Mailbox: Mr. Dickinson and angry Bok fans

Tuesday 08th July 2008

A rip-roaring opening match of the Tri-Nations has had plenty of tongues wagging! Stuart Dickinson rarely escapes controversy when he officiates, and it appears that new Bok coach Peter de Villiers is going to have to work a little harder to win over the sceptics back home.

Here are your calls on the weekend's action!

It was good to see that Dickinson 'admitted his mistake' but where was the touch judge? They don't appear to make any contribution to the game and it's frightening to think that some of them might one day become referees.

John Bell, Portugal

There is no question that were poor decisions and refereeing on Saturday but then there always are - after all to err is human and it is arguable that it is generally a swings and roundabouts thing. The upsetting thing in this instance though is the cynical cold-blooded nature of two incidents in particular.

The first involves the Smit incident - I refer though to the statements made by Stuart Dickenson subsequent to watching the replays when he admits that it was a yellow card offence but says that neither he or the assistant ref saw the incident clearly. For anyone who cares or who is interested there are copies of the replays on Youtube which clearly show Stuart immediately in front of and facing the incident with no-one in between. Now it is possible that he had his eyes shut, but that is not consistent with the fact that he took a step back to avoid Smit landing on him and his head turning down to follow the movement of Smit through the air. It is difficult in the heat of the moment and indeed it is difficult to admit your mistakes afterwards but to have the audacity to say that he had watched the replay and say he didn't see it, and to go on to say that he believes one should own up to one's mistakes, hence admitting getting the offside call wrong for the disallowed try is sheer cynicism at its worst - this man should never be allowed to ref another rugby match ever again - not even a school game.

The second was the call of Habana carrying the ball back over the line leading to a 5m scrum to the ABs. This decision was made by a highly-paid, supposedly competent person and yet the first and most obvious thing that can clearly be seen was that Habana's knee was in touch before he got near the ball. Now it is debatable from the footage that was shown (there may be more that we were not shown) whether the ball was in front or behind the line when he caught it but who cares where it was? It becomes irrelevant the instant you understand that Habana was in goal when he touched it! This decision was not made in the heat of the moment. It should have been a 22 drop out.

Moving forward, the record books will show a victory for the ABs and that will never change - Pakistan got a change in their result the other day so perhaps there is hope, but in the meantime please someone who has the sphere of influence do something to prevent more of the same!

Dave Smith

Brad Thorn's one week suspension is a joke! Had he been a Springbok and thrown a punch, and sidelined the opposing captain (by dumping John Smit), the whole world would have condemned him! Stuart Dickinson has proven his partiality time and again. He is biased against South Africa and his hatred oft clouds his vision. This attitude is both unprofessional and unacceptable.

Trevor Nicholas, Cape Town

All gripes justified. We need Northern hemisphere refs for the Tri-Nations. There is clearly a prejudice towards the Springboks and has been for the last 10 years.

Anonymous, Australia (surely an ex-pat! - Ed.)

Typically, no one praises the All Blacks for their decisive win over South Africa, and the excuses start up from World Cup holders South Africa. The ABs didn't win the match, but South Africa lost it? Keep that up as it is that kind of thinking that will help NZ win the next game too. The referee is neutral, so at least there should be no complaints of bias. As for Butch James, his antics as a cheap shot artist are a joke.

Julian Tangaere, New Zealand

Great result, a typical brutal encounter between these two super powers, a real test match

I felt this was the SA best chance to win as some of the newer ABs would never have experienced this type of intensity. Next week they will be better prepared.

To win without McCaw at the helm will also give the ABs confidence moving forward, hats off to Rodney playing out of his natural position and also captaining the side: 10 out of 10.

The scrum out-muscled the SA and that must be a concern for next week's game for Peter de Villiers. However now both teams have played under the ELV laws next week should be fantastic, let's hope for better weather.

Dave Burgess, Manchester

Impressive wins for the ABs and Ozzies. A full strength Bok side couldn't knock over the ABs at home, 30 games unbeaten, that is some record. And lets not forget the ABs were without the captain and world's best openside, Richie McCaw, and a whole load of players that have moved north. Apart from the Scots beating the Argies, the NH sides have been thumped and the gulf appears to be opening again.

Playing devil's advocate, I suspect that if Smit had upended Thorn he would have been carded - playing at home the ABs and cards are like Man. Utd. and penalties - the opposition don't get any going their way.

Oz also looked good against a disappointing Frenchie team. There were no big hits from 'Caveman' Chabal, Giteau looked sharp and the only big issues for Deans is where to play him, 10 or 12.

Scottie, Englishman in Oz

This ABs team is not that great and the SA team is not that bad as the writers on this site think they are. The ABs are a class and skilful team but so are the Boks. What the Boks coach is doing I think will benefit the team in the long term as he is giving the players as much game time as he can so that he can fill in these players when injuries to key players occur. Plus key players in the Boks team have not played under the ELVs before. They will take time to settle in. Both of these teams have a lot to improve on. And in dryer conditions, then the true ability of both teams will be revealed. The Boks have a big pack but they somehow play better in dryer conditions.

Chris Nand, Fijian in NZ

It was a great test - and finally! There was some good hard play with strong execution. The handling was excellent considering the conditions. Finally the 3Ns are here!

Sure enough, Adi Jacobs and Joe van Niekerk were disappointing - I completely forgot 'Big Joe' was in the side until I thought about it late in the game. I never did understand Tuitavake being left out for Wulf.

Overall, Stuart Dickinson blew a good and fair game. It was a shameful call-back for in front of the kicker by a southern hemisphere ref; he should know better. ELVs were good, but again, no major change in the game - only for the better.

Stuart Smith, Canada

I thought it was a great game of rugby, much better than the world cup. Considering the weather conditions, it was still an open game with plenty of action and intensity.

Despite losing many senior players, the ABs are still a formidable unit, I was sure that So oialo would do well as captain, he has been so consistent and reliable. I'm a big fan of Nonu and he has really improved. No mistakes and no brain explosions.

Woodcock is a quite a big imposing prop and I thought Brad TerminaThorn was really impressive, maybe the player the AB missed in the World Cup. Wulf and Tuitavake will be as good as Howlett and Rococoko (until he comes back).

South Africa could have played better I thought, Butch James is not a great fly-half, and Francois Steyn should start the game, Joe Van Nieckerk didn't seem at the level he use to be, I don't know if Kankowski is injured but he would make a bigger impact.

So, great that the Tri-Nations has started to see the best rugby on our small planet.

Jacques Rouhier - French AB fan.

It seems to me that Stuart Dickinson set the tone for the match by his failure to deal with blatant thuggery by Brad Thorn.

A spear tackle is a sin-bin offense when it occurs in the course of play, but when it occurs after the whistle it is the worst kind of attempt to inflect harm.

Rather than say "now that you got it out of your system" which equates to meaningless drivel, Dickinson should have red-carded Thorn and forced the All Blacks to deal with his transgression.

Instead the game was filled with "incidents". Thank god SANZAR will reconsider.

The incident should have been dealt with on the field, so any problems Dickinson had with the game were truly his own fault.

Randy Knispel, Bywong NSW

The Boks sneaky and nasty off the ball tactics should have been policed better. They are an abrasive and over-rated team that came unstuck against the dynamic, young, fresh and "McCawless" ABs. They were lucky to keep the score to 19. ABs number 1 for sure and the greatest rugby travesty of all time, them not winning the 2007 RWC. So much for the RW Champion tag - meaningless.

Davo Terangi, Brisbane

This test was 80 minutes of hard, bruising, smash mouth rugby. The weather did not make it any easier. Butch James proved that rest equals rust. At an international level, you need to be match ready and this is only achieved when you are playing regularly. If John Smit is out, make Jean de Villiers captain given his Super 14 experience. That said, the Boks can only get better from here as it a fairly new team trying to implement a new and better way of playing. Congratulations to the All Blacks on their win.

Bokke forever!

Wayne Hendry, Canada

The ABs were slightly better, fiercer and more determined than their strongest foes. They were denied a try by Stuart Dickinson (who otherwise did a good job) which would have made the score a more accurate representation of the 80min.

Thorn got off lightly but it made a statement to the Boks "welcome to New Zealand".

Mark Rusden

This was a great game by the world's two best teams. And, an enormous plus for these great new ELVs. The snore festival of rugby in recent weeks has been brutally exposed by this new, fast-paced, attack-minded version for the 21st century.

ELV naysayers have now not a leg left to stand on with their ignorant views.

The 2008 ABs are not as good as the 2007 version to be sure. But they were good enough to let the Cup holders know what's what.

Justin Lindsay, Napier

Not even the officials could save the boks playing a rather average all black team. Poor selection and use of players is a direct finger towards Peter de Villiers. Welcome to the world of rugby!!! No place for politics and quotas!!

In thie heavy rain - why did it take forever to bring on Steyn?

What is Brian Mujati doing in the team with players like BJ Botha etc available?

Although Jantjies did the team proud - Percy should have entered the arena much sooner as an impact player.

Sadly James had a bad day at the office - never the less the service from Januarie was at the least poor in the rain.

Joe van Niekerk should not be in the team.....and can anybody explain what a little guy like Luke Watson is doing even on the bench?

That is the reason why I say we can easily beat this average NZ team - but will never do it with politics and people pleasing.

The ref, for the trilionth time, has made a total mockery of the game refereeing. Apart from the spear tackle on Smit - a yellow card would have been appropriate - he has made one blunder after another: offside in the 10 m radius, coming through the gate in front of him etc etc etc.

Iis it genuinely not time that rugby can get rid of bad officials?????

Nick, Matlock

This was one of the worst performances by a Springbok side since the 2003 World Cup. I can't believe we can take the field in New Zealand without a kicker.

What was De Villiers thinking in bringing on Watson? Joe was playing well, we didn't scrum well at all and adding Watson to a under strength scrum did not help.

Jacobs looks like a schoolboy amongst men, what are you thinking Mr Peter de Villiers?

I hope Fourie will be called on when he has recovered from his injury. I hope you call Jake and ask him what the team must look like for the next test because if you think that was a long game, wait until you get down south.

Marlon Burton

I though the ref was meant to safeguard the players before blowing for minor infringements. Every little handling error was spotted but Smit being spear tackled without the ball after the whistle wasn't seen.

No wonder everyone dislikes Aussies, they cheat time and time again on and off the pitch gearing results for their own favour.

Because they (Australia) can't win on SA soil they are trying to take them (SA) out of the equation. SA should ditch pandering to those thieving islanders and play against Argentina and Europe who have a lot more class and integrity.

Paul Bowden, Dorset

I firmly believe that the Springboks did not have their best team on the field on the night. My Team would look like this:

15 Percy Montgomery (Goal Kicker) 14 Conrad Jantjes 13 Jean De Villiers 12 Francois Steyn 11 Bryan Habana 10 Butch James 9 Ruan Pienaar 8 Ryan Kankowski 7 Juan Smit 6 Schalk Burger 5 Victor Matfield 4 Bakkies Botha 3 Deon Carstons 2 John Smit 1 BJ Botha
Replacements: 16 Pierre Spies 17 Beast Mtwarira 18 Schalk Brits 19 Adrian Jacobs 20 Pieter Grant 21 Wikus Van Heerden 22 Tonderai Chavanga

This team could beat the ABs. Leave out Van Niekerk, Odwa Ndungane (not world class) and show boat Luke Watson. What is De Villiers thinking? This is what happens when you fire your World Cup-winning coach.

Also there is no one in South Africa who is of the same calibre as a Robbie Deans or an Eddie Jones or a Graham Henry and from here on out if SARFU continue to have politicians messing with the game and have people involved in the running of rugby who have never touched a rugby ball SA will continue to have these problems.

Did you know that there is not one ex-Springbok rugby player in the whole SA rugby Coaching and management setup apart from Dick Muir? Astounding......

Richard Milbank (London)