{"id":582676,"date":"2026-08-28T05:48:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T05:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/582676\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T05:48:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T05:48:10","slug":"all-blacks-v-springboks-how-the-clock-can-be-stopped-in-cape-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/582676\/","title":{"rendered":"All Blacks v Springboks: How the clock can be stopped in Cape Town"},"content":{"rendered":"

Boot change<\/p>\n

The strangest reason for stopping the clock came about 15 minutes into the second half when the all-time most-capped Springbok Eben Etzebeth sat on the ground to mess with his boots. <\/p>\n

English referee Matthew Carley could be heard on the broadcast saying he had an issue with his studs, which led to a new pair of boots being brought on for the lock to change into.<\/p>\n

The 1m 42s break came before a South Africa scrum on the All Blacks\u2019 5m line, which the visitors went on to win and change the game\u2019s momentum in their favour. <\/p>\n

\"EbenEben Etzebeth’s boot change in the first test forced the clock to be stopped for 1 minute and 42 seconds. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

Fight<\/p>\n

Although punches weren\u2019t thrown, a tussle between the teams forced the referee to call time off just before Etzebeth\u2019s boot change. <\/p>\n

The All Blacks were under the pump and conceding penalties on their own tryline, but Damian De Allende\u2019s decision to have a shoving match with Quinn Tupaea and Fabian Holland let the visitors have some respite.<\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer test referee Jaco Peyper now works with the Springboks. Photo \/ AFP<\/p>\n

Players from both sides rushed in, which was when the clock was stopped, with Carley then separating the two sides and asking the Springboks what they wanted to do with their penalty. <\/p>\n

The surprising aspect to this stoppage is that the clock started to run before it was stopped again for Etzebeth to change his boots. <\/p>\n

TMO interventions<\/p>\n

Not all TMO interventions are equal. <\/p>\n

Some have the all-seeing eye in the sky have a quick word to the referee while play is going on and a quick decision can be made, but others require the referee to take a look at the big screen.<\/p>\n

Carley was asked to take a look at a potential high shot from All Blacks captain Ardie Savea about the 70th minute, which the referee overruled, but that stoppage was prolonged by then replaying a breakdown which showed foul play by the Springboks and a yellow card being shown. <\/p>\n

\"AngusAngus Gardner will take charge of the second test in Cape Town. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

There were two other interventions made by the TMO in the second half, with one being a simple decision to see Cam Roigard didn\u2019t touch the ball as it crossed the try line thus denying the All Blacks a further five points. <\/p>\n

The other was the TMO asking the referee to check if Luke Jacobson had committed foul play in a ruck when he took out Jasper Wiese from behind causing a knock-on, but Carley overruled this again.<\/p>\n

Mike Adamson won\u2019t be in the booth for the second test in Cape Town, instead, it will be Frenchman Eric Gauzins.<\/p>\n

Injuries<\/p>\n

All the first-half stoppages were because of injuries and most came with All Blacks going down.<\/p>\n

Ethan de Groot played a major part in this, having his leg strapped on the halfway line after his side\u2019s first try, which was the longest injury break, and he went down later in the half with Josh Lord for a head injury assessment (HIA).<\/p>\n

\"DaveDave Rennie saw his players go down with multiple injuries in Johannesburg. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

There were two other stoppages for HIAs in the first half, while the second half saw stoppages for other injuries. <\/p>\n

Substitutions<\/p>\n

The clock is stopped every time a substitution is made, which would suggest that a team wanting to slow the game down would make individual rather than wholesale tactical changes. <\/p>\n

The All Blacks were forced into an early front row change with Ethan de Groot\u2019s injury, which was followed by Tyrel Lomax and Codie Taylor in the 50th and 54th minutes.<\/p>\n

\"RassieRassie Erasmus suffered his biggest defeat as Springboks coach against the All Blacks in Johannesburg. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

However, the triple change of Luke Jacobson, Cam Roigard and Quinn Tupaea for Peter Lakai, Kyle Preston and Anton Leinert-Brown in the 75th minute keeps the clock stopped for a similar amount of time used if a single substitute is made. <\/p>\n

Looking at how South Africa make their substitutes, none in the second half were done with more than one player coming on for another. <\/p>\n

The Springboks made changes in the 58th, 60th, 61st, 62nd and 66th minutes, some forced and some tactical, but the stoppages make the referee call time off and allow players to have a breather \u2013 something teams might figure out they can take advantage of if they are under the pump.<\/p>\n

Listen to Elliott Smith\u2019s live commentary on Newstalk ZB Sport and iHeartRadio, or join the Alternative Commentary Collective on iHeartRadio and Radio Hauraki.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Boot change The strangest reason for stopping the clock came about 15 minutes into the second half when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":582677,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[286884,5263,5195,8136,198,13651,69252,221,78,111,139,69,213,8137,14649,10809,223,2951],"class_list":["post-582676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-310am","tag-all","tag-be","tag-blacks","tag-can","tag-cape","tag-clock","tag-how","tag-in","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports","tag-springboks","tag-stopped","tag-sunday","tag-the","tag-town"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}