Crotty’s try not all that cut and dried

It was probably to be expected how opinionated people have become after the gutsy Springbok defeat at the hands of the old foe the All Blacks at Newlands last weekend.

Most have agreed the Boks regained a lot of pride with the narrow one-point defeat, but yet it remained another defeat and the fifth in succession to the New Zealanders.

But still it can’t be denied the Boks have raised their rusty and wounded old legs even though the game was over as a contest with the All Blacks leading 25-17 before that great hooker Malcolm Marx barged over for the third try which was probably just a consolation effort, but just reward for the great effort Marx put in all game long.

The most crucial event, however, was the try by All Black centre Ryan Crotty late in the first half which gave the visitors a crucial 8-3 lead at half-time.

Former Bok coach Nick Mallett explained afterwards how he had spoken to head of SA referees Mark Lawrence shortly after the game and how Lawrence explained the try shouldn’t have been allowed as Crotty lost the ball forward as it was still in the air.

Yet later Sanzaar – which is the governing body of the Rugby Championship and Super Rugby – issued an official statement where they stated that the try by Crotty was in fact legitimate.

Yet having taken a closer look at the replays there are a few issues that stood out.

First of all, when All Black flyhalf Beauden Barrett stormed down the kick from pivot Elton Jantjies, he was miles offside, standing literally on top of Jantjies by the time the Bok flyhalf received the ball.

Yet some would argue it was in open play and therefore no offside lines should be considered, which is fair enough, so I’ll see this one over from Barrett.

But with five players from both teams chasing the ball it became evident that Barrett changed his line and shouldered Bok centre Jesse Kriel out of his way.

Furthermore, when both players went to ground, Barrett was clearly seen pulling Kriel back by his arm when it appeared that Kriel could get to the ball before Crotty.

In the final stages, Crotty then won the race against Bok flanker Siya Kolisi but it appeared that he failed to have complete control – a clear change of the rule World Rugby stipulated this year.

Not that it would change the result.