team. Arguably you have been robbed at the end by a poor refereeing decision.
Scotland has been robbed today. It is a pitty to see so much effort and courage worthless…
I’m expecting a long week of Joubert blaming and hating on here so I’m going to post and stay away till the heat has passed :-)
I thought we played fantastically. Many didn’t expect us to get out of the group..we proved them wrong. No one expected us to be within spitting distance of the Aussies at HT…we proved them wrong. NO ONE expected us to lose by one point given by a controversial decision (have fun all debating it :-)). The boys surpassed my expectations. They are a young team and most will be around in four years time. This is the best Scotland team I have seen in my 11 years of supporting them and I’m proud of them.
Say what you want about the ref, we made plenty of our own mistakes that also contributed to us losing. Good teams win in spite of the ref.
We are now perfectly set up for a high expectation low delivery Six Nations :-) I’m absolutely gutted, but still happy and very proud. And hopeful…;-)
Fully agree with your comments – can’t wait for the 6 Nations and all future test matches!
Win i n spite of the ref well I’ve been watching sport for 55 years and the name of the game is watch and not fall over that man wi the whistle……no he s there to make sure that fairness prevails and I think or though Rugby Union was trying to show the rest how this with technology can be achieved
Good post. We need to be better at restarts and much more competitive at he breakdown. But we controlled the ball well and were unlucky to lose a close game. Nevertheless, Australia scored five tries – we have potential but we need to develop that kind of firepower to boss these games.
Let’s hope we take another step forward in the 6N.
Think the decision to play Cowan never really worked tbh, he was blasted out of pretty much every breakdown. I’d be taking Rob Harley out of rugby for 2 months and have him do nothing but lifting weights and eating protein in between sleeps.
Youre all very nieve, as in international football , rugby has now gone down the avenue of making sure that referees assist the favourite top teams to progress to the final stages of comps to please sponsors, shame on them and that ref. Rugby is now tainted and poisonous, many people I know are starting to walk awayfrom the game, even england fans couldnt believe that last minute decision, corruption and money rule, may joubert rot in hell.
The thing is ……..sadly I’m sure you may be right Stewart
You’re a fool if that’s what you.
You are quite correct in your comments (imo). However, I feel that the main point of contention in the match was the yellow card which led to a try. Common sense should have prevailed but as was proven in the semi against Argentina, the opposition where Australia. Yes they had the one yellow card for DKO but the skipper punched the ball out of the ruck at the same time , 2 yellows surely?
There were , during the quarters and semis so many subtle gives to the men in yellow, that I am stating to wonder how much this WC campaign is costing Australia
Big game for both teams …..bigger decision for ref. all that preparation for Scotland the game was won and the ref calls the out come very very Questionable .. puts you off Sport
How could that game possibly put you off sport. 46 guys played for 2 hours with guts and skill and the highest endeavour. That is what sport is about.
My point excactly…all that effort and it’s down to the ref NO. May back in caesar,s time thumb,s up or down determined the out come… but surely not any more
Agree Terry. It is almost like a death in the family. It’s the hope that kills you. What a chance to have got to a World Cup Final snatched away by incompetence both from Ref and ourselves.
Nige, if that is being civil I’d hate to see you being really rude. The Wallabies were not refereeing the game. And yes, I am an Australian and you are a sore loser and something starting with a w.
Congratulations to Scotland for playing a fantastic game.
I’ve just embarrassed myself by crying in front of everyone in a French bar. Defeats don’t get much more heroic than that. There’s a discussion to be had about Joubert’s refereeing – the way he fled the pitch at the end said it all – but we were amazing. So, so close. I’m proud, heartbroken and a bit drunk.
Cheats. Pre-game bans that weren’t, corrupt sin binning, penalty that wasn’t with TMO refusal. You can stick your World Cup up your arse. Farce.
Hope BVC stays around for the 6 nations to roll the dice once again………
I think he extended his contract through to the end of the 2017 6N already. Hopefully he’ll take us to Japan 2019.
To the future 6 Nations and next RWC, I say “Beware Scotland!”
This young team has just been put back again into the harshest of fires and in proportion to it, the strength of belief in this team grows.
To me, Scotland are winners.
Thank you Scotland for doing yourself and your country very very proud.
That was cruel. The boys can hold their heads up. I guess Joubert can kiss the final goodbye, what a tw@t! Yellow card and the final penalty was just unbelievably cruel. Australia were the toughest test without them having the refs help as well. For us, there is some hope for the future.
My emotions are swinging wildly between sadness, fury and pride. I think Geech’s point in the after match about whether Joubert would have carded Savea or Milner-Sutter for the ‘deliberate’ ‘knock on were bang on. And not going to the TMO for that final penalty was criminal. Joubert had to know that he was handing Aus the Semi. All that said, when everybody had written the boys off, they can hold their heads up having put in a fantastic performance.
Apparently, according to World Rugby, the ref isn’t allowed to go to the TMO for a penalty call – “Only for offences in build-up to try, foul play, or scoring of try”
The TMO could have called it Andrew as he did with Maitland’s ‘deliberate knock-on’.
I agree with most of the postings on here this is a progressing young team that can have a real chance of winning the next World Cup. The important thing is to extend Vern’s contract until the next World Cup and give him the back-up team he wants, he’ll take care of the rest.
Dan Mac you said it all, it is what it is and what a fantastic performance the boys put up. I have repeatedly said all this World Cup that it’s about momentum for the team and nothing else matters. Yes this is heartbreak of a very real nature but the team surpassed itself and given all of us long suffering supporters real genuine hope. More importantly it garners the Scotland team real genuine respect in the rugby world and when did we have last that. This is the result of today’s match and nothing else matters in my book. Well done fellow bloggers for all your support over the last few weeks.
Well said Ian. Respect has been in short supply for Scottish rugby for many years. Glasgow, Edinburgh and the national team are now changing that. I have already had English friends saying ‘gutted, should have been you guys in the Semi’ rather than ‘Ah well, you gave it a good shot.’ Small differences but significant.
Brilliant performance by scotland, outplayed the favourites of the tournament and were robbed of victory by awful refereeing. I’m heartbroken but the team have showed that once again scotland are a team to be feared. And with more gifted young players emerging ( Zander Fagerson etc ) adding to an already young squad who says we can’t go one better in Japan.
Scotland earned a lot of respect today in all the rugby playing countries. What Joubert did was blind robbery, probably he plans to relocate to Oz or something like that.
That yellow card looked like an April’s fool joke. The penalty he gave when the Australian scrum half deliberately threw the ball into the Scottish player was already smelling like robbery, as that was clearly unintentional offside and should have been penalised with a scrum. And finally, the way he CHOOSE to ignore the Aussie late tackle in the 78th min basically exposed him as a thief. There were other dubious decisions, but these 3 don’t have any excuse whatsoever.
Congrats from Romania for a fabulous display of determination. For me Scotland won today.
Can’t even speak. I think after we have cooled down and look at the match a bit more retrospectively Joubert will be exonerated. Maitland’s binning was harsh but not ridiculous, it wasn’t a deliberate slapdown but he knocked on and in all likelihood prevented an Australian try, IMO there would be a case for a penalty try.
The final penalty should have gone to the TMO but in all honesty I think he would have probably given a penalty too. What cost us the match has been the same problems that have been our achilies heel throughout the tournament, inability to secure ball at restarts, inability to defend mauls close to the line, and inaccuracy at our own set piece at crucial moments. I counted 2 trys and 2 penalties as a direct result of failure to take, or securely take restarts.
We should never have thrown such an ambitious line out throw, all we needed to do was get it and hoof it up the park and grind out 2 mins in their half. Russell put the final nail in the coffin with an uncontestable kick off.
Cmon, Maitland attempted to intercept with one hand, while moving forward on his feet. It’s not like he jumped forward to deliberately knock-on or something like that. And how about the late tackle in the 78th? That was a clear penalty for Scotland no matter how you look at it…
It’s unusual to debate the ref decisions in rugby, but now it’s one of those rare cases of blind robbery…
I watched every World Cup since 1991 and honestly never saw anything remotely close to what Joubert did today.
Maitland’s yellow was the TMO’s call. Not Joubert’s. Joubert also couldn’t go to the TMO with regards to that last penalty.
Please explain how it was robbery.
Joubert doesn’t have slow motion and a tv screen in front of him. He had to make a call. And he had to do it immediately. He didn’t have the option of changing his mind after seeing the replays.
I’m bitterly disappointed with how the media and rugby supporters handled this whole thing. Joubert did his job and had to work with what he saw in front of him.
That is not true. Joubert was saying I am going to give a penalty it was a slap. TMO says something presumably conflicting, but we don’t get to hear it. Joubert surprisingly insists.
As for the final penalty. Joubert could be excused not going to the TMO if the decision was not the game right there, or if it was a simpler decision you could just get wrong. But it was such a mess. Despite appeals from the players, despite it being the last minute, he decides the outcome of the game.
Yes of course there were errors made. But equally the Aussie team were forced into plenty of errors at the scrum and in the pass. So to those saying we were the architects or our own problems and good teams win despite the ref: the Aussies were as fallible in other facets, but won only with the help of match officials (in spite of TMO) at the most crucial times.
Not to mention before the game.
Clear bias. The question is then whether there is more to it than favouring the bigger team.
I hope bank accounts are being examined, bookmakers and betting rings analysed, officials monitored.
Though the simple question is what the cost to the World Cup and its sponsors would have been if both Australia and England had crashed out early. Who pays Joubert’s salary after all.
It reeks.
Actually go the RugbyRefs website. Follow them on twitter. They will explain the laws to you. Written by a Scot, mind you. That Joubert was correct in his calls.
Just because you want Joubert to be wrong, does not make him wrong.
You are clueless. Fourth limb – foul play, plenty of scope. Lawyer speaking here. Or should I rely on Twitter.
If you notice just after the line out the linesman was right in line with the play as he should …….surely the ref .
could have consulted him at such an important time in a truly….. brilliant and entertaining …….game the officials are ( not included the latter part of this comment..)
Ruan yer a muppet. He could have gone by the rules to review the late shoulder on Hogg but didn’t. That would have resulted in a line out on halfway. And his hasty call on the penalty was not correct as has been proved many times. It is horrendous in every way.
Another key moment that I think Scotland were unlucky on – when Nel was penalised for holding on just before the break, Sio was clearly (in front of the ref) propping his hands/arms up on the ground, not carrying his own weight. In my opinion, should have been a penalty to Scotland. Instead, penalty to Aus, down the other end and scored a try. 15-16 at HT instead of 10-19.
However, I agree with others who say Scotland had the game in their own hands and couldn’t quite carry it off. Why throw to the back for that final lineout?
But still an amazing effort, and I feel more proud than disappointed.
Well – its over now, for now. I’m going back under the rock whence I crawled from to hibernate ’til the 6 Nations.
All I’m saying is Australia had better bl**dy win.
Really hope they don’t for the sake of our game and poetic justice. In any case, both NZ and SA are far better teams. NZ will destroy them in the final. Regarding Argentina, I hope they can beat O- they have the players to do it but the Ozzies have the refs and officials on their side so I would say it would be unlikely. Nevertheless, I will be supporting them for the first time in my life. COME ON THE PUMAS!
Well a fine margin yet again .. Ultimately put in an 80 minute performance and the boys played with some freedom future is rosy … DoubleBVC’s salary immediately.
Much will be made over the decisions
Personally thought it was an attempted gather than slap down. Penalty would have been reasonable.
Ref had a brainfart for the last penalty decision. However we should never have put ourselves in that position long throw was the wrong call…
First time I feel genuinely optimistic for a quarter of a century .
Best performance of the NH in all the quarters
Not going to go over refereeing decisions. Our restarts contributed as much to the loss TBF.
Richie Gray again a collosus, Seymour poacher extrordanaire, Nel n absolute monster. There’s a lot of optimism there. Get Dunbar back in the fold and start planning for the likes of Fagerson, SHC, Ashe, McInally et al to be given a chance. Positive signs.
Agree on Gray – he’s been slagged off by Scottish fans for a while for his perceived lack of workrate but he’s really showed his class this RWC. Gray/Gray/Gilchrist is a great set of locks to last us through to the next World Cup, not to mention young guns like Scott Cummings at Glasgow.
Ritchie has been getting better every game. I think he needs to come back home. Playing in France hasn’t helped his game and being with the team has clearly helped him.
Agree with BigAl, I have been very critical of him more so because he has fallen short of his own high standards rather than poor performances. He has got better in every game this world cup and was outstanding today, although am I correct in saying he calls the line outs?…..
Big Al I would rather he (and a few of our young back row players) went to Ireland to learn how to cheat at the breakdown, we are still a bit naive in that regard.
I like to know who these people are ….when it comes to Scoland,s dreams and her potential..there always someone standing on the hose…… ive seen it all my life
OK we were unfortunate but think about it. We lost 5 tries to 3 and two of our tries were flukes. The Ozzies also dropped the ball on our line and should have has at least another try. That said, I still detest them with passion as they always seem to get the rub of the green. Just unfortunate that OZ are not playing NZ next- that would have made for a far better game. Now I have to wait a whole 2 weeks to see NZ stuff the cheeting b.ast.rds in the final.
I’ll just have to watch some glorious Ozzie defeats in the meantime. My favorite is the Rob Andrew last minute drop goal winner against them in the 90’s- they really loved that. I thought it was hilarious.
Gutted,by why on earth did they throw a wet ball long in the line out.short or middle should have been the only choice. A decision that cost them the game
It wasn’t a great call or good execution and I’m sure they’d call a different option with hindsight but I wouldn’t say that was the game.
Listening on radio I just heard pundits discussing that Joubert ran off the field ? Is this true and Why ? We always shook the refs hand after the game .. It didn’t look as if there was any dissent at the end of the game on the TV. Players shaking hands and having a quiet word.
Did he think he was in danger?
He was niver in danger …What he,s got to worry about is how he, going to manage ti sleep the night maybe his bank account will keep him warm…. FIFA….perhaps,s No but something smells or maybe I just like to think that my fav sport is above…………..well! Who really knows what go ,s on in the Ruck.. Let’s ask the All Blacks
Got to be proud of the boys today. Played with pride, passion, commitment and talent. We’ve come so far since the Six nations. If Vern sticks around this could be a very successful group of players over the next few years.
I am a South African and I want to congratulate the brilliant game Scotland played and they should have been in the semi final of the World Cup. They were robbed of a victory by Graig Joubert and the TWO who was pathetic. Joubert should never have been allowed to officiate this game or any other World Cup game. Furthermore the TMO may tell the the referee to review certain aspects of the game. This was a very important game, we was the blatant late tackle in the 78th minute not reviewed. I really feel for you guys.
Cheers Marius
I for one will be cheering you guys on next weekend
Always found your team and supporters to be a cut above …always magnanimous in victory and defeat.
Come on Bokke !!
Hi Marius, i’m English and as you know sometimes the English and the Scots are the best of Enemies, that said i’ll always cheer the Jocks on because underneath it all I hope secretly despite our rivalry we’re brothers at heart and today i saw my Scots bothers robbed blind by referee with string of questionable decision to his name. so I completely agree with the substance of your post and the game of rugby is so much the poorer with idiots like Joubert around.
I really hope Argentina beat the Ozzies in the semi-final. Ozzies don’t deserve to be there and should have been on the plain home. They and the refs are the biggest cheaters. The way Scotts played today they belonged in the Semis and even final. It is really heartbroken to loose so unfairly.
I support my Boks with all my heart, but the All Blacks plays a great brand of rugby. I’m hoping for the Boks, but NZ will be deserved finalist.
Scrum was awesome today against a well fancied Australian set of forwards. Nel is worldclass and Gordy and Dicko pretty decent having seen what they did to the English and Welsh packs.
It just goes to show what can be achieved with a bit of pride and passion. Sure we don’t have the pool of players we need, the number of pro teams and the strength in the forward pack but what we showed in the WC is that we can give it 100%. That was the difference between now and the performance in the 6 nations. I honestly believe tat we can win the 6 nations if only we can carry that attitude forward. We have exciting young players coming through the system, so who knows.
I’m English and I’m glad to see so many of you Scots guys taking this so well but ask yourselves this, would this have happened if it had been NZ playing …Nope don’t think so. Does Joubert have a string of dubious anti northern hemisphere decision to his name….yep. Do Scotland get any match changing decisions handed to them? Nope. Is Rugby starting to go the way of football? i think so..Money has ruined the game. I really feel for Scotland you deserved to Win, you put our guys to shame and although many of you would never root for England I will always Cheer for the Scots and hope one day the scales of justice tilt in your direction. All the best from Paul down south.
Totally agree with this Paul. World Rugby is being dominated by one SH nation and is as corrupt as FIFA in every shape and form. A northern Hemisphere team will never win the competition in the foreseeable future because they wont allow it to happen. Being an out and out Scot I used to hate the English rugby team but now I don’t. Maybe we need to stick together against the common enemy.
As I said further down what is rugby without great rivalries, Scotland V England is a huge fixture. I will always root for any of the home nations as i believe deep down (whilst you guys might not always show it) you’d do the same for us (with a bit of arm twisting LOL)
Ta Paul if you every fancy a rooned a St Andrezz give us a ring
Cheers fella i might just take you up on that one.
Huge performance.
That period after the Australians scored their first was magnificent. Between Seymour’s take in the air, the consistency and power of the continuity play and Horne’s try, we really took it to them. The Scrums!!!! What a revelation – Look out Pro 12 and look out Six Nations – Dickenson and Nel are one hell of a double act.
Pete Horne! Really hope he gets his due going forward because he’s a wonderful player.
I love how constantly dangerous we are – when the opposition make a mistake we grab it with both hands and we’re in the corner or under the posts before you can say “Shithouse!”
It wasn’t perfect – we made mistakes throughout – for me, whilst that’s disappointing, it’s also hugely encouraging – 35 34 against the supposed favourites with plenty to work on. Our inexperience told at times (Russell’s decision to hurl it to Hogg off the restart was a particular hair-puller) and we need to sort out our restarts in general. We leave a huge gap in the centre of the pitch, which screams “kick it here!” You need a player to stand there and disrupt the chase, allowing space for your jumpers to take it coming forward.
Scotland have young talent in abundance – what we need to do is mould these youngsters into complete players. Guys who’s decision-making you never have to worry about. It will come.
Hugely excited to see what Glasgow & Edinburgh can do this season. Hopefully Gilchrist, Scott and McInally aren’t out for too long. If Glasgow can win against Leinster, we’ll be off to the races. 1872 cup is going to be INTENSE – every player competing for places.
First game of the Six Nations is England at home! BRING! IT! ON!
Hi Robbie, I never have a problem with the loses one’s team inevitably endures during rugby. What matters though is that the winning is fair and on this occasion it wasn’t. Scotland was robbed and not for the first time… all this from an Englishman. the game of Rugby union wouldn’t be what it is without our two great rivalries clubbing it out on the pitch so may the best team win…See you at twikkers.
After 15 years of misery, I’m done feeling hard done by. Joubert made two shockers but that’s for him to worry about, not us. Scotland have to develop the attitude that we have the talent and self-belief to beat these teams come hell or horrible decision.
We need to take responsibility for the mistakes we made as well as massive pride in the things we did right. Then we need to go away and plug the gaps – that is how you become world beaters.
I really hope France, England and Italy can turn things around quickly because European rugby needs to do better than this. Hopefully the general underperformance at this world cup galvanises everyone in the NH.
PS the match is at Murrayfield ;) Bagpipes for everyone!
Cheers Paul for your comments and much appreciated, it’s a very genetic Scottish thing not to support the English but not in any way personal. But we are British and will fight toe to toe with you given the chance.
Hopefully the SRU tie up Hardie on a long term contract now. The national team’s number 1 openside for the next 3 years at least
I hope a decent English team snap him up, hes immense but get some one else to foot the bill. Cowan at London Irish, Barclay at Scarlets, Hugh Blake at Glasgow and Hamish Watson at Edinburgh, some serious depth at 7. Imagine Hardie and Watson on the same team!!!!
Think Cowan and Hardie combo was most impressive, heard a wee bit of Watson but it’d have to be a mighty impressive performance to jump up that pecking order. Good luck to him though as any selection dilemma has to be a good thing. Keeps players hungry.
Word on the street is he’s headed to Edinburgh, so you might see that MK
Don’t want to get too into refereeing decisions but the late hit on Hogg irked me more than the last penalty call as the TMO could clearly see it and didn’t even ask Joubert to review it (I.e. TMO check check, how many times have we heard this in the referees ear this WC?) We seemed much better playing with two 7`s on the park. Could this be the new Scottish style like the Oz Hooper/Pocock combo. Breakdown much more clinical than against Bokke and Scrum hugely impressive. Defence improved tenfold from Samoa. Just bring this to 6N and we are actually contenders. Please don’t have another false dawn! I’d written us off before the game and said that avoiding an embarrassment would be our best option. Annoyed at myself now and very happy with the guys, Greig Laidlaw vindicates BVC choosing him as captain.
Onwards with BVC for the next roll of the dice!
We still conceded five tries and won too few turnovers. Australia scored so many tries because they could almost keep possession at will – this has really been the difference between all the SH sides and the NH teams this RWC; their contact skills are sharper and they are much more effective at the breakdown. Our tackling was pretty good but if a team like Australia gets 16 phases of possession in your 22 they are going to score. I think it is a coaching rather than personnel issue.
I am sure all of that is good and accurate and I would never undermine the facts, however despite the shortfalls in the Scotland’s game they were ahead up to that penalty.
Ordinarily I would accept all of this in the etiquette and spirit of our great game , the things which set it a part from all others. Ordinarily I would accept the fact and move on, however the reaction of the players at the time, and Greg Laidlaw, not only immediately after the game but in the post match interview was enough for me to say , there is something a miss here.
Perhaps it suddenly dawned on Mr Joubert he was in charge of a game that was going to cause a historical upset, that could be judged critically by the world press, what ever went through his mind, in a split second he got scared and made a call that impacted Scotland. He decided not to consult the TMO.
The players were there , they lived with the ebb and flow of the game , know the missed decisions and the lucky calls, they put their bodies on the line and I believe they feel an injustice took place.
I think all the facts in the world will not change their minds. Some will argue the scrum could have resulted in a score or a penalty just the same. However that is of no consequence. The players would have accepted that I feel sure.
The issue here is that he took the uncharacteristic decision of not consulting the TMO which he had done so very consistently throughout the whole match.
Gavin Hastings was interviewed on radio this morning and was unusually critical over Mr Joubert sprinting from the pitch, immediately after the game. It is etiquette to shake the hand of the captains after the game. I have never seen or heard such a and act in international rugby.
I fear that what has been a great game of rugby, a game which has won the hearts of so many, a game which should have been a springboard to the future for our emerging squad, could become a quite the opposite.
There is an issues here, but for once , I would not look inside the scots camp. There is more to do, I accept however we should have been doing it as I write , in the training camp for next weeks test, rather than leaving England disillusioned and in a dark place.
I think with the ref being southern hemisphere I believe he and the tmo team were bias and couldn’t let Australia loose. Yes the rules say he can’t use the tmo for a penalty decision, however the tmo was quick at the start of the half to bring back play and raise to the attention Maitland’s supposed slap down and ridiculous yellow card. Why did the tmo bring play back to the late tackle and shoulder barge on Stuart Hogg. Yellow card and Scotland penalty. Very inconsistent by the tmo who can and have time to review. Definite bias inconsistency by the tmo. Basically giving Australia ever unfair chance to win!! World rugby should have a look at themselves and how they have dealt with Scotland this week.
Totally agree with all of that.
yeah me too that was my feeling cos you can’t TMO a deliberate knock on under those rules but he did so due the importance of the decision. Common sense. Joubert will never ref again so he should have came back out and did the right thing. Start game again with a scrum.
Wooft – emotional turmoil. This team were largely written off to qualify from the group and totally written off to make the semis. I reckon they’ve earned some respect the hard way, won three in the groups and pushed the (highly rated) Aussies to a one point margin, scoring 34 points.The ref decisions are galling, but we shouldn’t dwell on that. For the first time in a while the rest of the rugby world community seem to be shouting on our behalf for that. We leaked 5 tries and made an arse of the final line out. This young team will learn and make sure that the next time the points difference keeps the opposition and ref out. This team is on the up, but we really need a solid 6 Nations now. We can beat France and England at Murrayfield and Italy away. Those have to be the next goals, and our expectations, for this team. In the meantime I’m really impressed with how the lads have fronted up in this tournament and how BVC has managed the squad.
The teams expectations were higher you can see that in the response ref, s have a responsibility to the game the teams and the fans we did not go to the World Cup to get a pat on the back the semi s could have ment more money coming in to Scotish Rugby taking part is not enough you can see that with most of the underdogs the loss is not only Scotland’s but Rugby its self
Ahhh so close, but really we, the players should be very proud.
You can’t go from wooden spoon holders to semi finalists in 7 months. The guys will learn more from losing this game than if they fluked it at the end. You cannot expect to win with the mistakes they made.
Fair point Kendo but we were a lineout take away from doing just that. I really think it should have been a middle lineout throw and Denton couldn’t quite get it. More to go wrong from a long throw. And however well Denton is doing he is always a drop away so I wouldn’t go for him for the crucial last lineout of the game. Anyone else at all although this time it was just too long a throw just.
However bad/unfair it was today Cotter has changed our culture not to look for excuses and that is the best way for we will never become world beaters by looking at excuses for losing.
In saying that it is the worse I’ve felt in any sporting defeat Scotland have had in my 32 years on this earth.
Whether it be the ref, ourselves or the rain we should be in the semi-final now. 2 and half minutes away and we just couldn’t see it out.
I may be wrong, I would need to watch the match again to be sure, but I think we lost 2 lineouts in the game, both by denton. The first leading to the Oz 4th try…? Theres no doubt he played his best game of the world cup today, however those 2 mistakes (along with the other more glaring ones previously mentioned) have been crucial. The other disappointing aspect being the long throw, similar to the Italy 6n game and the France warm up.
Completely agree with your point about Cotters effect on the teams mentality, seems to have really instilled belief amongst the squad.
Also confident the lads will have learnt a hell of a lesson throughout the whole year and will be really fired up to continue their rapid development next year.
I think that was probably our most rounded team performances of recent times, restarts aside of course…
Starting with the front row they were immense, Nel possibly my man of the match. Dickenson has grown from being mediocre and weak in the scrum to a class loose head. Ford was solid as usual, so long as our scrum is on top he is the best. Brothers Gray were outstanding, I haven’t seen tackle stats but the two of them and Nel must be well up there. Richie was carrying well too.
Back row. Interested in people’s thoughts here, I thought Cowan and hardie worked. Hardie was a bit quieter than he has been IMO but I’ll need to watch again. Cowan got smashed a few times as he does but on the whole I thought our support play was better, we won several turnovers against aa good Australian unit, still needs to improve but our breakdown was vastly better than it has been. Denton was much improved today after a disappointing couple of games.
Laidlaw has vindicated himself as captain and first choice SH. We got a good amount of front foot ball today and he genrally used it quickly and effectively, dithered a bit in the “red zone” still though. Russell had a hot and cold kind of game, some great touches and lines but some questionable decisions, he’ll learn.
Horne and Bennett had a great game, proved his worth after some pretty average performances in a Scotland shirt. Looking great with this group of centres and Dunbar, arguably the best of them all, still to come back. Maitland and Seymour also had good games, Maitland has got better each game too. Hogg hasn’t had the best of world cups, hot and cold. Like gray I am probably only being critical as he is falling short of what we know he is capable of. A few careless errors creeping into his game.
Australia clearly targeted our restarts and rushing defence. It is obviously our tactic to go rushing up for interceptions, it works and did so today but Australia were onto it and dealt well with it and often got round us. I don’t get our restart tactic, we seem to have 3 pairs of forwards that scream to the opposition, kick anywhere but here, which they invariably do and leave someone to get smashed back and we back pedal at a great rate of knots into a pressurised poor clearing kick or even lose possession altogether. We seem to lack conviction under high balls, we seem to stand there and wait rather than charge in. Seymour was pretty good under them today but that aside we have generally been poor in recent times.
The support is gutted spare a thought for the players. As for the officials there should be an inquiry into the events since last week to the referee’s exit from the pitch today. The technology is there use it to get the correct decision that the players and support can accept. The current system is totally unacceptable and damages the integrity of the sport. It will not change the result but it may save the game of rugby from the murky waters so many other sports are now having to clean up.
I am irish and what I saw today from Scotland was guts and pride everyone had them written off except the scots themselves tonight irish television are showing braveheart on TV they were all brave hearts today and scotland can be very proud of each and everyone of them.
Brilliant result – couldn’t happen to a country with a bigger chip on it’s shoulder
I’m hazarding a guess here but is it possible you think this is a Daily Mail blog ?
If not go away fool. See you at Murrayfield in February.
Anyone but Scotland… Shut yer face ya muppet!!!
People giving Joubert a lot of grief (some of it well deserved) but I would say whilst the refereeing was terrible he also awarded some rather dubious scrum penalties to Scotland. If you’ve got a bias towards a particular team then as area as difficult to adjudicate as the scrum is surely where you would be applying it!? IMO the TMO is the one who should be the subject of a witch hunt here, brought attention back for an unsuccessful intercept (get tae intentional knock on), missed the late tackle on Hogg, didn’t pipe up over the fact it came off an Ozzie hand and not Strauss’ shoulder.
Well done Scotland you were brilliant against Australia! Where did that one off game come from? Yes it was a poor referring decision,but there has been many before and there will be many in the future.And as they say if you lose by 1 point you might as well lose by 100 because its still goes down in the history books as a loss!! Just keep working hard and you might just get there!
You will soon learn that that performance was merely the next stage of team build for Scotland…by saying “one off” shows a certain naivety and lack of understanding. You will see next year.
As an Australian watching in Oz with Ozzy commentators, I have never heard a more unified responce by the commentors about how ridiculous the yellow card was that was given at the time. The ref did get the last penalty wrong also but as the man on the spot I can see how he made the call. It was a shame that the match was decided on that call. Would have been great to see the outcome of Australia deep in attack with the scrum put in and 4 minutes to go. Scotland can hold they heads high and walk with pride. Credit to Australia as well as they had not thrown in the towell and fought to the end. They were at the right end of the field to capitalise on opportunities. Lets hope the remaining games also have that level of drama but only from the actions of the players. i was happy that The ban on to of the Scottish players was overturned and they could take the field.
Do not underestimate the level of upside yet in the Wallabies. When you play against the All Blacks and Springbroks as much as we do you not have an option but to be good at defence. Whilst we have generally been competitve in recent years it makes a big difference if your foward pack are going forward more often than not. We have not had that for a long time but now we do. Down to 4 teams and a blank sheet of paper.
Congratulations on making the semi’s!
Ahh how refreshing to not only live in Straya but to be able to come on a Scottish blog and have my drivel delivered without having to leave the house
A couple of things you should be aware of
1. There is a time difference between under your bridge and Scotland which is why people can’t laugh in real time to your drivel
2. Re use of “foreigners” you are one of the worst offenders try checking the place of birth of your squad
3. Robbie Deans??
4. Where is your scrum coach from? A. Argentina
5. Queensland alone has more registered rugby players than the whole of Scotland
6. Population of Scotland is 5 million 1/4 of Australia’s to save the “brain” cells calculating it
7. Please continue so I can help in your education
Brilliant Angus. Brilliant!
First time poster so here goes.
Wonderful, wonderful Scottish passion, wonderful style of rugby. Both teams deserved to win, neither to lose. Pity about the ref – nope, it wasn’t a yellow card followed by 10 points and nope, it wasn’t a penalty followed by 3 either. But until world rugby sorts itself out professionally, we will forever have the amateurish TMO system, the ridiculous scheduling (check out Italy’s at WC 2011 – this isn’t new and it is not just tier 2 affected), the totally inconsistent refereeing, oh, and has everyone forgotten? What about the citing/ disciplinary process. The Gods!
I love this game for its fundamentally amateur core. But that core needs protection by a slick, sophisticated and reassuring seal of professionalism. Which is lacking. Which is why no NH team is in the last 4.
Now, May the best team win. And may it be on the dodgiest of reffing decisions so that things change for the better, for all.
Scotland – what a game! What a future! What pride.
Well said Pks. While there has certainly been some great rugby the greatest tragedy will be the controversy that will always taint this world cup
I ……one flew over that cokabura,s nest right enough
Is anyone looking at betting patterns?
Sorry about duplicates, morning fingers!
A quick word of praise for England fans in the stadium yesterday. Dozens, hundreds of them around us, and surely thousands more around the ground, were shouting support for Scotland. A group behind us went even more bonkers than us when Bennett went over. I’ve been critical of some of the Twickenham contingent before, so it’s nice to be able to give them credit when due.
Well my experiences at Twickenham in the 5N and 6N have been nothing but good. The scots are made very welcome.
That wasn’t my point, Matto. I agree we have always been treated warmly and with respect at Twickenham. But I think even the most hospitable England RU fan would think twice about actually cheering for us during a Calcutta Cup match.
Incidentally, I wonder if there ever has been, or will be again, a year in which we play two Tests at Twickenham, lead at half-time in both, then go on to lose both. One for the statos I think.
Hang on a minute? A case of misread identity here I think!
I think that was meant fo me John and I meant no offence so I hope none taken. I am so glad we gave them something to cheer about.
Sorry from me to both of you guys. Sorry for framing you, Matto. And sorry, Bulldog, for perhaps over-reacting a tad to your post which by the way was clear to me meant no offence. My excuse is I’m still tired after the grinder we all went through yesterday at Twickenham.
No worries at all ha ha. I have found most rugby fans from all nations good craic and accommodating, including the English. Welcoming at Twickenham and sociable at Murrayfield in my experience. There is one nation’s fans some of whom wind me up a bit, but that might be my own chip getting the better of me. All in all we’re fairly lucky to follow a sport that has a competition which brings the opportunity to travel and mix with fans from five different nations on an annual basis. I’m glad it’s Italy away next year – a fine break from the Scottish winter!
Cheers, Matto. Like you, I am looking forward to Rome at the end of February.
The only other thing I’ll add is that it’s been good to note on this thread and the other one following the match report that, all the frustration at the refereeing travesty aside, not one of us has had a go at the Australia team. They played what was in front of them and to the ref’s decisions. Which is fair enough, although it must be said that in Don they have a ready made and real life replacement for Sir Les Patterson, Barry Humphries’s infamous Australian cultural attache to the UK. We really need a Neil v Don cyberspace face off set up, possibly as a semi-final preview thread on the SR blog? That would be fun to witness and I guess a real effort to resist joining in on!
I thought the ref got the penalty decision right. Went forward off the scot and play at by a Scottish player 5 yards in front. What do other referees think. Was it the right decision?
Eric – clearly went off Aus’s Phipps, not a Scot. Scrum to Aus for original John Hardie knock-on.
The Tuday programme quoted Phipps as saying he knew what he was doing. Is he related to Maradonna?
Cannot tell you how proud I am of the Scotland team .No one new we could play and compete against the best teams in the world as equals.Well done guys.
As for the match ending,It all started with an overthrown lineout which can happen anytime so I am not blaming anyone,but if that didn’t happen the other incedents would not have been an issue so losing was due to ourselves.
Ps I don’t expect to read this blog and see comments from idiots trying to stir things up so could you please remove the comments by that numpty don
You need to go back a few seconds to the late armless tackle after the clearance kick, clear as day on the t.v but not seen by ref, assistants or TMO.
Can we keep Don? He’s brightened up my morning. He’s the gift that keeps on giving. The nurses in his ward probably feel the same.
Greetings All, Irish name, but Australian … sick of referees deciding who wins Test Matches, let alone World Cups. What’s there to be said? You people must be feeling sick and I don’t blame you … Mart.
It’s the morning after the night before and time to move on. Scottish fans can look forward very positively to a big season ahead in the Pro12, RCC and Six Nations. A stack of young talent in forwards and backs who will learn a lot from yesterday’s disappointment.
We should be ready to take on the world in the 2019 World Cup.
Interesting New Zeland article on the game…
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/article.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=11531482
It certainly is the morning after the night before, last night is the past now in in the past they must remain but based on this surge of skill, team spirit and belief we can still rise now.
I am so proud of what my team achieved. Well done and I really hope to see more of the same going forward.
Shades of the Thierry Henry handball against Ireland. When Hogg made his last clearance kick he was hit by a late shoulder charge. Should have been a penalty and yellow card.
The crowd all saw it but the officials did not want to know. The officials are nursing Australia towards the final. As with the Foley deliberate knock on against England, the Refs and TMOs, have made a series of some lamentable decisions in favour of Australia.
After Hoggy’s dive against South Africa Hogg didn’t want to make too much of it but if he’d have stayed down this time they would not have restarted and they would have had to look at it after it being replayed three times on the big screen. Nigel Owens where were you yesterday? He looked at Hoggs dive on the screen and gave him the telling off he should have. yesterday he would have looked and gave the penalty. Joubert should be ashamed and very disappointed with himself.
A big match deciding decision like this should have been taken upstairs to the guys who could analysed this. It is such an important decision to make and so often in Rugby matches at home level we are disappoint with the Ref’s decision but with this match of such importance and with so many camera positions available the Referee did not use the technology available to him thus resulting in a questionable outcome I am so sorry for Scotland.
Looks like the Ozzy and New Zeland fans are not seeing eye to eye on the controversial penalty…see link to NZ blog
http://i.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/international/73135059/Debate-rages-as-lack-of-TMO-for-crucial-penalty-call-in-Australias-RWC-win
Instead of focussing on the referee or the what could have been, in the cold light of day I want to focus on where can this team go from here. We have seen domestically that Glasgow losing to Leinster actually made them better for the final against Munster this year – hopefully the mindset with the players and the staff is looking at how they can improve and when the time comes around in Japan 4 years from now they do the business. With that in mind (and with the hope of shifting some peoples focus away from negativity) I wanted to make a stab at the 31 man squad for Japan 2019 – which hopefully shows that there are many reasons to be optimistic !
Fagerson, Sutherland, Allan, Nel
Bryce, Brown, McInally
J. Gray (Capt), R. Gray, Gilchrist, Cummings
Watson, Ashe, Hardie, Denton, Bradbury
SHC, Pyrgos, McAndrew
Russell, Te Rure
Dunbar, Bennett, Scott, Horne
Seymour, Hoyland, Bulumakau, Maitland
Bryce, Hogg
You could also throw in, Dell, Toolis, Low, harley, Wilson, Ritchie, Strauss, Weir, Dean, Fife & Hughes
As a South African I am really disappointed with the way in which this ended. Craig Joubert has been slammed from all sides, Gavin Hastings perhaps the most scathing in his attack on the referee. But to be fair to Joubert, according to the rules the TMO can only intervene to check whether legitimate tries have been scored & in instances of suspected foul play. Also, rule 11.3c comes into play here. If Phipps did indeed touch the ball before Welsh pounced on it, he could still have been ruled offside if the referee adjudged that Phipps didn’t deliberately handle the ball – i.e. that Phipps’ contact with the ball was accidental. There was no call from the far side touch judge either that could perhaps have assisted Joubert in making that crucial decision. No consolation for the Scots fans I know, but I am sure that the ref blew on what he saw and more importantly that he was not negligent (given the rules) in his action to award the penalty to Australia. All RWC referee’s are professionals, but they are also human. There is no reason for the referee to punish the Scots, this was a plain and simple ‘rugby incident’ and part of sport. I fully understand the pain and frustration though…..
Joubert was entitled to bring in the TMO at the end. World Rugby is wrong on this. TMOS can be brought in for foul play. What is ‘foul play’? It covers the vast majority of penalty offences (go and look up rule 10), including intentional offside. With such a huge decision, even if he didn’t doubt himself, anyone would sensibly have referred to upstairs.
Yup, have explained this to many a person. How can “intentional knock on” be more of a foul play incident than “intentional offside”.
World Rugby will of course back their man, but both were wrong. Don’t think we will see Joubert ref another Scotland match, especially at Murrayfield.
TMO also needs questioned – as Scotland were preparing to throw in, the TMO begins to speak to Joubert following a re-run of the shoulder charge on Hogg, Joubert doesn’t hear him properly so asks him to repeat, but gets no response so carries on with the game….ah well…here’s hoping the boys learn from this in the same way Glasgow did from their Pro12 final defeat – anyone for a Grand Slam?
I was gutted like everyone but no point worrying about the referee the day after. All teams benefit at times and lose at others, I think while the Aussies made just about enough mistakes to keep us in it they were still the better team.
I thought we arrived in some ways in that 80 minutes though. Far from perfect, definitely, but a number of our team are basically at that level. I didn’t think when watching it that I was seeing a tier 2 nation peaking for a big occassion I thought we played fine, not out of our skins. A couple like Nel, Denton and Richie were excellent few couple like Russell, Hogg and Seymour (try apart) will play better.
There’s not really a rebuild required which is ideal; Nel/Dickinson, Gilchrist/Gray x 2, Denton/Hardie, Laidlaw/Russell, Dunbar/Bennet/Hogg – the spine of the team for a couple of years is settled and nicely spread out across Glasgow, Edinburgh & abroad. The players just need to get back to their clubs and ensure that both Glasgow & Edinburgh kick on and try to be top 4 by the time the 6N rolls round.
We need to get Hardie contracted to Edinburgh asap and aim to develop the next 4 or 5 to add to this group because the absolute best thing we can do now is to add depth. F Brown, Blake, SHC, Toolis, Ashe, Horne, Fagerson – these guys on the fringe of the team or squad all need to be targeting the 10 club games before the 6N to step up.
Let’s move on.
What a great World Cup, we have a team full of tries, more squad depth than ever and a performance at the end that we can be truly proud of.
Look around my town and kids are out with rugby balls kicking them up and down the park. If we are really wanting to harness our energy we should all be getting down to our local clubs to help encourage junior level rugby to help create the stars of the future.
Don’s gone guys… Apologies for not getting on it sooner. Seems there is such a thing as a bad winner.
Aussies can’t all be bad. One newspaper named Joubert man of the match.http://metro.co.uk/2015/10/19/australian-newspaper-awards-referee-craig-joubert-man-of-the-match-for-his-performance-v-scotland-5448194/
Loved the commentators comment after Joubert “sprinted ” from the pitch. “he wont be holidaying in the Cairngorms this year”. Sums it up. Owens should have been refereeing. Joubert missed far too many infringements especially the Hogg late tackle which was a bad one for two reasons a) it was wholly late but deliberate and b) it was a forearm smash/ shoulder charge with utterly no attempt to pretend it was a tackle late or otherwise .There were numerous Aussie offsides including several kick off offsides when the halfback line were half way to the Scots before the kicker had kicked the ball . Never knew the Aussies could teleport. As to the last incident, did anyone see if the ball came off the bearded Aussie forward last before it came to the Scots? I have my suspicions
I see there will be an investigation into Joubert; it immediately smacked of corruption to me rather than bias:- it was as if he did what he’d been paid to do and knowing it was a deliberate wrong choice he made he ran off the pitch. I just worry that it gets brushed under the carpet ‘sport can be cruel’ but how do we know this is not corruption in full swing?
Headline just in Scottish boxer lost… fight of career ….so far against Australian boxer when in the last dying mins of the fight the ref thro the last punch and K o.d the Scotsman which gave the Aussie the fight ..who s kiddin who…
By the way what if Australia wins the World Cup of the back of Them…..admitting the decision was wrong well there’s a thought….there was I digging a hole..and along came the man in the bowler hat
Let’s face it, most fans gleefully accept it when their team wins from a dubious refereeing decision or else they fool themselves that the decision was not dubious. Then they bitterly complain when their team loses from a dubious refereeing.
Refereeing will never be perfect. Referees just like players make mistakes from time to time. The philosophical person accepts this reality and also accepts that sport is just sport.
Don, seemed a bit of a twerp, but Scotland have an equally daft ‘nationalist numpty’ in Nige’? What a sore loser and what is it with all the vicious Oz bashing? That country has given your folk some pretty good chances to escape recession and the Bay City Rollers via emigration and stave off rickets with all the sunshine :) Rugby is the 4th code in Australia like it or not. They do pretty well considering it is not religion like NZ, nor have the money/resources like England. As for the Olympic medal table I think Oz do pretty well for under 20 million people. For a country that has given the world great Mathematicians like Napier, Nige seems incapable of counting the number of tries, nor considering that two of them were pretty weak compared to the Oz ones. Turning to a branch of maths (which the Scots again usually punch above their weight in) has he looked at the Match Stats and how Oz dominate pretty much every category? Has he considered how Foley missed 9 penalty points when he’d be predicted to get at least 6? Turning from Mathematics to Politics/Psychology, every patriotic Scot must have been pissing themselves when he tried to make out (via a love in with Paul?) that Scotland and England were going to form an alliance to take on some common enemy?! I can just picture you guys in some beat up Morris Minor with a St George and Saltire on the bonnet chasing Kangaroo and Emu Shadows, before running out of petrol somewhere in the Outback – a metaphor for your Irn Bru/Pork Pie fuelled Flankers? But, replace that Kiwi coach with Les Patterson and she’ll be right in 2019 – LOL.
Let me think was it sorry was,nt that good a maths john logi Baird no Dunlop no Livingston no must have been Fleming no Macadam. O thers the phone I’m share Thurs mare ?
Say what you like but..Rugby is the real loser here .
Rugby is the loser here. The sport needs to be cleaned up.
Comment from a neutral. If you look at the replay of Scotland’s first try, does anyone think he is an offside position when he picks up the ball. He is certainly in front of the hind foot of Scotland’s number 5. If I was to be asked what the ref’s worst mistake was in the match, it may be that he didn’t go to the TMO for this bit of play, which he would have been able to do because it was within 2 phases of the score. But that is rugby. The ref’s word is fact and we should all accept that.
Not sure if Davidson has had a few wee drachms of whisky with his cornflakes this morning? :) But, he seems to be naming some famous Scottish scientists/inventors?
Might be time to move on and direct that innovation and creativity into preparing for the Six Nations?
Partly agree Terry Davidson (is J related btw? I know it can get like Tasmania in parts of the Highlands) but I have a funny feeling the neutrals might be treated to a cracking Semi courtesy of the Pumas.
I’m sure despite the closer bonds with the antipodes (especially NZ) the Scots will transform themselves into Argentinians for a day. We’ll see what the reaction of the Aussies is if they go out. Hopefully the mourning will not last as long as in Caledonia and it will be a case of “pop another Haggis on the Barbie” …
Jobert has never played rugby at any half-serious level and from the first minutes of seeing him referee, I could see that he had no feeling for the game. He has refereed matches where the better team has lost. He has repeatedly made mistakes. I was amazed when he was allocated the RWC final in 2011; you will remember that he gave the match to the All Blacks. I am sorry that now Scotland has suffered from his refereeing, but at least I hope that we have seen the last of him. His mentor, Jonathan Kaplan, was no great stakes either.
Hi Francois. Out of curiosity which bit did the ref get wrong? Apart from a very close call on a knock on at the end, where the rules did not permit him to refer to the TMO? An important mistake given the timing, but if it had occurred at 20 minutes, no one would be talking about it.
He took the advice of the TMO re the yellow card. Should he have ignored the TMO’s advice? If he had ignored it and given a penalty try no doubt you would say he was wrong to ignore the TMO. What were his other mistakes.
I think he failed to call the first Scottish try off side but then I have video replay to watch. I think he made a mistake in not going to the TMO on that. So what else do you think he got wrong?
That penalty was a line-ball decision. At full speed, which is what the referee saw, it definitely looks like Scotland touched it last. Under the current rules, the ref could not go to the TMO.
The referee made a difficult, real-time decision in all good faith. The referee did everything correctly as he saw it at full speed. The attacks on the referee’s reputation after the game from various quarters were disgraceful and unjustified. The failure of the governing body to support their referee who had a good game and made no glaring errors is also disgraceful. It is not valid to slo-mo real time speed and then claim an error is glaring. It is not glaring at normal speed with bodies in motion everywhere.
The decision might even have been correct after all. The Scotland number 20 crashes back-first into Phipps possibly knocking Phips’s arm against the ball. In that case, Phipp’s has not intentionally played the ball.
Firstly, I do not think the ref had a bad game overall. The calls were 50-50 at best and he called them as he saw them (or in one instance how the TMO saw it). However, the big calls in the last 5 minutes changed the result.
1. The fact that neither bothered to go back and look at the late shoulder charge on Hogg is an error. Even if they then decided that there was nothing to penalise it would have been best to have a look, surely?
2. Everyone keeps on saying that the TMO couldn’t be referred as it wasn’t foul play. If it’s a penalty offence then that is the definition of foul play, isn’t it?
3. There were several instances where Joubert didn’t refer to the TMO, but it didn’t stop the TMO talking to the ref throughout the match (specifically the Maitland yellow card, where the ref didn’t ask for the TMO’s opinion but got it anyway)
4. And this is my big gripe, as the others, as you say, are the ref’s judgement in real time. WHY OH WHY did Joubert run away after the game? Not even waiting for his fellow officials! Surely he’s big enough to stand by whatever decisions he’s made? Apparently not.
why has there not been a citation on the late challenge to Hogg?
Because it wasn’t that late? I genuinely didn’t think at the time it was that bad. I was surprised so many people got so annoyed by it.
Hi Merlot.
Point 1/ You assume that Joubert did not bother to look at the alleged late tackle on Hogg. Perhaps he just didn’t see it. He would be watching the ball, not an off the ball incident. If there is fault there it is the TMO’s not the ref’s for either missing it, or not informing the ref of it, which he would be entitled to do as it is Foul Play.
Point 2/ Awarding a penalty is not the definition of foul play. If it was and the TMO intervened every time it occurred the game would last forever and be crap to watch & play. Refs ask the TMO if a player was offside when a try is scored, TMOs do not tell the ref a player is offside.
Point3/ My recollection is that the ref asked for the TMO to comment and then followed the TMO’s advice as to what should be the outcome.
Point 4/ Judgements have to be in real time. Think the situation through logically. If you had a team of TMOs reviewing every play of the match, the match would never end.
Example: When Joubert spotted the tiny knock on before Australia’s disallowed try, he obviously was not sure. He could not have been otherwise he would have stopped play.; in not stopping play he risked the play would go on through several phases and Australia would score. But because the knock on was more than two phases back he would not have been able to review. So he must really of been unsure. If he had called it and it was reviewed and seen not to be a knock on, he would have stopped Australia scoring. Judgement has to be made in real time otherwise the whole follow of the game is compromised. It would not be possible to review back through 5, 10, 15 phases once the ball is dead just in case an infringement did or did not happen.
Your last pint
You do not know why he left the pitch immediately at the end. Perhaps he was trying to do the Scotland players a favour, sensing that they might be about to talk to him in way that he would be forced to cite them for. If the players, in the heat of the moment, spoke to him in an abusive manner he is required to report them. Until Joubert tells us why we did it, we do not know. Although I suspect you and others have already made up your mind, so nothing he says will change you perception of him.
I didn’t watch the second half of the game live as I had to drive, so I listened to it on Radio Scotland. It was the worst sports’ commentary I have ever heard and those involved should in my opinion be ashamed of themselves. Scotland’s on the pitch performance was fantastic but the commentators on radio Scotland would have had Bill McLaren spinning in his grave.
Gavin Hasting’s comments afterwards on 5Live were pathetic. I hope he’s had a chance to calm down. For a man that was ranting about the way rugby should be conducted, he was making some very ugly comments outwith what I would regard as the moral codes of the game.
The TMO failed to advise on the penalty, and or card for the shoulder charge on Hogg. After the lastline out he also missed a high tackle on Scotland’s No.7. The TMO isn’t meant to overlook throat tackles.
There have been four lamentable decisions at this World Cup in favour of Australia. The assault on Brown’s head by Hooper should have been given a red card, Foley’s deliberate ‘knock on’ should have been given a yellow card, Farrell of England wrongly given a yellow card when the penalty should have been given for blocking by the Australian, and a red or yellow card overlooked for the late shoulder charge on Hogg.
There seems to be pattern here. If there’s doubt give the benefit to the Australians.
Anyone know who is responsible for coaching the following?:
Re-start kicks
Defending the rolling maul
Using the rolling maul?
At best we are 2/10 on any of these and as such more than a serious concern given the real overall improvement in performance and way behind the rest of tier one teams. We need to get this sorted very quickly otherwise the 6 Nations could seriously be more of the same.
This was not a brilliant performance this was a very good performance the difference from winning and loosing!
We also missed flexibility where it mattered eg. no other choice of 10 as I’m afraid Finn was suspect with passes and kicks.
Lack of experience in the line out call, must learn to finish off games, this has been said many times before.
I think Hogg “swan dived” when Drew Mitchell ran into him with momentum (not intent) chasing down a kick. Have a look at the replay as I know I’ll receive lots of nasty replies. I think this is why Joubert didn’t award a penalty – because he dived. This diving thing needs to be ruled out of the game of rugby – never seen it before!
Did he aye? Obvious troll is trolling.
I would hope you don’t get any nasty replies Dermot, if they can’t be civil we don’t want them commenting here.
For me I agree slightly that Hogg’s dive in the earlier game refereed by Owens won’t have helped him. Crying wolf and all that.
I also think the clash of heads made it look nastier than it was, although I still feel a penalty may have been in order.
Sorry Dermot, The tackle, or charge on Hogg was illegal. Clear use of shoulder, but no use of arm. Its a clear penalty even if it was momentum. The tackler was probably trying to wind Hogg up hoping Hogg would hit him, so that Australia would be given a penalty.
The World Cup refereeing panel made a ruling on Joubert’s decision regarding the winning penalty. They should give a ruling on the ‘tackle’ on Hogg.
Mind the citing panel have some strange ideas. Didn’t they say Hooper was of good character, despite his assault on the back of the head of the Argentinian No.10, back in July? Should have been a card for Hooper and Australian try disallowed, but once again only the Ref and his assistants failed to see it. Wasn’t he cited after the game?