Bad boy image won’t help Boks with referees

Due to their reliance on physicality and aggression, the Springboks have often been regarded as the bad boys of rugby. Which is all well and good when it comes to intimidating the opposition, but not so helpful when, in the eyes of the referees, you are the team who needs to be watched more carefully.

By contrast, the New Zealand’s All Blacks are the golden child of rugby – everything they do is skilful, dazzling and how the game should be played. Even when they are kicking more than any other team or mastering the dark arts of niggle and consistently killing the ball in their own 22.

South African rugby has, however, gone through phases when it was unacceptably dirty and it is fair to say our natural tendency is towards conservative, defensive, backs-to-the-wall type play rather than embracing risk and flair.

As current Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber has pointed out though, it is the differences in style, in the DNA of teams, that makes international competition interesting and it would be really boring if everyone played the same way.

When I was a boy, there were no neutral referees so teams did not worry about the perceptions of the officials. The history books show that overseas teams considered it extremely difficult to win in South Africa, describing the refereeing as rather patriotic.

But now, the referee and his viewpoint are an important part of an international team’s preparation for a match.

It’s probably fair to say the current Springbok team is having a hard time with how referees are perceiving them at the moment, judging by Rassie Erasmus’s notorious video and the number of calls that seem to be going against them at the moment.

In the last week we have had Faf de Klerk’s yellow card that set the tone for their poor second Test against Australia now being exposed by no less an authority as Nigel Owens as being a wrong call.

Even the handling of Jasper Wiese’s citing was contentious with the disciplinary committee unable to meet for some reason in time for Wiese to be selected when he was cleared.

The proper process was, however, followed, when NZ fullback Jordie Barrett was cleared to play on the Monday after his citing. Probably the last time the Springboks faced such a PR crisis was between the 1995 and 2003 World Cups.

Prior to 1995, James Small had been the only Springbok ever red-carded, when Ed Morrison sent him off against the Wallabies in Brisbane in 1993 but between 1995 and 2003, another five players were sent to the showers early and there were also numerous yellow cards.

Boy, did South Africa have a problem with discipline no matter how hard the likes of Andre Markgraaff and Rudolf Straeuli tried to run the team like an army camp.

So when Jake White took over as Springbok coach in 2004, it was one of the key areas he identified as needing to improve.

It was one of the reasons John Smit was appointed as captain, because the hooker was well-liked by referees and had a good “bedside manner” with them.

As Smit built a rapport with the referees around the world and White clamped down hard on any on-field ill-discipline, so the Springboks’ reputation improved and they began to get more of the 50/50 calls.

The current Springboks’ issues with officiating are more likely to be resolved through gentle diplomacy than angry videos.

Captain Siya Kolisi is one of the most respected people in global rugby, so I would like to see him take a leaf out of John Smit’s book and maybe begin a similar charm offensive with the referees.