Forwards boxed clever and rode luck in scrum
⮞sout⮞ Africa can count themselves unfortunate with some of the decisions that went against them
From the first three scrums at Twickenham on Saturday, it was clear that England wanted to box clever, and I thought they were slightly fortunate.
At the first, Andrew Brace awarded them a free-kick for an early engagement. I thought it was difficult to say for sure that South Africa were leaning in any more than England were. I understood the referee’s decision but might have ordered a reset instead. England then asked for another put-in, and got a penalty for the same offence.
Teams are going to use all the tricks in the book to try to get set-piece parity. I have been in pre-game meetings where teams have asked me to watch out for their opponents going early at the scrum. Then they have done exactly that themselves.
Unless you are alert, you do not notice it because you are not focused on the team who brought it to your attention. A lot of things go on in the scrum, and Saturday afternoon was no exception.
Later on, when the Springboks conceded another penalty at a put-in five metres from the England try-line, I thought they were hard done by. To me, it was Bevan Rodd that clearly hinged and pulled the scrum down, rather than Ox Nche.
A good indication for anyone watching is when you see the loosehead prop’s elbow pointing to the ground, and they are pulling their opposite man’s jersey, it is quite clear that they are causing the collapse.
People might say that Nche’s feet were too far back. In my opinion the South Africa tighthead was still able to stay up from that position and would not have gone to ground without Rodd pulling down. In any case, why would the Springboks be giving away a penalty in that area of the field? I thought England got away with one there.
Charlie Ewels could easily have seen a yellow card for his high tackle on Eben Etzebeth, too. Although there was no doubt that Etzebeth was falling, which presents mitigation, it was
Teams would ask me to watch out for opponents going early – then did the same themselves
definitely a head shot with a swinging arm. That has to constitute foul play.
From there, it becomes a question of whether you take a red down to a yellow or a yellow down to a penalty. It reminded me of the yellow card that Nepo Laulala, the New Zealand prop, was given against Wales. He caught Ross Moriarty with a swinging arm to the head after Ethan Blackadder had made the initial tackle on Moriarty. They were similar offences. If we are looking for consistency, Ewels should perhaps have gone to the sin-bin.
Siya Kolisi’s yellow was a fair call. He was going for the ball but was nowhere near getting it and wrapped his arms around Joe
Marchant, who was the player in the air. He got his timing wrong and can have no arguments with a yellow card.
The end of the game, leading up to Marcus Smith’s match-winning kick, was really interesting. Brace was playing advantage for Herschel Jantjies going off his feet, which I thought was debatable – and a big call to make at that stage of the game.
But then Francois Steyn’s offence was straightforward. He came in on his knees and could have been given another yellow card.