Former Ireland hooker Bernard Jackman has defended the Springboks’ ploy to repeatedly opt for scrums and eke out penalties during the clash at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
South Africa turned down several shots at goal and kicks to the corner; instead they ordered scrum after scrum, and it resulted in yellow cards for both Andrew Porter and Paddy McCarthy.
Rassie Erasmus’ men went on to seal a 24-13 victory over Ireland, their first win in Dublin since 2012, but they have come under scrutiny for killing off the game in that manner and turning the fixture into a slow, slugfest.
English match official Matthew Carley has also been slammed after he issued six cards in total, four yellows to Ireland as well as a 20-minute red card to James Ryan for a thuggish clearout attempt.
Springboks scrum-half Grant Williams was also sin-binned but Irish fans were left fuming that fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was not carded for his tackle on Tommy O’Brien.
Verdict on referee Carley
That decision is one that Jackman felt Carley got wrong but other than that, the former front-rower and respected pundit believes the referee got the big calls right.
“The match referee Matthew Carley will undoubtedly be criticised by Irish fans, and I think he made an error early in the game when he decided that the new Springbok superstar Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu wasn’t guilty of any thing more than a penalty when he shoulder-charged Tommy O’Brien in the head,” he wrote in his Irish Independent column.
“There have been some very high-profile red cards against the South Africans this November and I think that there was an overcompensation at play in this decision. The wrong call was made.
“However, I think the officials got it right with the 20-minute red card to James Ryan as his clean-out was reckless and he hadn’t made a clear attempt to wrap.”
While fellow former international Stephen Ferris sarcastically named Carley as the man of the match, Jackman had far kinder words for the official who he believes was not at fault for the stop-start nature of the game.
“What Carley shouldn’t take any blame for was the stop-start nature of the match, because by and large he got most of the decisions right,” he added.
“The issue for him and the reason that the game was so stuttering was that the South Africans had complete and total dominance at the scrum.”
The South Africans and the officials were being booed in the second half of the match, particularly when the likes of Siya Kolisi and Pieter-Steph du Toit signalled for a scrum.
Boks played to their strengths
Jackman believes that most of the decisions made by the two Bok leaders were tactically the correct ones as they played to their strengths in order to eke out the win.
“The Boks have no obligation to entertain and you could argue that every decision that they made was the right one tactically. Rassie replacing both props just before half-time was the ultimate flex and it led to the last try of the first half and another yellow card. You can only flex like that if you have the muscle and unfortunately they had more than us last night,” he wrote.
“The Irish squad go back to their provinces on the back of a two from four November, but I think they are now better than they were pre the All Blacks. They will have proven to each other that they have the spirit, pride and character that will be needed in not just the Six Nations, but over the next two years leading into the World Cup.”
One thing that Jackman believes World Rugby needs to sort out is how foul play must be officiated.
This November has been littered with controversial cards, with Tadhg Beirne sent off against New Zealand, Bok locks Lood de Jager and Franco Mostert red-carded versus France and Italy, respectively, to name just a few.
“World Rugby will have to review the game and see if we can make foul play decisions more consistent and the game a better spectacle for fans,” he continued.
“Europe and the inter-provincials over Christmas provide a great opportunity for players further down the line to put their hands up for inclusion in Farrell’s next squad.”