Wayne Barnes is in the gun again for another RWC refereeing blunder, and this one may well have cost Wales the win over the worlc champion South Africans.
It happened midway through the first half. James Hook kicked for goal, and the ball looked to have just passed unside the right-hand upright. The assistant referee ruled it away, but if you look closely at the video which is being shown on the news, he was already on his way back to the sideline, and several metres away from the upright. Barnes on the other hand had an unobstructed view, but ruled that the kick had missed. Hook asked for a second opinion, and Barnes appeared to start to signal for help from the television match official, then seemed to change his mind and wave play on.
The Welsh can rightly feel hard done by; the final score in the match was 17-16 to South Africa. All Black supporters will sympatise with the Welsh, for it was of course Wayne Barnes who controlled that fateful match in Cardiff four years ago, and who missed an obvious forward pass in the lead-up to France's match-winning try. They will know how we have been feeling for the last four years!
Wales now faces a real battle to make the quarter-finals, with their match against Samoa being a must-win. It could and should have been the world champions in that situation after a titanic clash in Wellington last night where the Red Dragons of Wales put huge pressure on an ageing Springbok outfit. South Africa will count itself fortunate to have emerged with a victory first-up, but injuries to key players Jean de Villiers and Victor Matfield will be a concern.
Australia brushed aside a nervous first half to beat a competitive Italy 32-6. Italy took the Australian forwards on and held them to 6-all at half-time, but started to fall off tackles in the second half as the Australians found their rhythm.
But all power to the USA side. They went down 22-10 to Ireland, but there will be some sore Irish bodies today. The Americans tackled with fury and with passion, and the final score does not really do justice to the effort put in by the USA players. The Americans now face Russia on Thursday, in a match that they have targeted to win, and we wouldn't bet against them!
So; the first round of pool play is over, and noticeably, there is a much smaller gap between the top teams and the minnows on opening weekend. That bodes well for the rest of the tournament, although the depth of the lesser nations will be tested as RWC progresses. The standard of rugby has been very good, and we look forward to the next round of matches starting on Wednesday with considerable enthusiasm.
11 comments:
Decided it was worth an "in defence of" post.
That is a stupid, stupid photo. If you watch the video, the ball clearly describes a curve that passes over the top of the right hand post.
It was the touch judges' call and they got it right.
The Welsh were born to Whine and know doubt will
It missed
The Welsh however, deserved but missed out on, the win. They played with a vigour and focus the Boks lacked (bar the first sweep of play).
The Welsh impressed.
The Boks floundered.
I love this post of yours Inv2, especially your use of the Photo-of-Proof!
It so encapsulates the very things I challenge you on - the stubborn insisting, the illogical thinking and the reliance on 'evidence' that supports your beliefs.
My all time favourite, this one!
I also believe the Assistant Referees got it right. The moment the ball passed directly above the try line was it "between" the uprights or according to the correct technical term, had the ball crossed the crossbar? The AR's believed that it had not.
In the image, where circled, the ball has already passed that point. This only inflames the debate.
The try awarded to Faletau, in my opinion, was very obviously off a forward pass.
In high pressure situations the officials have to believe their decisions to be correct. They will be loved by some and vilified by others. That is obviously not what they signed up for when taking the job, probably a more noble notion of being fair. All about perspective. Probably an easier job when one team is obviously better than the other.
The Boks are lucky to have won as this was not their best performance. A win is a win and as a Bok fan am happy. I would probably have felt very aggrieved as I think Welsh fans and supporters do.
The ball passed within the line of the posts...it didn't go outside it...that makes it a goal. Wales were robbed.
Agree stupid photo the real world is not two dimensional.
It is @ Keeping Stock, H Stewart.
Inv - I am with JS - the ball passed over the top of the post and apart from the forward pass in the welsh try Barnes had a very good game. I think he might well be the best ref there but I missed a couple of games on Saturday.
Photoshopped. :D
Apart from Barnes standing in a poor position when South Africa got their try, I think he had a tidy game. As for the kick, the video replay is inconclusive. If I had to make a judgement from it then I'd say no goal. The two touch judges were in a far better position to tell if it went over, so I have no trouble accepting their judgement.
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