CrapRefs.com

A careful examination of the scrum exchanges in the first half of the first test shows that the Springbok loose head prop was pushing upwards and inwards at every opportunity.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not sore on Mtawarira. In fact, as an ex-prop, I applaud his tactics in the vain of ‘if you can get away with it …’ but he more than got away with it, he ran off laughing with penalties galore from a completely incompetent referee.

Perhaps Lawrence was using Craig Joubert’s performance in the first Bledisloe Cup test as a yardstick (tough on Al Baxter).

From a propping viewpoint, the surprising aspect was not that Bryce Lawrence didn’t ping him for it – Lawrence has no clue about scrummaging – it was that such a vastly experienced (and good-sized) prop in Phil Vickery could not effectively counter-act the strategy.

He did so on 1-2 occasions, approaching the scrum-hit in a downwards direction, allowing him to get on top of his opposite to hold him down, not letting him get upward leverage.

Mtawarira was very effective in getting his head in the middle of Vickery’s chest and driving him upwards with considerable strength.

I’m unsure whether Adam Jones is a better prop than Phil Vickery. He was certainly able to combat the Beast where the Englishman could not but often these kinds of exchanges come down to levels of comfort that one prop can get over another. Sometimes a guy will struggle against one prop and be very comfortable against all others.

This may have been the case for Vickery.

There was so much noise about the scrum following the first test but very little of it was insightful. Unfortunately Graham Roundtree remained silent when he was probably the most qualified to provide a sober assessment – certainly more than referee boss Paddy O’Brien.

Perhaps the biggest tell-tale sign was that it took Chtistophe Berdot just one scrum to stamp out the shenanigans in the front row. He penalised the Beast in the first exchange and that was the end of it – clear evidence that Berdot at least did not agree with Lawrence’s reading of the situation.

The wallabies started very well but they were always going to need the close calls to go their way if they were going to remain in the hunt against the home side in great form.

But the close calls did not go their way. Referee Allain Rolland was particularly aggressive at ruck time, giving the benefit of the doubt to the attacking side and on occasion, the home side.

Matt Giteau’s brain explosion pretty much sealed the Australian’s fate however.

The lack of further discipline has some Springbok fans crying foul but I think the record of the players should be considered. Which player is always seen entering frays both before and after the whistle has been blown?

Hard to imagine Matt Gitteau pushing people around like Bakkies Botha seems to think is his role and right.

Richard Brown was a little unfortunate, having been the tackler who grabbed the ball in the post-tackle but Allain Rolland ruled that the ruck had formed – a 50/50 call.

These kinds of calls have a huge impact on the tone of the game at the time. On another day, Brown could have been a hero, turning over the ball when the Springboks were in full flight, giving a potential counter-attacking opportunity for the sprightly Wallaby back line.

George Smith on the other hand deserved his yellow card for a cynical move at the ruck, reaching through interfering with half back, DuPreez.

Rolland had well and truly set the seen at ruck time and so there can be no argument with this call.

Overall, the Australians didn’t help themselves. They didn’t adjust to Rolland’s reading of the game to remain competitive at the breakdown.

He wasn’t even on the field for the 3rd test but he had an influence on the game – this time as the TMO denying a try to Springbok flyer, Odwa Ndungane which looked like it should have been awarded.

Even the Times thought it was a ‘perfectly good try’.

The reaction of the South African commentators was surprisingly subdued with phrases like ‘I wouldn’t like to call it’.

If the match was in Australia, Phil Kearns and co would have been screaming TRY!! and criticising TMO Lawrence for taking so long.

The (not) try happened in the 75th minute with the Lions ahead by 19 points so this blunder did not affect the outcome of the match.