THINGS WE SHOULD HAVE SEEN BUT DIDN’T
HIGHLANDERS IN SUPER RUGBY SEMI-FINAL
The Highlanders were in total control of the quarter-final against the Waratahs in Sydney.
They were leading 23-6 after 50 minutes and appeared to be cruising. But Waisake Naholo was yellow carded for a needless infringement and the wheels came flying o. The Highlanders conceded three tries in seven minutes and by the time Naholo came back on his team were 30-23 behind.
Even then the Highlanders still had so many chances to level the scores but they couldn’t string together a cohesive passage of rugby to get the job done.
FRANCE PLAY WITH 14 MEN IN WELLINGTON
After 12 minutes of the second test in June, France were reduced to 14 men when Benjamin Fall was sent o.
The red card was shown by Angus Gardner who felt the French fullback had deliberately taken Beauden Barrett out in the air and forced the All Blacks first-five into landing on his head and being removed with concussion.
Gardner felt he had no choice but the review panel and indeed many at the
stadium felt Fall had been accidentally bumped into Barrett’s path and had tried desperately not to collide with the man in the air.
The judicial panel said: “We are satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that the referee’s decision to issue the red card was wrong.”
Too late – test ruined.
PUMAS BEAT THE WALLABIES TWICE
This is written with the greatest respect to the Wallabies who pulled o one of the best comebacks in recent times.
Having lost to the Pumas in Australia, they were on track to do so again in Argentina. And when we say on track, it was just about all over as the Pumas led 31-7 at half-time and every gambler in the world was backing the home team to finish the job.
But amazingly and quite brilliantly the Wallabies found something within themselves and turned the game around. They owned the second half, scoring 38 points for a 45-34 victory.
A DROP GOAL IN WELLINGTON
The All Blacks, not for the first time in their history, found themselves two points behind with five minutes left of a big game.
They had all the momentum and South Africa were clinging on as they threw everything into their first Rugby Championship encounter with the All Blacks.
For the last minute of the game the All Blacks were camped on the Boks’ try-line and they hammered away with one o runners unable to barge their way over.
When they were then awarded a scrum under the posts, it was the perfect opportunity to set up for a drop goal. But it never happened and instead the decision was made to try to exploit a three-on-two.
Damian McKenzie was half through the gap but had the ball whacked out of his hands and that was game over – the All Blacks had lost.
“Should we have drop kicked a goal? Of course we should have,” Steve Hansen said. “We had plenty of opportunities and we organised ourselves.
“It’s not something we don’t have in our back pocket, because it is. That’s a [lesson] and a game management thing that this team has to go through and this will be a massive opportunity for this team to grow.”