Referees and rules are destroying rugby. The IRB is a bureaucratic disaster and should be disbanded. One of the worst outcomes of its management is that games are now won or lost based on the capricious judgments of referees and their wildly changing approaches to the rules. Very few referees do a good job. A few do, but too many are hopeless, and the most hopeless of all IMHO is Bryce Lawrence.
Way back when Lawrence made his debut into upper level rugby, I laughed when I heard him complaining about Andrew Merhtens constantly sledging him during the game.
Lawrence claimed that after one decision that upset Canterbury, Merhtens said loudly- “Don’t worry guys, he’ll be back reffing second division next weekend”
Well, he should have been, but sadly he’s moved on upwards and is now a top official at the world cup. What a disaster. I reckon Lawrence is the worst referee there, and with Stuart Dickinson also present, that’s saying something.
Its only my humble opinion of course, but Lawrence, Dickinson and Steve Walsh are the three worst referees in the tournament, and I’d put Lawrence as the worst of them all. They make the game difficult to watch. If not impossible.
Lawrence is averaging 6.3 scrum resets per game. This is the highest number of resets per game for any ref in the RWC.
For scrum penalties, Lawrence is 3rd highest in the RWC with 4.3 per game.
Here though is the killer statistic- During Lawrence’s three Wallabies games the penalty count is 33 awarded to the opposition and 18 awarded to the Wallabies. This is a figure that has to say something about his judgment.
The Daily Telegraph reports today the Lawrence himself has admitted to many mistakes-
Many of the Kiwi referee’s decisions in the 15-6 win by Ireland at Eden Park – particularly at the scrum – appeared to baffle the Wallabies, and allowed Ireland to knock over decisive penalties or repel Australian pressure.
But in a crucial twist, The Daily Telegraph understands Lawrence later made admissions he had got several calls wrong at the scrum – including one that led to an Ireland penalty goal – and conceded other decisions were also inaccurate.
Lawrence needs to up his standards for the Aussie Springboks game tomorrow, but I don’t think he can. As Merhtens said way back, he’s only ever going to be a second rater. Shouldn’t ever have made it to the world cup.
Update 1: Another disastrous error filled display that made a farce of the game of rugby. Lawrence should be fired along with the IRB officials who appointed him to officiate at a level that is obviously far beyond his capabilities. If it was up to me, I wouldn’t let him ref a district high school final.
Update 2: IRB- Tough On Mouth Guards But Bryce Lawrence Gets a Pass
TrueblueNZ 
217 responses to “Bryce Lawrence- Worst Referee In The RWC”
Rugby’s never ending nightmare is an AB England final (a probability as we speak) where the 3 point field goal again is the aim and the shame of the game.
One point only, morons.
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To be sure, Lawrence will make up for his mistakes in the OZ/Ireland match by awarding inexplicable scrum penalties against the Springboks tomorrow evening.
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OT, but read it if you tend to be forthright..
“Thieving scumbag”.
Thieving is the problem, Scumbag is ok….IMO.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/technology/supreme-court-orders-google-australia-to-release-details-of-creators-of-website-labelling-self-help-guru-jamie-mcintyre-a-thieving-scumbag/story-e6frep1o-1226160676594
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Now you can add one more ultimate disaster to his list! South Africa vs Australia RWC 2011 Quarter Final. The worst refereeing I have ever seen!
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How disastrous to allow a match to be won on the ref’s lack of ability to ref.
ouch. he should be hung out to dry.
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Im South-Afican…I think he will be shot next time he visits RSA!
To Bryce: PLEASE VISIT RSA AS SOON AS POSIBLE!!! WE WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS*…
Damn man you are the worst ref in the universe!!!
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Yep, it was another disgraceful attempt and he has to be fired.
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True, Aust looks easy enough next week on that form tho.
Let’s hope they keep kicking possession away.
The only niggle is Cooper can’t be the worst player on the park two games in a row.
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Can’t say I didn’t warn you!
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I think that Bryce Lawrence is an absoulute disgrace to the IRB. In the rugby world cup quater final he made countless mistakes and ignored various austarlian foul plays which were sure penalties. He was particularly unconsistent at the break down which was critical to the game. In my opinion because he was so pressurized in games the group stages he felt that he had let the wallabies down. Which led him to look away at foul play from them and make decisions of foward passes that were flat..
Ref’s like this should not be able to adjudicate at a tournament of this standard. He should be on a much simpler level, something like junior school rugby.
He might be able to handle them better.
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What an absolute disgrace! I hope the rest of the World Cup is rained out and cancelled. The IRB should be disbanded immediately. . and the referees sent to Liberia, Siberia or Limpopo wherever Julius Malema lives!!! Bryce Lawrence you Prick. SA won all facets of the game BY A COUNTRY MILE… You shameless Scumbag
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Yeah, tho it was an obvious forward pass for the no try and it is the worst performance the Aust backs have delivered in years. They won’t kick away their chances next time.
In any case, my rule of thumb is that any team that attempts / kicks field goals deserves what they get for trashing the spirit of the game.
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I’m sorry Sika but I cannot share your view that field goals are somehow counter to the spirit of the game, and I am surprised that this view apparently has such currency.
Dropped goals have always been part of the game, and are a gamble that fits (IMHO) into the spirit and strategy of rugby.
I consider them far more legitimate than penalties at the breakdown. This is a sector of the rules that is unfathomable even to professional players who have been playing rugby for a decade or more, and it is just bringing the whole game into utter disrepute.
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[…] to a farce in Australia's win over South Africa – Telegraph Even the Kiwis share my view – Bryce Lawrence- Worst Referee In The RWC | TrueblueNZ Perhaps Lawrence shouldn't have been given a game after he'd been so heavily criticised by the […]
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You can have your field goals at one point apiece.
The idea that these overvalued speculations divorced from everything else in the game win big games is risible.
They win matches at 3, see England v Aust last WC, if you like FGs perhaps the pretend contact football called AFL will appeal, …..maybe not.
You want to reduce black magic penalties at the breakdown………
Ok….then drop the ‘entering from the side’ penalty, as long as player is onside re a line drawn through the ball, who cares.
Make inside the ruck a ‘knock on free zone’….if the pill goes forward within the ruck and stays within the ruck before you secure it ….too bad….play on.
Easy peecy.
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The way Bryce handled the game between Aussie en Boks today confirms everything. He is BAD,BAD,BAD.
He is a disgrace to the game. What a dissapointment to the RWC tournament.
Devastated Boks Supporter
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Bryce Lawrence has now entrenched himself as the worst international referee ever. He is even worse than Wayne Erickson of Australia ever was … remember him? Lawrence is absolutely clueless at the break downs. And totally inconsistent in every game he officiates in. I now refer to him as “YETI – the abominal SLOWMAN.” Where are the assessors/observers? Why are inept referees such as this given important games? Damn, he even makes a “creative” referee like Stuart Dickenson look like a superstar with a whistle. Having said that …. the Wallabies deserve to go through because they made better use of their opportunities. But The All Blacks will take them apart, I believe.
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A bad decision to allocate a S.Hemisphere referee to officiate a S.Hemisphere clash. There are a number of N.Hemisphere ref’s I would have gladly preferred. If it is ‘bias’ for a referee to blow in a match his own country is involved, surely a referee with a vested interest in the result is equally stupid?
The problem starts at the top with Paddy O’Brien pushing the buttons. Had someone like Alain Roland or Wayne Barnes officiated, no problem, but the IRB appoints Lawrence, why?
From constantly bringing the lineout maul to the ground, to completely losing control at the maul, this was just a dissaster, but then Aus media did their job well putting added pressure on Lawrence before the game. Simply fact is he shoud never have been asked to officiate this game.
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Just watched the second half again. Lawrences decisions are laughable. Surely he
must be made accountable. What a disgrace!
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Upon reading everyones opinion about this “so called ref” just makes my blood boil more. He has cost the Springboks the cup this year. There were many high tackles, hands in the ruck etc all thanks to the Aussies. I bet he received a rapping over his knuckles to go easier on the Aussies, which he did. it must make him feel good to know he was on the Aussie team…. Stupid idiot. He is supposed to be impartial, which it was clearly seen that he was not. At a game of this high level, idiots like this should not be officiating and the IRB should have chosen a ref from the northern hemisphere. But its too little too late, the Springboks are on their way home.
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WELL DONE TO YOU MR BRYCE “I AM CLUELESS” LAWRENCE FOR KNOCKING THE SPRINGBOKS OUT OF RWC2011,YOU SHOULD BE SHOT WITH A BAZOOKA,YOU ARE A TOTAL DISGRACE TO THE GAME OF RUGBY,HOW THE HELL DO YOU GO TO SLEEP AT NIGHT KNOWING THAT YOU SWING GAMES,HOW MUCH MONEY DID YOU BET ON THE OUTCOME.IF YOU COME TO SA THEN PIETER VAN ZYL WILL SORT YOU OUT YOU CHEATING BASTARD,WERE WAITING FOR YOU NUMB NUTS.
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Bryce Lawrence should be compelled to apologise to the Springboks (and South Africa) and the IRB for bringing the standard of the game into disrepute…..What a wanker!!!!!
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He surely dowed the penalties a lot for australia and therefore made a heck lot of decisions that were unfair on south africa. (forward passes were missed, a blatant dive (talk about off feet) spear tackles and other dangerous tackles were missed, unless it was the springboks, when he saw more than there was . (such as the penalty that gave australia the win and the try)(seeing the game to new zealand they had the same try situation and it was perfectly accountable.)
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I totally agree with “HIM” as copied and pasted below….. There are many excellent N.Hemishpere Refs
Him says:
October 10, 2011 at 01:43
A bad decision to allocate a S.Hemisphere referee to officiate a S.Hemisphere clash. There are a number of N.Hemisphere ref’s I would have gladly preferred. If it is ‘bias’ for a referee to blow in a match his own country is involved, surely a referee with a vested interest in the result is equally stupid?
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Well at least we won’t have to listen to the ABs and New Zealand whinging about Wayne Barnes (although I have to admit he IS pretty pathetic) anymore as they should be totally embarrassed about Bryce Lawrence. They should be hanging their heads in shame that they have nurtured (and not shot at birth) an idiot like him.. Unfortunately he gives the surname a bad name as there is Mark Lawrence in South Africa who I’ve been watching recently reffing some Currie Cup games who is very very good. Why couldn’t they get THAT Lawrence and not this fool from NZ? He is an utter disgrace.
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How perceptive to write this article before the game and how sad to see how right you were. A wonderful tournament soured by complete ineptitude – mistakes will occur from any whistleman but these were more than a few mistakes. All said and done from a Bok perspective the operation was a success but the patient died…….
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There is another perspective….without Bryce and his set piece and breakdown penalty caning Australia may well have got their backline working against Ireland and beaten them ….easily….as history suggests.
That would have left Australia on the easy side of the draw with ho hum passage to the final.
Without Bryce Australia would be home free.
And how many tries…you know, the aim of the game….did the Boks score?
Well none.
I sense the gods of Rugby don’t like teams who score no tries but win the match.
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I am utterly disappointed at this man for bringing the image off such an event in disrepute!
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Like Fitsu said, Red, “How perceptive to write this article before the game and how sad to see how right you were.” Lawrence is a disgrace, and should either voluntarily step down from reffing at this level, or never be selected again for anything above … well, he shouldn’t even ref primary school rugby.
And I notice the useless media is saying almost nothing (that I’ve heard) about how he totally determined the final outcome of the match. Condolences and aplogies to the Boks and their supporters.
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Well, if he blew the rules correctly allowed flowing, instead of hands in rugby at ruck time, then the boks surely would have scored tries. Thus, the result of bad refereeing is what we got. Boks took what they could and that’s penalties and drop goals. Sika asked how many tries the boks scored. Yes, boks scored none, because the ref killed all the boks momentum. I sense the gods of Rugby doesn’t like to see the best team win.
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Just as he killed the momentum of the Aussies in their game against the Irish.
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Exactly Redbaiter, this must be one of the worst displays of refereeing ever. He was in IRB uniform and thus should be affiliated with them. Shocking…
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Sadly, he’s not up to the job. Watching the game with a SA mate who much more up on the rules than I am, the poor guy was open-mouthed incredulous (and very vocal) at the numerous obvious infringements he missed which favoured the Wallabies (and his non-consistency in calls). I’m embarressed to be a Kiwi, time for a major shake-up in the IRB referee board PLEASE
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It wont help us Bok lovers now – but for once the AB’s, Boks and the Northern Hemisphere teams seem united in their opinions! We won’t include the arrogant Aussies as I have been totally floored at the press that I have read here today! Popock should be ashamed to have accepted Man of the Match – he knew he had cheated for most of the game! There needs to be more pressure on refs to peform! These are professional games played by professional sportsmen and involve millions of Dollars. Sub-standard calls bring the game into disrepute! Sport is business – this is not some casual game at a local field!!! I now know how the poor English felt in the Soccer World Cup last year when their obvious goal was disallowed!!!! Use technology to its fullest extent!!!
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Re Pocock…anyone with McCaw doing the scavenging is in a glass house and throwing stones might be ill advised…..we know McC is recognised as a cheat, enabled by refs everywhere due to reputation. That’s how effective open side flankers play.
Frankly I saw as many unpenalised Boks hands in rucks as Australian and the Boks were diving through off their feet as a standard operation.
Glass houses.
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Sika, you support Bryce Lawrence?
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[…] Bryce Lawrence worst ref: https://truebluenz.com/2011/10/08/bryce-lawrence-worst-referee-in-the-rwc/ […]
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Thanks for killing the great game of rugby you idiot.
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Gemors…..no, merely that there was mass infringing from both sides at the breakdown, not just Aust….if the Boks were good enough they would have scored tries anyway. They weren’t.
Give Australia 74% of the territory and 55% of possession and they’ll put 5 tries on the Boks even if Peter de Villiers was the referee.
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Having watched the tape of the game again, I can only conclude that Bryce Lawrence is a spineless jellyfish, too scared to make any calls. [This is the man who can “bravely” award a penalty for “dangerous play” before two opposing sets of forwards have even crouched for a scrum!] He seemed so intent in not letting penalties or decisions determine the outcome of the match, that , in doing nothing, he did in fact contribute to the outcome. Paddy O’Brien will protect him and come to his defense, no doubt. After all, Bryce Lawrence’s father is a NZ rugby official, I hear. BUT, it may come back to bite him in the butt, because the Australians [Quade Cooper in particular] could not possibly play so poorly again. If the Aussies win the semi, it will be as a result of O’Brien’s intransigence. Remember, HE appointed Wayne Barnes, an inexperience referee, to handle the game between the AB’s and France in 2007. I am sure he will ensure a decent referee like Joubert or Clancy is appointed for that semi. It is clear Nigel [SL]Owens is incapable, as is Dave Pearson [Mr Bumble] and I’d be surprised if Barnes gets the nod.
It is a pity that such a superbly organised spectacle as this World Cup with immacutate surfaces, excellent television coverage, etc. should be marred by some poor refereeing. Lawrence is an emabarrassment to NZ. Sad. SAD, very SAD.
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I think Bryce Lawrence should be investigated, the way HE ref’ed that game, I think he might have gotten paid by the Ozzies to ensure they make it to the semie finals….
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Bwaaaa………Wonderer, you retard……Bryce ensured Ireland won via the whistle which put Aust in the toxic side of the play off draw. Likely to never get to the final.
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If only the refs could be yellow or red carded for iilegal enforcement of the laws, and heavily fined! I hope his performance in the SA vs Aus game is remembered, and his career is in shatters as a result. South Africa like New Zealand, is a very proud rugby nation and to loose like we did is a dagger to the heart of our nation.
I am sure I speak for my fellow countrymen when I say “All Blacks all the way!”
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‘After all, Bryce Lawrence’s father is a NZ rugby official, I hear.’ – Wim.
Isn’t that interesting – the other useless ref, Englishman Wayne Barnes’ uncle is the one-eyed ex-English flyhalf and Sky commentator Stuart Barnes.
What a coincidence. Talk about Royal Game…….
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Please explain to me how a utterly biased and incompetent referee can be chosen to officiate at the Australia / South Africa quarter final? The blatant disregard for the breakdown laws and secondly the rather one sided officiating was rather disgusting as I am sure everyone can see from the recordings, or was it perhaps instructions from above? Either way, it is a disgrace to the game of rugby and makes any results in the Worldcup a farce. Pathetic.
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Did Bryce try make up for his disastrous performance in the Ireland vs Aus game by blatantly offering the SA vs Aus game to Aus on a platter?
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What I find curious is that nowhere in the kiwi press is there any criticism of, or even comment on,
Lawrence’s inept performance in the Aus vs RSA quarter final.
Was Mark Reason of The Telegraph the only journo at the game?
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
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Tough call for AUS Man of the match – Pocock or Bryce Lawrence? GO NZ!!!
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Having watched that joker in the Six Nations we could have told you what a joke Lawrence was. As a neutral it was a real pity he messed up what should have been the game of the tournament so far – two great teams with two conflicting styles. Shame.
Sika, tries are not the aim of the game. Points are. How you get them is up to you and you play to your strengths. When the game first started you got nothing for a try, it just gave you the right to have a kick at goal. It’s called Rugby Football because it’s a type of football, a game where the aim is to kick goals, not dab down. You may have a negative view of goal kicking but having played at 10 (and having seen a world cup come back as a result of a drop goal) I can tell you it’s not a skill to be sniffed at.
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I keep hearing this from people saying the we should take it on the chin (paraphrase of course): “The Springboks had the lions share of the possession and they should have done something with it to put points on the board.”
What they keep forgetting is that we DID. Pat Lambie scored a try! It was not forward. If you don’t believe me look at this – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=box08lq9ylg – and then watch the so called ‘forward pass’ again. So, again, we DID score a try. Not just that, if the law was enforced then the best kicker in the tournament, Steyn, would have more than likely slotted another 6 to 9 points on the board. We were robbed of points that should have been, and that is the end of it…
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Sika no wonder amoeba’s die a horrible death you proof of legs with shit for brains, you delusional mate. Bryce poepol for Kiwi prime minister.
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Sika, Pom,
In the original form of Rugby grounding the ball behind the goal line earned the team the right to “try” for a goal by kicking the ball through the uprights. If the kick was missed then no points were awarded.
Not sure when points were first awarded for a try.
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This was a referee with an agenda, I have no doubt about this. I dont think he was bribed or anything like that, but to consistantly miss penalisable offences by Australia,and blow everything that even has a remote chance of being an indiscretion shows tremendous bias.In effect he acted as the 16th player for Australia.
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Is anybody going to do somthing about the idot Bryce Lawrence who only a mother can love.
How blind are the panel of selectors to the continuing mistakes this mouron is making. Will some body wipe that grin off his face or reshape it. He was refused to blow the super 15 final due to bad refree judgment during the quater finals. Was it not visable then already that such a whimp should not even be refing kindergarden games. If the IRB do not boot him the are as guilty as the stealer. Bryce Lawrence use the bit of nog you have on apro (size of a pea) and hang up your whistle before the maffia help you decide.
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@HairyScot – is there an echo in here?
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Thanks for that one, Sean. Doesn’t really help – just shows even more what a total arsehole Lawrence is. What a travesty of justice.
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@ Sika, all your comments make no sense you poor pathetic little person. FACT – SA dominated play forcing Aus to make the mistake. Fact – ref DID NOT penalize mistake thus scoreboard did not tick over. This is what rugby is all about – dominate the possession and territory and force opponents to make mistakes which results in points. Your beloved Aus did not deserve to win. If you think so than you and Bryce are two very similar things!
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Bryce Laqrence: How much were you paid and by ho
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@Pom
Yes, sorry.
The page wheel on my mouse occasionally causes skips and I missed part of your post.
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I see Craig Joubert will referee the NZ vs Aus semifinal. I wonder how many times will Poc0ck manage to steal a ball ‘legally’ when the rules are applied according to THIS year’s book ?
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Play according to the ref??? Unless I missed the boat the ref is there to enforce the rules laid down by the IRB? Why do we have rules? All countries entering teams in the world cup have invested hundreds of millions financially and emotional, only, on a given day to be kicked out largely due to one person interpretation of the rules. How is this acceptable? Is there a major hole in the system?
Another World Cup and another Ref issue. Two teams including the couches lively hoods turn on a game. How is it acceptable that one person and how they choose to ref a game on the day will determine their future? Should the players and couches not stand-up and ask for accountability?
How can a ref cover a match that determines who will play his own country should they progress?
Under International games should we implement the ability for the captain or coaches to refer to the TV ref?
The millions invested and couriers cannot be determined by one person on the field and yes there are two linesman, however there appears to be a code of non interference other than blatant infringements. The financial loss to the players and entertainment industry will be huge, already couches are unemployed, sales on supporters gear, pub bookings cancelled, early morning wake up calls deleted. Who is accountable for the financial loss?
To be beaten by a better rugby playing team on the day acceptable, beaten by a ref interpretation of the rules on the day unacceptable.
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Not only should Bryce Lawrence be fired, but his master Paddy O’Brien too. It would appear that O’Brien has manipulated the refereeing to suit his own ends. Just watch, If the All Blacks reach the final ( which I hope they don’t ) Craig Joubert will referee the match. O’Brien has his disciples. It doesn’t matter whether or not the All Blacks play well, they will be favoured by Paddy’s pals.
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Guido, couldn’t resist this. You asked: Is there a major hole in the system?
Of course there is – its the arseHOLE Bryce Lawrence!!!!!
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Lawrence must beb condemned for this appalling display of bias. Together with that nortern hemisphere idiot, Wayne Barnes, he should be thrown out of the IRB and never heard of again. I hope he has the sense never to step foot in South Africa again. He is a cheat.
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Bryce Lawrence ??? You know, I respect the IRB for giving the disabled an opportunity, BUT, allowing the blind and blatently biased to ref a world cup game ??? South Africa were by far the better team over Australia and you robbed them of a deserved quarter final win. How much were you paid ? Was it worth showing the world how pathetic a person you truly are ?
You should hang up your whistle and find a more suitable profession like becoming a test drive dummy or a lab rat for a poisonous chemical company.
Proudly South African .. Proudly a BOK supporter to the end.
Marlene SA
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To GuidoC – right on the button. Nobody should have to play to the whims of a ref – all play to the rules and the ref is there to uphold them. We had assistant-refs on the field, why didn’t they say anything about blatant infringements? We as South Africans cannot blame Australia, besides their self-satisfied grins and arrogant eyes as if they deserved the win, but NZ, rest assured that most Saffas will be backing the All Blacks in annihilating them…
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Bryce Lawrence ??? You know, I respect the IRB for giving the disabled an opportunity, BUT, allowing the blind and blatently biased to ref a world cup game ??? South Africa were by far the better team over Australia and you robbed them of a deserved quarter final win. How much were you paid ? Was it worth showing the world how pathetic a person you truly are ?
You should hang up your whistle and find a more suitable profession like becoming a test drive dummy or a lab rat for a poisonous chemical company.
Proudly South African .. Proudly a BOK supporter to the end.
Marlene SA
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Attention: Bryce Lawrence – New Zealand
You will never live or sleep peacefully again with your seared conscience after your biased, unpretentious, dishonest and incompetent handling of the RWC quarter final game, SA against Australia.
I hope your soul never gives you peace or allows you to forget the unashamed and despicable refereeing of that game, where you were determined to “sell” that game in favour of Australia.
I suggest that you give up refereeing rugby and find yourself some other menial job.
True comments about you:
*Lawrence was heavily criticized for his poor referring decisions in the 2011 Rugby World cup semi-final in which South Africa played Australia. His incorrect decisions were overwhelmingly in favour of Australia. Wikipedia
*Smit: Lawrence didn’t listen
“That was the only talking point in the game between me and the referee, obviously the message I was trying to get through was not being listened to,” said Smit.
*Ref robbed Boks – UK scribes
*Two rugby writers representing a renowned broadsheet in neutral England have strongly attacked referee Bryce Lawrence, claiming his breakdown liberties influenced the outcome of the World Cup quarter-final in Australia’s favour over South Africa.
*South Africa will feel cheated and they have every right to complain.”
*A man added, “We didn’t lose the match because we played worse than Australia. We lost because we were robbed by the ref.”
*The Springboks didn’t use their opportunities – but can also not play against the ref,” opined one East Coaster.
*THE BROWN MAN said:
10 Oct 2011 08:30
*The world cup is meant to have respected reputable referees – Bryce Lawrence is as respected as a Thai Prostitute in a Karaoke Bar !!
*The main quarter final talking point was yet again the substandard performance of Bryce Lawrence, who looked inept and like a rabbit in the headlights as he took charge of Australia v South Africa.
**YOU OWE ALL THE PEOPLES OF SOUTH AFRICA AN APOLOGY FOR THE DISPICABLE AND UNASHAMED WAY YOU HANDLED THIS GAME IN FAVOUR OF AUSTRALIA, UNTIL SUCH, WE WILL NOT FORGIVE YOU!**
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As an avid Wallabies fan, I condole the Boks supporters, and agree Lawrence was not a good referee of the game. What I would add though is that the Wallabies learned their Lawrence Lesson from the Irish game, and structured their game plan accordingly. The best teams adapt and overcome – just as the Boks have done in past victories.
A more cynical person might suggest that this is what happens in the swings and roundabouts of life when the All Blacks mysteriously got food poisoning in South Africa… it’s just how it turns out sometimes, isn’t it fellas?
It says a lot about South Africans when the team itself can be gracious in defeat, but their supporters can not. The Springboks can hold their heads high – they played their hearts out. Don’t disgrace them or sully their graciousness by being whining, sore-losing, violence-threatening nutjobs over a game of football.
If the Boks hadn’t lost possession when they were crossing the line (a knock on in a Cooper tackle of all things) they would have won. It was the only thing Cooper did right all night. This is how knockout rugby goes sometimes; the Wallabies know all too well how it feels.
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Lawrence is an absolute disgrace as are those who selected him. After the comments from the Ireland game – what did they expect him to do? The IRB need to answer these questions and how with all that territory and so called possession (most SA possession was smothered, layed on, mauled at by Aussies off their feet, kicked at on the wrong side etc) they only got two easily kickable penalties?? Send him and O’Brien to Australia with Dickinson, Walsh and Goddard all useless.
Credit to the Boks they were well and truly robbed. Yes a few critical mistakes but it should never have come to that, if only the official applied the rules if not the current rules any rules would have done given how blatent the spoiling was!
Was not the debacle of the S15 final enough to dissuade the IRB??? How do these people think when assigning officials??
Given the Aussies and unfortunately the NZ connection with Lawrence, All I can say now is go Wales.
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@Rugby Afficianado – Self appointed I guess??
The Ireland game was nothing compared to this. Lawrence’s sole purpose was to atone the very same bad losers Australia were in the Ireland game. Yes the boks made some costly errors but that should never had meant anything had Lawrence been fair or even attempted to apply the rules against Australia. The penalty count would have mounted just as it did in The NZ game. No tries but NZ took points on offer. SA never had that chance – in a game dominated by SA only two kickable penalties?? Bull!!
Lawrence and IRB need to apolgise.
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I dont know alot about the rugby rules but i think i could have done a better job than lawrence! Well, auzies will get their ass handed to them when the come up against NZ!!!
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The aged Boks had 74% of the territory, 55% of possession and were unable to score a try.
Pathetic.
Their forward driving game is time expired outside of a mud track.
Maybe if they had renewed with a new generation since the last WC…..the fat lady would not have sung.
The aircraft’s over there jappies…..bye.
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Donnered says:
October 10, 2011 at 23:57
All aficionados are self-appointed; some are fortunate to be known as such by others too. You appear to be trying to insult me now, as well. Unsurprising, but predictable.
Clearly you didn’t hear the Wallabies (especially James Horwill) saying “we played dumb footy” and that we were completely outplayed by the Irish. It’s unlikely that the Wallabies will beat New Zealand, but it won’t stop them trying. THAT is what elite rugby is all about; recognising what you can improve, and putting it into action. Wallabies win maybe one fifth of the games against the All Blacks (a better record than most) and no matter who the referee is, if the ABs win, they will deserve it.
Carrying on like a pork chop only sullies your mighty Springboks, who on any other day, might have won that game.
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Australia was supposed to win the Irish, and South Africa was supposed to beat Australia. With this cook holding the whistle, the best team doesn’t always win.
Jay
Proud Welsh Supporter
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Redbaiter I salute you on a conspiracy-theory piece that so sadly came true for my beloved Boks. The boks weren’t given a sniff before the WC, and I believe they can go home with heads held high. It’s a sad, sad day when a WC quarterfinal gets decided by a little man with a whistle. Sad day indeed…
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Hey Jay,
I really agree with you.
Of course, Australia wouldn’t have been playing the Boks if they’d won the Irish game – we could play an hypothetical pick-a-path all night, couldn’t we?
If the Cup always went to the team who was “supposed” to win, New Zealand would have won it a lot more than once in 1987, let’s be honest. The beauty of RWC is that it’s not predictable, and any team on their day can take home Old Bill. Why else would all the teams bother having a crack at it?
The truth is, no one is entitled to take home the Cup without fighting for it. Fate decides the rest.
And good luck to your Welshmen. They have been a delight to watch, and I hope the Wallabies can earn the right to play them in the final.
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So I get to work and asked my colleague what he thought of the game. His reply: “I thought the ref missed a great game”. Classic….
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While I accept that the Boks should possibly have worked out a game plan for the twat Lawrence, its stretching belief a bit to suggest that they could have done enough to counter him unless they played the Aussie way and just sat back and tackled without actually putting any ‘rugby’ together. And lets face it, if you have to think that way at that level – especially when the ref has ‘previous’ on his incompetence – then you might as well give up. I certainly would. But luckily for me as I live in the Northern Hemisphere I also have another team to support – and I hope Wales can just keep it going long enough to kick the arses of the cynical Wallabies or the crooked All Blacks(that bred, nurtured and supported that idiot).
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http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Petition-To-Stop-Bryce-Lawrence-Ever-Reffing-A-Rugby-Game-Again/286992594653732
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Have to agree with you, as the Springboks on any other day might have won the game. However, only if the rules were to be applied accordingly.
Have to agree with you again, wrt the beauty of RWC’s unpredictability. Then surely the uglyness of RWC as was evident in the Boks/Wallabies game is that the outcome was dictated by the ref?
As for the aged Boks as Sika puts it, is this an indication of how pathetic the suposed exuberant Wallabies really were on the day as they were beaten in every facet of the game by old crocks 🙂
I don’t believe Bryce was paid to do what he did. His guilty conscious got to him as he knew that he screwed the Wallabies in the game against the Irish.
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You mean, applied according to the way South Africa wanted them, don’t you, Rodschild? 😉 The Welsh thoroughly ‘deserved’ to beat South Africa but the pesky points thing interfered again. No crying from the Boks supporters then, about one-eyed refs – and neither from the Welsh, good sports that they are.
Your point is largely baseless – yes, the ‘old crocks’ beat the Wallabies most everywhere, except on the scoreboard. They had critical opportunities to score and blew them. It happens. The Wallabies do it a lot, and they did in that match too.
I don’t think either side was pathetic, but there were a few poor individual performances on both sides.
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Strange people keep talking about rules.There are no rules but a number of laws ,about 22
if i remember correctly and a number of rulings about how these laws should be applied.
Take for instance law 15.Law 15 Tackle: Ball Carrier Brought to Ground
LAWS OF THE GAME RUGBY UNION 2010
(c) A tackled player may release the ball by putting it on the ground in any direction, provided
this is done immediately.
Sanction: Penalty kick
(d) A tackled player may release the ball by pushing it along the ground in any direction except
forward, provided this is done immediately.
Sanction: Penalty kick
(e) If opposition players who are on their feet attempt to play the ball, the tackled player must
release the ball.
Sanction: Penalty kick
88
Tackled player must release the ball immediately.
It is clear that a tackled player ‘may’ and not ‘shall’ release the and that ‘may’ becomes ‘must’
only if players on their feet attempt to play the ball.This implies if tackled players do not not have to release the ball if players attempting to play are not on their feet.
Look at the following:
15.3 BROUGHT TO THE GROUND DEFINED
(a) If the ball carrier has one knee or both knees on the ground, that player has been ‘brought
to ground’.
How many times do we not see players knees touching the ground after the tackle but referees rule ‘not held in the tackle’. .I am not here to defend Bryce Lawrence, but what makes him the worst referee in my opinion is his inconsistent application of the laws.In his case he should
apply the laws in the manner of ”What’s good for the goose is good for the gander’.
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Wales all the way. Its the final I wanted as a bok because I believed that we didn’t beat them convincingly.
No offense to Aus(Rugby Aficionado) i believe they should be there next week, but thats as far as I would like them to go.
But Wales VS New Zealand will be a cracker!!!
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I do not beleive mr Lawrence were biased in his rulings, he was just incompetent.
His lack of officiating the rucks and mauls benefitted the defending team as they were abe to slow the ball down and prevent quick ball from emerging from these rucks and mauls. It just happened that Aus was mostly on defence and therefore benefitted more from the ref’s incompetence.
The fact that Aus were able to exploit the bad refereeing from the 1st minute where it took the Boks more than 20 minutes before they started also infringing and committing fouls in the rucks and mauls is also a contributing factor to the boks defeat.
The boks has been a very disciplined side so far in the world cup its sad that they had to start reverting to lawlessness to give them any chance in the game.
Mr Lawrence should not be officiating at this level of the game. it just happened that his bad officiating this time benefitted the Aus team, however his previous bad performance cost them the game.
I do not begrudge Aus their win it was not their fault the Ref was incompetent… they managed to exploit this incompetance better that the boks did.
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But most importantly! What can we do about this retard?
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Forget about him and enjoy the rest of the cup, as a neutral…no stress!!! lol
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The Springboks simply lost to Lawrence but not to Australia …
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I feel your pain… But we lost to our selves! We are too nice and forgiving… This is not the first time BL ref’d like this…
I saw a movie starring Adam Sandler called The Longest Yard, there was a referee in the movie who was bought, and after Adam saw that he was calling in favor of the opposition, he threw the Football at the ref’s his crotch twice almost damaging his future and after that the ref called a proper game. It would have been nice if we could use a similar tactic LOL…
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Rugby Aficionado you and Bryce don’t happen to be taxi drivers? “No no no we are not breaking the rules,we are just bending it” 🙂
Correction, applying the rules as stipulated by the IRB. Not even the great AB will put something on the scoreboard if their matches were to be officiated in the same manner, where they are pulling on the short end of the stick. KIndly elaborate as to how the Welsh deserves to win?Talking about ungrounded opinions.
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Bottom line is that the referree is there to implement the laws of the game. If that had been done in the Australia v Ireland game Australia may have won,if it had been done in Australia v South Africa game the Springboks may have won. The one thing that is certain is, if the laws had been implemented correctly by the officials we would not be discussing the ref but talking about the matches which would probably been far more entertaining, as have been many other matches, correctly officiated, in the RWC.
We should not have officials failing this badly at the premier event of the Rugby calendar. It will be even worse if the IRB board ignore the fact and continue as though nothing has happened. Remember this is the most watched rugby event in the world, and many of those watching are in countries were Rugby Union is only just getting eatablished. The effects of substandard officials at such a high profile event could have a negative, even catastrophic, effect. If IRB rules cannot be implemented here then were can they be implemented?
New Zealand have done a magnificent job in hosting this event, so unfortunate that such a travesty should be inflicted on this tournament by one of their own.
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The outcome of the RWC 2011 will not be a true reflection who the real champions would have been have the came been officiated fairly. SHAME on you IRB. You’ve made a mockery of this WC. I feel sorry for the eventual winner as they might not have reached the final have the game been officiated fairly. There will always be a dark cloud over the final results.
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As a Sprinbok supporter you will not imagine how i am going to support new zealand next weekend.
Please dear god,!!!NZ , thump those ausies.
they are there by pure default. show us you are the better team even without Dan Carter.
and when that said and done i will then change my allegance to WALES OR FRANCE.
just dear god!!! not those arrogant aussie pricks.thieving bastards,convicts!!
But NZ!! youre still the best team !!after us LOL
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Bryce needs to leave the game and apologise, as does paddy o’brien who put him there to offciate. How can you have a NZ ref in charge of a game where the winner will end up playing his country? This is against IRB rules set out in a manifesto in 99. Why werent NH refs placed in the SH draw and vice versa. This stinks of foul play.
The good thing for the AB’s is Craig Joubert is in charge of the Semi final and he will be reeling off the back Bryce’s performance, being a South African. I know the Wallabies are going to pay a high price because of it. Expect yellow cards for breakdown infridgements and you can blame Bryce for that.
Log on to facebook and sign the petition to get Bryce sacked
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Petition-To-Stop-Bryce-Lawrence-Ever-Reffing-A-Rugby-Game-Again/286992594653732
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The most shocking,terrible and absolutely pathetic display of rugby reffing ever witnessed.Was Lawrence just under to much pressure from the aussies after his pathetic reffing in their previous games that he was to scared to blow against them this week.Lawrence you are a disgrace to the game of rugby and should never be allowed to ref any rugby game of any nature in the future.And to the IRB officials who appointed him shame on you.Hang your heads in shame and resign.This was pathetic pathetic pathetic.But if he is still allowed to ref please appoint him to ref the 1st super 15 game of the season here in SA next year.I am sure a lot of people would love to see him visiting our lovely country.
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Watching the Bok players after the game showed they accepted the defeat gracefully.
What I couldn’t fathom was all those balls that came flying out of the ruck. How was this possible unless there were hidden hands clawing it back. Bryce Lawrence seemd completely oblivious to these infringments. And the Law of Bryce would indicate that there is no such thing as a high tackle. Or the shoulder charge that led to Habana leaving the field.
When Kiwi’s look sheepish about his performance then that says it all.
But then, it is that previously inept referee Paddy O’Brien (don’t get me started on that one!) who has a major say.
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Why do we have rules in rugby, if the players must play according to what a referee thinks is right. Hand in the mall right in front of him…and he does nothin. Not releasing the tackled player…and yet he does nothin. Giving the Ausies advantage when the ball was held up…nothing wrong with that, but when South Africa held the ball up…he penilised SA. I know we missed alot of chances, but how can you play and enjoy a game if you are playing according to rules and still you are beaten by a team who disregard that rules and have a referee on their side who disregard it also. Injustise is the word…and I’m sick to the core, thinking that a team that had no respect for the rules got away with it…they call it…adapt to the ref.
You could see it on the faces of the Ausies, enjoying every moment of it, knowing that somehow, blaming Bryce for their lost against Ireland last week and then suddenly sweet talk him all the way of what a great referee he is…come on! The whole thing was planned. He needed to make up for his blups with Aus v Ireland.
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I have to say that whilst I think Bryce Lawrence had an absolute shocker, we South African fans need to get out of these chat rooms. Taking out our loss at the WC on a poor ref shows a lack of character. Well done Australia, you got through. We didn’t. On the weekend it will probably be a different story. Imagine how gutted the Kiwi’s were when Wayne Barnes didn’t pick up the forward pass that put them out the last World Cup??? The AB’s deserve the Webb Ellis, they’ve been the best side in world rugby for some time. Time for the boks to rebuild. We’ll be back and not even Bryce Lawrence will be able to hold us back.
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I know what you’re getting at Jimbo, but am afraid that the Barnes ‘forward pass’ pales into insignificance against the continual total incompetence displayed by Lawrence. In fact, I don’t want to hear another New Zealander complain about ANYTHING on a rugby field after what they did to us by spawing this idiot and then – apparently – keeping him on because his daddy was a referee as well (I saw that on Wikipaedia). I actually wish P de V had had a proper go at him after the game but it doesn’t look like he did. This was one of those crimes against humanity (me overreact?!) that really need properly stressing so they don’t happen again. The NZRU and their refs have made a mockery of the RWC and us rugby lovers. If it had been one incident there would have been no complaints but 80+ minutes of them is totally unacceptable.
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Tell you what they have a radio station here in New Zealand called talkback radio and most of the callers are one hundred percent in agreement that he stuffed that game up completely to the extent that there were 16 players on for the Wallabies. Get him fired
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Bryce has disgraced the rugby world cup with his lack of refereeing. He was blatendly bad and even laughed about it during the game whith that smug look on his face. I have never like the Auzies because they are arrogant and have huge respect for the All Blacks. Playing against them is a true test. I always root for rhe kiwis when playing against the Auzies but Bryce Laurance been a New Zealander has made it difficult to shout and be behind the All Blacks now. Bryce you are an asshole and deserve to get fired for your blatendly lack of refereeing the game according to the rules which you seem to have forgotten. GO France. What goes around comes around, and the wheel turned quicker then you think.
Ps; in my heart I still have hope for the All Blacks but it has seriously left more then a bad taste in anyone’s mouth. And we are not soar losers.
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I love this from Oz: http://www.theroar.com.au/2011/10/11/lawrence-blunders-his-way-out-of-a-rwc-semi-final/
Qoute: “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.”
And thank heaven someone from the Boks said something. John Smit: “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,”
Amen to all of that. But its too damn late now and we’ll be accused of being a bunch of whingers, like the New Zealanders………
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Oh my sainted aunt…….
The Australians actually accepted Joubert?
Unbelievable, thought they were switched on.
More square ups coming, tho it doesn’t matter much…..Aust $3.40, ABs $1.37…. then for an AB training run v Wales or France……the AB squad could all go sick and give the Turangi under 19s a run for a bit of experience in a stadium.
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@Sika
No problem with Joubert or Kaplan. The SA refs are rated very highly, and rightly so.
They are even-handed and unfussy, unlike the subject of the original post.
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BS hairy……that’s not the way the world works.
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@Sika
That comment, like many of your comments in this thread, makes absolutely no sense.
You are either a retard or a troll.
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Please explain your confusion hairy…….maybe I can help.
Let me anticipate, Joubert is a proud Sth Efricen who is “guaranteed” to be able to separate his professional life from his private resentments in a WC final (because that’s what it is)?
Suuuure he is.
It’s called ‘apprehended bias’ in law, you drip, to be avoided at all costs.
Any Northern hemisphere ref from other than Wales or France ( a French ref in the WC final? pure Monty Python that) will do.
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@Sika
I was only confused by one thing, whether you are a retard or a troll.
But that is now clear.
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Sika – you’re clearly a kiwi….
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So you have no facts to address, hairy?
Didn’t think so.
Look up “apprehended bias”, that should help you a lot.
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The facts are plain for all to see.
Neither Kaplan nor Joubert has ever given any indication of bias or ineptitude at any time in their refereeing careers.
Sadly this is not true of many of their counterparts, one of whom is the reason for the existence of this thread.
Maybe we should confine our posts to the subject in hand rather than indulging in petty insults.
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Try to understand what “apprehended bias ” means.
That “Neither Kaplan nor Joubert has ever given any indication of bias…” is utterly irrelevant to the concept.
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The test for determining whether a judge should disqualify himself or herself by reason of apprehended bias is “whether a fair-minded lay observer might reasonably apprehend that the judge might not bring an impartial and unprejudiced mind to the resolution of the question the judge is required to decide”
Being a fair-minded lay observer I have no reason to believe that either of the South African referees would not bring an impartial and unprejudiced mind to any matter in a rugby game that they might referee.
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Oh dear….when there are other choices you don’t use the ref from a country that has retreated into communal bitterness over the last match involving one of the teams playing.
Your logic means a SA ref, whom you declare impartial, is fine for an AB v Boks final had it happened?
Don’t be silly.
The “apprehension” of Aust supporters at Joubert’s appointment will be off the clock.
They rightly hold the suspicion of the possibility of bias.
If only one party reasonably holds that “apprehension” that is enough to disqualify the ref.
He is a Sth Efricen, so by definition the apprehension is reasonable.
QED.
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Disgraceful is all that can be said about this game!!!!
I think it is time a referral system should be implemented into rugby whereby a team can contest
a decision if they feel there was a infringement not picked up by the ref…
Like being able to contest a ruling of a forward pass .. by the way it was not forward and should
have been a try .. not to talk about the high tackles that was not penalized!!!
If a team referred this to the match ref eg like cricket and the decision is overturned then at least the game will be fair and give idiots like Bryce Lawrence less power , and if the decision after reviewing it is deemd to be correct let the oposing
team get the ball to put in to a scrum or a tap kick to keep it fair.
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@sika
Helloooo
Bryce lawrence is a new zealander and he freakin lives in australia talk bias
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“by the way it was not forward and should
have been a try.”.
Not likely Hennie, it looked 2′ to a yard forward and even worse for you, the neutral Kiwi commentators on the Channel 9 feed I watched in Australia, after first saying they weren’t sure called it obviously forward on the replays.
Sorry pal, not scoring a try when you had 74% of the territory and 55% of possession would have me ashamed too. Wouldn’t have happened to the Aussies, no matter who was reffing.
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Dude. Get off your soap box and onto the rugby field.
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The semi final refereeing decisions confuse my tiny brain. Why not have a NH ref the SH semi, and vice versa? Especially seeing as Allain Rolland has French roots. Not saying he’s biased but at least you’d remove all reasonable doubt by swapping refs with hemispheres. Anyone know the decision making on that one? Incidentally I think Joubert is among the best refs on the circuit.
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In the amateur days of rugby one would be able to see the funny side of the farcical
quarter final between the Boks and the Aussies,but this is supposed to be the professional era.
So how is it possible with so much at stake for professional players that an amateurish referee like
Bryce Lawrence was allowed to handle such an important match?
Let us look how the Aussies scored the only try of the match. No7 David Pocock enters the maul from the side,first offence,penalty kick, he proceeds to the back of the maul and finds
himself in an off side position, second offence,penalty kick.
Finding himself off side he kicks the ball,third offence -Penalty kick.The Aussies score!
Now convince me that a professional referee was unable to pick up any of these offences
and I will apologise.
How stupid does the IRB think we as spectators are? And how proud should the Aussies be?
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With regard to ‘apprehended bias’ it is obvious that Bryce has ulterior motives whenever officiating games involving SA and/or teams. This was the same ref that hard-heartedly penalised the Sharks in the game against the Crusaders. The cherry on top of the cake was when he penalised the Sharks for dangerous play at a scrum, whilst the two packs didn’t even engage let alone touch.
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@Rodschild
Yes, I remember that incident well. I had to leave the room or I would have broken the television.
The man has consistently shown bias against South African teams.
When the refs for the quarter-finals were announced I feared the worst and was proven right.
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I don’t think Lawrence was necessarily biased but he is completely incompetent. So many matches he has officiated have been decided by his inability – which is often matched by his penchant for making up for mistakes from the last game he reffed! For the IRB to appoint him was the most disgusting thing of all and they should be forced to apologise as it is them that brought the game to a farce. SARU should demand that apology and I’m glad to hear John Smit has finally spoken out – good words too! Lawrence is now officially off the list for further duty (apparently nothing to do with his performance) but the silence from IRB is deafening.
Did the IRB really think that a ref with the following recent history behind him was competent?
Sharks-Crusaders
Reds- Crusaders – absolutely absurd and on a par with Sunday.
Ireland- Australia – the mere fact that Aussies had whinged so much after (which by contrast was minor should have sent alarm bells.)
Finally I think he was the ref who called a penalty at a scrum – before the “Crouch” command – apparently a dangerous approach when froming their front row!! No contact – must have given a nasty glare!
Seriously the adminstrators responsible must be brought forward to at least explain their logic behind the appointment, as I do suggest it is imposssible to explain Lawrences attempt to officiate or was that deficate.
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All these posts make interesting reading. We rugby supporters are a passionate lot. At the end of the day, mark my words, the IRB [and Paddy O’Brien] will close ranks around Bryce Lawrence and defend him to the hilt because they just do not have balls. Unlike FIFA which smartly got rid of incompetent officials at the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Referees can hand out [yellow and] red cards, sometimes unfairly [and there’s a lot of inconsistency there!], resulting in hearings, the outcomes of which are blazoned in the press. Bannings and suspensions affect players’ contracts and incomes. Incompetent referees affect the careers and futures of players and coaches, yet they get away with little or no sanction! They are [supposedly] “professionals” who are paid to do a job, yet those incompetents are allowed to continue to sully a sport which we love. WHY?????
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Both FIFA and the IRB are corrupt hegemonies which are run by the representatives of the smaller associations within their membership. The choice of hosts for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups provided ample evidence of that.
As for disciplining referees, that is a little like bolting the door after the horse has gone. The damage done by an inept performance cannot be undone.
No action will be taken against Lawrence and he no doubt will be back for next years Super 15 so we can look forward to some more strange decisions.
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SA will come out proudly next time. Hopefully we have seen the end of BL. I cant get my self to saying his name it upsets me. I hope that the OR Tambo announces his arrival and gate number when he comes over…That to me will be worth the wait…Even if its four years from now…
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Oh well, I think we’ve done this one to death. Just to give all you Saffers something to get your teeth into (well at least until BL reaches ORT the next time), keep reciting “DERE MLAEN CYMRU”. It means “Come on Wales” in Welsh (according to Google). Alternatively, if you want to hedge your bets, how about “ALLEZ LES BLEUES” which is the same for the Frogs.
For our one-eyed All Black correspondents the following in Afrikaans should be sufficient: “Bryce Lawrence is ‘n regte doos” or alternatively “My ma se bleddy moer” which probably needs no translation……..
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And, to Trubok, thank you – South Africa always comes out proudly. It’s what we do, as a nation. Gotta love us.
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Uit die blou van onse hemel, Uit die diepte van ons see, Oor ons ewige gebergtes Waar die kranse antwoord gee. Deur ons vêr verlate vlaktes Met die kreun van ossewa. Ruis die stem van ons geliefde, Van ons land Suid-Afrika. Ons sal antwoord op jou roepstem, Ons sal offer wat jy vra: Ons sal lewe, ons sal sterwe, Ons vir jou, Suid-Afrika.
In die murg van ons gebeente, in ons hart en siel en gees, In ons roem op ons verlede, In ons hoop op wat sal wees. In ons wil en werk en wandel, Van ons wieg tot aan ons graf. Deel geen ander land ons liefde, Trek geen ander trou ons af. Vaderland, ons sal die adel, Van jou naam met ere dra: Waar en trou as Afrikaners, Kinders van Suid-Afrika.
In die songloed van ons somer, in ons winternag se kou, In die lente van ons liefde, in die lanfer van ons rou. By die klink van huw’liksklokkies, by die kluit-klap op die kis. Streel jou stem ons nooit verniet nie, Weet jy waar jou kinders is. Op jou roep sê ons nooit née nie, Sê ons altyd, altyd ja: Om te lewe, om te sterwe – Ja, ons kom, Suid-Afrika.
Op U Almag vas vertrouend het ons vadere gebou: Skenk ook ons die krag, Om te handhaaf en te hou. Dat die erwe van ons vadere Vir ons kinders erwe bly: Knegte van die Allerhoogste, Teen die hele wêreld vry. Soos ons vadere vertrou het, Leer ook ons vertrou, o Heer: Met ons land en met ons nasie Sal dit wel wees, God regeer.
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Slegs Suid Afrikaners!!!
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Excellent comment in the worst, biased & unethical ref!
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All I can say about Bryce Lawrence is that he has always been biased when it comes to SA…against us!! When my husband saw who was reffing the game he just said “SA has lost the game”. @Sika…your remarks make me think that either you are an ex SA or someone who dislikes this country intently.
I love the Boks, think they were dignified at the end; and no, we did not loose, Bryce Lawrence won!!!
Springboks and Green blooded forever.
Now go WALES!!!
Nuff said…..been interesting reading!!
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The IRB has decided no steps will be taken against Bryce Lawrence.
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Long live the BOKKE of 2011!!!
The article below appeared in ‘The Australian’ on the Monday. Interesting.
LIMITING THE POWER OF THE WHISTLE
There is no doubt a lot of Australian rugby supporters are 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 and expensive piece of equipment that surely should be used in such situations.
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 has 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
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We as South Africans need to realise that the Springbok team of 2011 is probably the best springbok side we would ever see in our lifetimes. Pity the game is not the only thing that we have lost.
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Maybe he’s not inept – Could it be something else?
Has anybody looked at his bank account?
Or perhaps his bank account for the next few years?
Nothing would surprise me!
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http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/home/news/newsid=2057556.html
Thursday 6 October 2011
Paddy O’Brien is also happy with the performance of his referees and, asked what mark out of 10 he would give to the officials, he replied: “I would give them seven-and-a-half to eight with an arrow going upwards.
“We are never going to reach 10 because the nature of the game doesn’t allow us to but I want to see us get to at least nine come quarter-finals onwards.”
I would love to hear O’Brien’s view on Bryce Lawrence’s handling of the quarter-final. Especially how close to 9/10 he came.
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Well, well well. The “thlot pickens”, it seems. Of course the IRB [the “bunch of old farts” they were once dubbed by Egland captain Will Carling] will NOT sanction Bryce Lawrence — I predicted that earlier — we are merely not going to be seeing him again at THIS world cup. Small consolation. What is alarming and screams NEPOTISM is the fact that daddy Keith Lawrence who was previously boss of referees in New Zealand is now …. wait for it …. HEAD of refereeing DEVELOPMENT [????] at the IRB. What development has there been in Bryce’s refereeing? He has steadily gotten worse over the past few years, completely out of his depth in even super rugby fixtures. The two should both resign as they have blotted a wonderful world cup; brought shame to a wonderful country with lovely people, a country with the best rugby team year after year, and a country that produces such awesome coaches.
If Bryce Lawrence is New Zealand’s top referee, their cupboard is very bare indeed! The mind boggles,
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@ Sika
Go find a sheep, take your medication and go to bed.
The records of this match will always reflect a win for the Aussies, but as Chris Davis said in the Australian, ‘ the shame of it is that it was a hollow victory because it was like fighting a man with one arm tied behind his back’.
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Also the heading of this forum should read: Bryce Lawrence The Worst Referee in Rugby History..
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I think that what’s needed here is some punishment that fits the crime. Since Lawrence has evidently decided that spear tackles and high tackles are safe, he should be punished for his ref’ing (lack of) performance by being subject to some of these obviously safe tackles.
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I may not be much of a prophet, but I think as I sit here reading all what was said on this discussion forum, it came to me that this incident may be the beginning of the end for the IRB as we see it today – just as it happened with the Cricket one decade ago! These “untouchable” officials of the IRB with their “untouchable” and partly “corrupt” referees will be unmasked in due time. This will not heal the wounds of 2011 quarter finals for South African Rugby lovers, but it will rock the world of Rugby right into its roots. As the old man told his wife: Mark my words!
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Forget Lawrence, the Japies were just stupid. That was pure and simple good old style match-fixing – happens in every sport. They should’ve known the Aussies would get to him before the game – that’s the Aussie way, that’s who they are. The Boks didn’t need him to blow the game for them, the Japies could’ve saved the day by simply upping the price NOT to throw the game for the Aussies. If only Hansie had been the coach.
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Player…
Now try and deal with reality…
– yep, the ref was terrible
– that cut both ways
And the truth that the Sth Efricens refuse to recognise, from my previous post:
“Give Australia 74% of the territory and 55% of possession and they’ll put 5 tries on the Boks even if Peter de Villiers was the referee.”
Stay in denial for the next 4 years, please.
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To reply to such as Sika (Meaning in Afrikaans a very sick person!) is like replying to Bryce Lawrence himself! If the Ausies got 77% of the possession on a platter they wouldn’t recognize it you sick punk! They played a decent kind of game during the Super Rugby competition and I thought they deserved to win us then.
However the mere fact that you come on this forum ‘slurring” our team’s ability to “counter” a shameless deed of dishonesty and at the same time aiding and abetting whoever was responsible, shows me your level of integrity (or the total absence of it!).
The problem in life today is that there are too many of your kind who do not mind to support dishonesty as long as it furthers their own unholy goals in life.
I know what to expect as an answer to my post, so please prove me right about your total absence of integrity! It would confirm what most of us still in SA think about the moral fibre of your kind.
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http://www.rugby-talk.com/?p=36720
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Sika states:“Give Australia 74% of the territory and 55% of possession and they’ll put 5 tries on the Boks even if Peter de Villiers was the referee.”Agreed but not with Bryce Lawrence on the Boks side, and that is the long and the short of the story.
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Rubbish Brentie……with those stats the Boks get done like dinners by Australia with any ref on the planet.
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OMG Sika! You’re such a doos! You must be the only Ostraaaaleen on the planet who thinks you deserved that win.
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Latest post-
Bryce Lawrence- Is The Mystery Explained?
Perhaps provides the answer for why Lawrence has kept his job for so long.
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This article shows that bias against South African rugby is a Lawrence family tradition:-
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=4302
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so seriously Redbaiter … i’m still confused .. mystery still not cleared … who’s the guy with the glasses … I recognize the “dog” !!!
Bryce lawrence you dog !!!
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Sika says:”Rubbish Brentie……with those stats the Boks get done like dinners by Australia with any ref on the planet.” which of course goes a long way to explain your delusional thinking.
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Brentie…..I’m confused, what’s “deserved” got to do with it?
I say again, let’s see if it’ll sink in…..
If the Aussies had the territory (76%) and possession (56%) that the non try scoring Boks had in this match they would have put the Boks away by 5 tries regardless of who was reffing and how the ref performed.
You weren’t up to it.
Sorry Irate, expat Kiwi.
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http://www.theroar.com.au/2011/10/12/inconsistent-refereeing-a-blight-on-modern-rugby/
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Sika
‘If’ you say- sorry but thousands of others and I don’t believe in ‘if’ anymore, because ‘if ‘is for children and delusional thinkers like yourself.Please confine yourself to reality and see Bryce
Lawrence as the incompetent referee that he was and you’ll go a long way in making friends.
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You’re gone Brentie…..
Don’t let the door hit your arse on the way out.
Bryce’s general incompetence would have been and was overcome by a decent team….ie. Aussies, ABs.
So here’s a question….how much territory and possession would have been needed by the Boks in this game to win?….we’ve established the Aussies would have creamed you at 78% T, 56% P.
You must have delusions of adequacy at 90% territory and 70% possession…..errrr…..surely?
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Sika -Sarcasm is the first sign delusion- wake up from your dreams and forget ‘if ‘,’ if ‘is an illusion.
The subject is ‘Bryce Lawrence- Worst Referee In The RWC’ .Just for you and only you,
sing out loud and thereafter hold your piece for evermore.Lyrics to I Don’t Believe In If Anymore:
Now if you load your rifle right
And if you fix your bayonet so
And if you kill that man, my friend,
The one we call the foe,
And if you do it often, lad,
And if you do it right
You’ll be a hero overnight
You’ll save your country from her plight
Remember God is always right
If you survive to see the sight
A friend now greeting foe…
No you won’t believe in If anymore
If’s an illusion
If’s an illusion
No you won’t believe in If anymore
If is for children
If is for children
Building daydreams
Lyrics http://www.allthelyrics.com/lyrics/roger_whittaker/
If I knew then what I know now
(I thought I did you know somehow)
If I could have the time again
I’d take the sunshine leave the rain
If only time would trickle slow
Like rain that melts the fallen snow
If only Lord if only
If only Lord if only
Oh I don’t believe in If anymore
If’s an illusion
If’s an illusion
No I don’t believe in If anymore
If is for children
If is for children
Building daydreams
No I don’t believe in If anymore
If’s an illusion
If’s an illusion
No I don’t believe in If anymore
If is for children
If is for children
Building daydreams
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Try again fellas…..
You aren’t going to like a few more facts, it gets worse for the Boks.
Not only do they apparently need more than 76% T and 56% P to score a try….and in case you think Bryce “let” the Aussies scavenge the Boks ball at every breakdown…..
The Boks had 15 phase ball on 5 occasions…..and they STILL couldn’t score a try.
Bwaaaaa.
Suck it up fellas, you weren’t good enough, marginal ref or not.
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At least not all Aussies indulge themselves in ‘if’ scenarios,like dear Sika, as the following
extract taken from the Daily Roar testifies to.:
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.”
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@Sika…be prepared to welcome your boys back Sunday night as we know its not a long trip back home. So please “IF” you can, be at the airport and show all your support!!!
And oh yes BL stays in Australia so you might want to thank him for helping you guys face the Kiwi’s.
PS don’t get your hopes up mate!
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Google speaks afrikaans :-
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=04d29efdd0&view=att&th=132f82d907c3132e&attid=0.1&disp=emb&zw
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If I ever was thinking that there are cooking deals in rugby, Bryce Lawrence confirmed it now. I wonder how much he had been paid to get South Africa out of the game. How will he be able to sleep in peace with his dishonesty and bad blind mistakes. Bryce Lawrence, just remember, what goes around, comes around.
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For time immemorial Australia’s win will be seen as a gift from a cheating bastard. There were no winners on the field that day. Revolting to think that Lawrence robbed the Springboks of a victory and he robbed the Aussies the pleasure of the win.
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whats wrong with bryce lawrence? yu fuckin south africans are jus sore losers 😡
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@Stephen
I am not South African and I, and lots of other non South Africans, and even some Australians, thought that Bryce Lawrence’s refereeing was abysmal.
If you think otherwise then you are either blind or retarded.
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Trubok, cherub, …sorry to disappoint, expat kiwi am I.
The ABs should win by 15 points + vs Aust on form.
Then a training run to warm down vs Wales.
Where you can still get the ABs at $1.60 if you bet before the Aust game.
Money for old rope.
Look and weep.
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Look I thought Lawrence was hopeless, occasion to big for him but he made poor decisions against both sides. Just before calling back the Boks try he pulled up an Australian attack that had a deliberate knock down by an offside Bok back for a forward pass that had both sides puzzled, Boks had dropped back expecting a penalty and Wallabies looking for a kick at goal.
To the guy here complaining about the winning penalty the touchie awarded that (and rightfully so) just called Lawrence over and told him to award it.
Lawrence admitted making numerous errors in Wallabies Ireland game that made no sense and obviously he was scared of blowing his whistle in this game and that led to plodding rugby.
Referees and rule makers are killing this game, look at Scotland only having to commit one player to breakdowns and how difficult it makes an opposition to advance the ball. I don’t blame Scotland I blame the rule makers. My pet hate is blowing up a scrum that goes down with he ball at the #8’s feet tell the halfback to clear the ball and move on and hopefully gets backs running against backs without forwards clogging it up.
Where has the excitement gone ?
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@stephen
I’m afraid you are way off the mark mate. I too am a Kiwi, and a former referee with over 20 years experience before I hung up my boots. In my humble opinion, Bryce Lawrence is without doubt the absolute WORST referee we have produced in decades, and I can only assume his rise to infamy has been on the back of his pal Paddy O’Brien and his father Keith Lawrence, and has nothing to do with his actual ability. My eternal shame is to admit that (a) he is a fellow kiwi and (b) his hopeless performance certainly made that SA vs Australia quarterfinal one of the worst games of rugby I have ever had to endure watching. I am only surprised that the South Africans and Australians didn’t start knocking two kinds of hell out of each other during the game, as NEITHER side was getting any protection from Lawrence at the breakdowns. In fact, Pocock could have been sent off for repeated infringements, so often was he hanging on to the ball after the ruck had formed and never letting the tackled player play the ball, whilst many of the South African forwards were just flopping or diving into rucks willy nilly, without being penalised either.
Lawrence’s display was a disgrace, there is no other word to describe it, and he should never be allowed to referee at international level again.
Peter
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@sika ex-pat? No wonder! Your football sucks mate!
@stephen(fuckhead) – JOU MASE POES! I dont have the time to teach you manners. so fuck you just go put another shrimp on the barbie and oh keep an eye out you wouldnt want a dingo to eat your baby…lol
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A rare ray of sunshine. Aussie with brains.Read the following.Ivan Nel said | October 11th 2011 @ 11:39pm (3 days ago) | Report comment
This appeared in THE AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER this morning!!
From a Ausie supporter
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
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Bryce Lawrence has reffed a few games with bizarre decisions. I cannot believe that someone can rise that high in the world of referring and get it so wrong. I believe that he should be investigated for match fixing. Yes I do believe that he is on the take. One cannot be that incompetent at that level.
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We can help Bryce Lawrence —–> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtPrVYAAERE
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Oh dear God it gets worse – there must be a contagious virus among the RWC refs. Just watched Alain Rolland make probably the worst ever (and I’m not exaggerating – both Francois Pienaar and Lawrence Dallaglio agree on ITV) decision in a World Cup semifinal by sending Sam Warburton off for an offence that – at worst – needed a yellow card. Totally and utterly ruined the game, but then with a French ancestry (he even speaks French to the Froggies on field) maybe another poor choice by Paddy O’Brien? Or maybe another brilliant choice if you want the ABs to finally win another World Cup after 24 years? I’m not into conspiracy theories but this one could be a lulu. Please please please Craig Joubert make sure the Wallabies win tomorrow. Mind you having said that, maybe its an AUSTRALIAN Machiavellian plot to stuff up New Zealand? This is getting very confusing but one thing I do know, this RWC is going to put lots and lots of people off rugby so shame on the lot of them. And lets face it on the strength of today’s and last week’s games the two biggest threats to either the ABs or the Wannabees have been removed. Make’s you think doesn’t it. Its a complete disgrace whatever the story.
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I fully agree and this once again underlines the statement made in the Australian ‘The Roar”
“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.”
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My new free theory is that B.iased L.awless was simply very sympathetic to NZ rugby proven call to boycott 2015 due to the lack of finance from sponsorship deals . That and his love of a simple ,effortless route for his AB’s to get to the final was his way of ensuring maximum returns for their(NZ) efforts at hosting some of these farces.You the rugby followers will always be left wondering if the health of the game is in safe hands with refereeing results like this .The only way to know is if the ref is rated by his peers in a transparent way and a scored on a scale of 1 to 10 by the three on the side of the field is issued to the public at half and end time that way at least you can be guaranteed of some improvement .
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He is an embarrassment to NZ and to everyone involved in rugby!!!
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It just happened again!!!!!!!!!! Two of the best teams in the tournament are now out due to un-acceptable reffing. Get your house in order IRB. Whovever is finally crowned World Champion may as well hide the trophy in the back of the cabinet, because it is worth nothing. What a joke!
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IRB defends red carding of Wales captain…
DUNCAN JOHNSTONE SEEING RED: Wales captain Sam Warburton receives a straight red card from referee Alain Rolland. Irish referee Alain Roland was operating to the letter of the law with his controversial ……
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The entire IRB should be sacked! They are a joke! As for Bryce Lawrence, he is an embarressment! Never mind rewriting ref exams, RESIGN!!!!! It takes a South African ref to show the world and the IRB how its done! Well done, Craig Joubert! Referring the match fairly, correctly and HONESTLY!!!! U have done us proud and made the NZ – Aus game so enjoyable to watch! Unfortunately, due to cheats (The entire Australian team) being allowed to play and get away with their disgusting performance in the SA – Aus match (and all matches that they played), it was a most unejoyable and frustrating game to watch! Sis!!!
Well done to the Kiwis! Played with honour!
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Jammer Odette maar jy’s verkeerd. The Aussies just played to that disgusting and useless Bryce Lawrence and did it very well. Dare we forget, BL is a Kiwi albeit apparently living in Oz (probably best for him now as I think the Kiwis might hate him even more than they do Quade Cooper ‘the traitor’) and so is Paddy O’Brien the chief of refs (or whatever stupid title they’ve given him) who organised that this incompetent – who shouldn’t apparently even have been reffing a game where the winners could come up against his home country – was allowed to ref the Boks. That he also organised for Rolland – someone with French heritage – to ref the Wales game is as ridiculous.
Frankly the New Zealanders have done themselves absolutely no favours with this debacle and I for one will not be watching the game next week (unless the Frogs pull a surprise and then I might be able to join in later) along with many others. It screams ‘Fix’ just to get these useless bliksems a World Cup after 24 years that they still don’t deserve. And for a few other crimes against humanity, I would like to name the following:
1. Their anthem. Talk about trying to hide your colonial past by tacking on the words in Maori at the start! And then having some warbling bird crucifying it – what was wrong with the excellent choir they had in the earlier rounds? At least Nkosi Sikelele is African and uses four properly official languages!
2. The Haka. I’m getting thoroughly sick and tired of this piece of ‘history’ that should be condemned to precisely that in this age of professionalism. Especially as they keep adding bits to it. What a load of tosh.
3. The idiot that keeps running that bugle tape every time someone scores. Its got beyond a joke.
4. And the same idiot(?) that keeps playing ‘Hey Baby’ and other ancient songs every five minutes. This is the 21st Century for a start, and why do we need songs anyway?!
They used to say to people coming into Jan Smuts back in the bad old days to ‘put your watches back 50 years’ – well frankly I think we could say the same about the sheep-shaggers too.
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Bryce Lawrence, you are NOT WELCOME in South Africa ever!
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And just to add insult to injury I see Warburton has been banned for 3 games by the IRB. What a joke.
And in case anyone’s still interested I picked up the following lead from a blog on the BBC’s website that shows O’Brien’s letter from 2009 talking about dangerous tackles:
Click to access IRB_Memorandum_re_Dangerous_Tackles.pdf
According to this Warburton’s tackle would fall under the third bullet and he should have – at the very most – have got a yellow. So how the idiots at the IRB can ignore that and give him a 3-match suspension just about sums up how they’ve tried to fix this tournament.
I for one am going to boycott the final next week and have also told ITV in the UK so maybe they can speak to their sponsors and advertisers that may very well be losing lots of money through other like-minded people doing the same?
In fact, lets start a campaign: BOYCOTT THE RWC FINAL AS ITS A FARCE!!!
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I can’t help but notice the deafening silence from Sika … do you think that perhaps he/she/sheep is a little embarrassed by Australia’s poor showing? It might lead to thoughts which go along the lines of “well, maybe they didn’t deserve to be in the semi final” … hmmmm?
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Is this a joke or really Bryce Lawrence trying to get sympathy from us South Africans? We are a rainbow nation that can stick together when it really matters and at the moment you must rather stay away from our beautiful country. I am not going to watch the final as its clear that this whole bad act was to ensure the All Blacks won the cup. So have the cup but you still have to face your sins one day. They have to bring in a new rule stating that when the ref is the bad ass, the game must be replay with a competent ref. You are now the most popular and hated person at this stage in the world.
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Viva La France!
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Hi people, I had to respond to some of the criticks regarding the game I was refering between the Aussies an the Boks. Please don’t be so cruel to me – I did tried my utterley best and think I was good in most of the game – maybe not at the rucks but that’s live – you can not win all! To all my Ausie fans thanks for your ongoing support. With support like this I hope that I may be appointed as the referee for the 1/4 final between yourself and Wales. I am not affraid to visit South Africa again and hope bokfans will support me when refereeing in your country again. Please stop swearing at me and may the best team win world cup 2011
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Brice Lawrence says that he hopes the best team wins the WRC, what a joke as it is him that took the best team out of the running. Sport Betting is one of the biggest industries in Australia, I think it is time the IRB start probing into the posibility of match fixing as I belive it is not a matter of was he paid to make AUS win, but rather how much he was paid.
Brice Lawrence is a total incompitent ars*^%$ and not worthy of his status as a IRB ref, surely the IRB must have some way of stopping blatant cheating like we saw, how about playing the match over.
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@sika – Thank GOD! You know why!!!
@bryce lawrence – If this is truly you… All is forgiven just tell us when you come down….
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@sika – Thank GOD! You know why!!!
@bryce lawrence – If this is truly you… All is forgiven just tell us when you come down….
Guess who is reffing the final Craig Joubert a South African, once again showing the world how its done!!!
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At least we still have a South African in the final! Someone up there is trying to make a point!
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The point is Australia will eat dust this Friday. And praying, New Zealand does too!
The time has come for Bryce Lawrence to reap what he has sowed.
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@TRUBOK
Don’t judge all of NZ based on Bryce Lawrence, his father, and Paddy O’Brien.
I am an ex-pat Scot who moved to NZ in 2007 after 26 years in RSA and I can assure you the people here are just like the folks in South Africa.
I doubt that anybody in NZ is in any way proud of those three guys. They have brought shame to the country.
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All of which goes a long way towards explaining why I love Scottish people so much I married one.
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Sorry Hairyscot but I have absolutely no sympathy for what you said. When I see a New Zealand newspaper or TV criticising Lawrence and his big mate Paddy O’Brien then I’ll believe it.
And further, I read the following on News24 just now (they were talking about the choice of Craig Joubert for the final but still having Rolland as a touch judge):
“But the spotlight was very much on Alain Rolland after the Irishman, the 2007 World Cup final referee, sent off Wales captain Sam Warburton for a dangerous ‘tip tackle’ during France’s 9-8 win in Saturday’s first semi-final – a decision IRB referees’ chief Paddy O’Brien later insisted was “absolutely correct in law””
That last statement by O’Brien is disgraceful when read in conjunction with his own letter that I gave the link to earlier. When will one of your media acknowledge he’s a cheating idiot???
No, the New Zealanders will reap what they have sown and I have lost any sympathy I might have had for them. This whole thing has been a fix to get them to actually win the RWC for the first time in 24 years and I for one will be out shopping on Sunday morning while the game is on here in the UK unless I hear that the Frogs are miraculously having their one good game per RWC.
Now that would be poetic justice almost on a level with having Wayne Barnes – who has risen meteorically in my estimation over the last couple of weeks – reffing the game.
The whole thing stinks to high heaven and has stained the game of rugby. Jerre Jesus these people are at about the same level as FIFA and THAT’S saying something!!
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@hairyscot – dont get me wrong i have nothing against New Zealanders, I love the rugby coming out of NZ, although if the only way that the NZ public will know that this is a farce is if NZ lose, then I am all for it. And obviously we will see the fingers pointing then.
But as a TRUE BOK, may that the best team win.
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Hey all you guys supporting that the Wallabies were better than South Africa. Watch the match again and see how South Africa played the rules in the first half and then had to play foul to just get back in the game. The ref closed down the South African attack by allowing the AUSIES to slow down play and steal balls ILLEGALLY. 2 High tackles where missed right in front of the ref. South Africa really were better, not that the Ausies side is bad, but they didn’t come to win that match. Their backline was a mess and they cheated in front of the REF. BUT YOU CANNOT WIN A MATCH WHERE YOU PLAY AGAINST 16 MEN AND ONE WHO HAS A WHISTLE. I am supporting France all the way and I Really feel sorry for the South Africans losing where they should have won… It’s really a disgrace to rugby. Bryce Lawrence is a disgrace to rugby.
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C’mon. Get over it. How much whining has there been on this thread about the All Black’s mysterious ‘case of the crookies’/food poisoning? Or iffy calls vs France a while back?
Today- the men in black are good enough to beat any team AND ref, when previous goes they were not.
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Thanks to your useless referee and his useless boss (also a New Zealander) we’ll never know will we. And as has been said before, what went on before with a possible forward pass (and delicate stomachs unable to eat African food?!) pales into total insignificance to what has unfolded over the last two weeks. Thanks to Lawrence and O’Brien you lot have lost any of the sympathy you might have had for being a bunch of chokers. Much worse, I believe you haven’t done the cause of Rugby Union any favours with the general public who will look at this tatty World Cup and won’t want any more to do with the game. While I will be boycotting the game out of sheer disgust, I truly hope the Froggies pull themselves together and nail your arses to the wall. I just pray that if that does happen, Craig Joubert doesn’t give you any cause to continue whinging for another 24 years.
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Thx TrueBlueNZ.com for calling BL (jeez I just realised BL can be glad his surname is not J) for what he is.
I like the sites quote as well:
“During times of deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act” by George Orwell
I find it so apt for the state Rugby is in. Come on all ye whingers – let’s whinge the WC away!
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If Bryce Lawrence were not involved in this tournament, Aus would have beaten Ireland… and there would have been a final involving two Tri Nations teams… All Blacks or Boks Vs Aus!!.
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Mamparra – you cry like you “when you” were a winner all was OK – when you lose it is everyone elses’ fault- if you are unable to recognise your shortcomings you cant improve- as a Wallaby supporter I am prepared to help you and give you some pointers
(a) when you get penalties at the sharp end of a tournament use them – take your chances when you get them (that is what a decent captain would do – Smit did not !!!)
(b) Bismarck is a far superior to Smit – he should have started and he made a huge impact when on the field
(c) Habana – he thinks he can run through players – he has either become slow or thinks he is a prop – or thinks brute force is better than cunning – Aplon would have done a better job
(d) Fourie – when you have majority ball and your backline can’t move look at your half backs – his pass is slow – he winds it like a swiss time piece. He has a lack of a sense of urgency and is too relaxed – he carries the ball like a ‘girl’ hence losing the ball on the tryline – again I say take your chances when you get them – Hougaard would have been a better choice.
(e) If you take injured players into a game of such high intensity (Brussow) expect them to leave the field.
Please feel free to pass these ideas onto your new coaching staff – or you can continue blaming the referee.
PS 2011 – RSA 0 – AUS 3
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Trust an Aussie to miss my point entirely, but then I suppose its to be expected. As I said to Odette four days ago: “The Aussies just played to that disgusting and useless Bryce Lawrence and did it very well”. I have no truck with your team at all and I agree – to an extent – that the Boks should have won the game even with an idiot like Lawrence reffing.
Your guys played to the ref, ours didn’t. But I’m afraid that if you have to win a game in this way then it bodes very ill for the game of rugby and I hope that note has been taken in the IRB although I doubt it.
I would give some ratings on your team as you did on mine but as they hardly did anything but tackle and grovel around in the mud messing up Bok ball under the caring gaze of said Bryce Lawrence its very difficult.
And if you want statistics, try this: Since 1992 when the Boks were allowed back into world rugby the score in World Cups is 2-1 to us. If you think this year’s Tri Nations was anything more than a farce (that should be cancelled in World Cup years) then you really do need to do a stretch in the Happy Farm. I would say ‘Prison’ but that would be like shooting fish in a barrel…………
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bryce lawrence is a poes
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☑ Saddam Hussein
☑ Osama Bin Laden
☑ Moamar Gaddafi
☐ Bryce Lawrence
☐ Bob Mugabe
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So the ABs managed to do it. I would have hoped with all the help they’ve received from their Chef de Referees, Paddy O’Brien, they could at least have won convincingly. But by one point just shows why they were so shit scared of the Boks and the Welsh. Oh well now at least we can look forward to another 24 years when they can’t do it (depending I suppose if O’Brien remains in his place or they kick him out for blatant favouritism towards his own country) unless maybe it goes back to NZ again. But then I have a suspicion the RWC will die a death as noone will want to watch the crap that has been dished up in the name of good reffing.
In an earlier posting I prayed that Craig Joubert wouldn’t make any mistakes to allow an AB whinge for the next 24 years. Little did I think that he’d – and Lawrence Dallaglio made special mention of it on the ITV broadcast – let at least three if not four head high tackles by the ABs to go unpunished. I wonder what O’Brien’s take on that is???? I presume that Joubert was also worried about his reffing future international games under the rule of O’B as he was tremendously disappointing today.
And in case anyone’s worried, I weakened and started watching the game at half time when I saw the Frogs were only five points behind. And frankly, if the ABs had been faced with either the Boks or the Welsh they could easily have won it.
What a farce.
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Obviously in that last post I meant that the Boks or Welsh could easily have won it.
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Shame also on Craig Joubert for being so blatantly pro-All Black. He should not have been allowed to referee for the AB’s in both the semi’s and the finals. In the match between the Aussies and the AB’s he gave many dubious penalties to the AB’s. He ignored off-side play by McCaw and 50-50 decisions always went the way of the All Blacks.
In the final, when the French kicked an up-and-under, 3 AB players, often McCaw himself, would obstruct the charging French players. Not seen by the ref!
Regarding the Lawrence fiasco, one OSN commentator remarked during half-time that Lawrence was refereeing with a yellow jersey in the SA-Aussie game.
To recap, SA should have beaten the Aussies, Wales should have beaten the French (both bad refereeing) and Joubert was blatantly pro-All Blacks, so the Aussies and France had no chance.
What a piece of justice that the AB’s could not kick at post in the final.
Winning by one point with a referee in the bag is a hollow victory indeed, bearing in mind that the 2 other strong contenders, Wales and SA, fell victim to IRB incompetence.
Chris Davis, my dad would have said: “You can’t buy class!”
Your honest remarks about the SA-Aussie game is refreshing and classy!
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@Mamaparra, Sarel Snyman
I think you are letting your anti-AB sentiments sway your judgement.
I guess we all see, or interpret what we see, in a way that suits our point of view.
Joubert had a good game, as he did in the semi-final and in neither the game was there any evidence of his favouring either side.
All of which is of course in marked contrast to the behaviour of the subject of this particular discussion, the incompetent Bryce Lawrence, and the bias against RSA shown by him, his father, and Paddy O’Brien.
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Another post coming up soon calling for the sacking of the IRB managment.
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after the grand final…..Joubert petrified of penalising the ABs. At least 3 penalties not given to the French. Result…. ABs loose. How much longer do we have to put up with refs determining outcomes?
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Sorry hairyscot but I wasn’t anti-All Black until this farce of a World Cup occurred. Granted I am heartily sick of the Haka as I don’t feel it has a place in ‘professional’ rugby and should be canned. I think I and a lot of people have even had sympathy with the ABs choking so often when they obviously have been a better team than most (although I can’t imagine the Wallabies with a tenth of the player resources that New Zealand have making the same stuff ups tournament after tournament). I’m sure we all have also had sympathy for the earthquake etc etc. However, what most of the rest of the world don’t have any more is sympathy for the way this tournament has apparently been manipulated by one of their own, namely Paddy O’Brien. Whether it was on orders from on high in NZ or just his own bias I don’t know but what I do know is that even a good referee like Joubert apparently deliberately ignored DANGEROUS head high tackles that happened right in front of him and without any comment by O’Brien (who was not backward in coming forward on the Warburton debacle). While I do concede that it might just have been rank stupidity (I mean this is New Zealand we’re talking about) I’m afraid It still stinks to high heaven and nothing will convince me or the rest of the world differently.
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Mamparra,
Earlier in this thread I commented on the fact that the NZ media was strangely reticent on the Bryce Lawrence story, and I have raised that point in comments on the NZ Herald’s site.
But so far no bites.
I agree that the draw was obviously fixed in an attempt to ensure an Australia / New Zealand final, assuming that the ABs took out the ‘Boks in the semis, but Ireland put the mockers on that one.
The draw was unkind to Scotland since their group was the only one to contain three counties which were very close in the rankings. In the other groups it was clear which two would qualify.
Australia’s group was obviously set up for Oz to qualify on top, the only question being whether Ireland or Italy would be second.
The scheduling also favoured the top four. All of whom had longer breaks between pool games than the like of Scotland and some of the other “lower tier” nations.
I think that the fix was in long before the refs became involved.
There needs to be a clean up at the IRB and the first move should be to remove Bryce Lawrence, his father Keith, and Paddy O’Brien.
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Hairyscot, I really don’t have any problem with the seeding type of approach and I do sympathise with the lower-seeded teams who had a double whammy in regards to timetabling. The latter should perhaps be revisited for future World Cups.
However, I think you’ll realise why I say I totally agree with you about getting rid of the trio of arseholes that in my humble(?) view have ruined the 2011 RWC for many of us. Unfortunately – unlike FIFA who seem to have been finally brought kicking and screaming to a realisation of how corrupt they are – I can’t see much happening in that regard. Lets hope the 2015 RWC in England has a bit more apparent fairness in it so we don’t have these same arguments next time.
On that note, I wish everyone on this thread a fond farewell and thanks for a good discussion!!
And up yours Paddy O’Brien.
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[…] https://truebluenz.com/2011/10/08/bryce-lawrence-worst-referee-in-the-rwc/ […]
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@mamparra and hairyscott… Thanks for a good read.
This was a world cup for the history books.
Until the next time!!!
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[…] thought for a moment we would get screwed as we normally do (cue Bryce Lawrence / Alan Donald run-out / Stephen Larkam drop goal etc) but the intro from the choreographer was […]
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