Given the debate here, I went and watched it.
Assuming I watched the right incident, I can't see how anyone can see that as anything other than a red card.
That was terrible, what a fucking idiotic muppet. I'd go mental if he did that in a black jersey.
Hope I saw the right video 
@taniwharugby said in Bulls v Highlanders:
@Bones oh, right, sorry, I was wrong all along, you have shown me the error of my ways oh great messiah
What? Yeah Naholo definitely dodged a bullet there. If he hadn't have run straight at the guy and thrown his shoulder into his face he was in real trouble. He did well to avoid harming himself.
In other news the Canes could've probably beaten the Crusaders by 30 odd points.
@gt12 said in Bulls v Highlanders:
Given the debate here, I went and watched it.
Assuming I watched the right incident, I can't see how anyone can see that as anything other than a red card.
That was terrible, what a fucking idiotic muppet. I'd go mental if he did that in a black jersey.
Have to agree. He runs a line to make impact when he didn't need to. He looks to me to be instigating the impact not bracing himself. One of those little niggle after the ball things that happen all the time but now need to be really careful in case of high impact. Even if he didn't make head contact he would have ended up with a YC for off the ball play IMO.
If you are going to do those nowadays you need to make sure it is a clear body check only and hope the other guy doesn't do a hollywood. Certainly wouldn't try it against an Argie.
@taniwharugby said in Bulls v Highlanders:
also reckon there was some amateur theatrics from the Bulls player he impacted too.
I dunno - he went floppy like you would having copped a shoulder to the chin.
hahaha oh shit. That's about as blatant a red card as you will ever see! when i saw the term "bracing for impact" i thought it was one of those ones where someone chipped him, and he turned his shoulder in to an on-coming player.
You don't brace for impact while running through someone! that's a fucking red card every day of the week, and should be a couple of weeks as well. What a fucking muppet.
What are you guys talking about? This is down to bad refereeing, poor interpretation and WR making up ridiculous rulings. In 1933 Naholo would've been awarded a try for that.
@taniwharugby nah not you. But people have seemed to intimate this was a ridiculous result of "lowering the threshold". Just like a guy getting sent off for stomping a head would be the result of WR trying to eradicate rucking...
@Bones said in Bulls v Highlanders:
@taniwharugby nah not you. But people have seemed to intimate this was a ridiculous result of "lowering the threshold".
I don't think ridiculous, but I think a year ago that could have been a yellow for reckless contact. Now it's a straight red. THat threshold has changed.
Same way with tip tackles. Pre '05, it was harden up, play on or penalty. Then it went to straight reds to sam warburton in a Cup Semi Final FFS.
@Bones said in Bulls v Highlanders:
In 1933 Naholo would've been awarded a try for that.
It was a bloody try in 1905, and Deans was robbed.
Wait, what are we talking about again?
@nzzp said in Bulls v Highlanders:
Wait, what are we talking about again?
That time the Beaver won the RWC with a belly full of whitebait!
@Tordah said in Bulls v Highlanders:
refereeing performance was very good so far IMO, really let the game flow and narrated the little decisions / non-decisions. A few forward passes or knock-ons maybe wrong, but that's minor to the overall performance
Yeah nah! Those basic things matter, and missing huge forward passes or knock on is the bread and butter of being a good Ref. Its not the refs job to provide entertainment at the cost of the laws of rugby.
Just my view anyway.
That would have been a red card under the old rules. He did it on purpose, tried to look sneaky about it too. Reverse angle shows him lifting his elbow to really put some force into the shot.
Dirty, late, and completely unnecessary.
@mooshld said in Bulls v Highlanders:
Yeah nah! Those basic things matter, and missing huge forward passes or knock on is the bread and butter of being a good Ref. Its not the refs job to provide entertainment at the cost of the laws of rugby.
Just my view anyway.
I agree with your general sentiment, but I think the forward passes are the assistant refs' faults, as they are the ones usually in line with the ball to spot that (unlike the referee, in most cases). I think he was right on both red cards (and often refs use the yellow card to get out of an uncomfortable situation) and generally had a very good game.
Generally, I doubt you'll see a game where the ref team doesn't miss a few forward passes / knock-ons. There's always something to complain in a game this complicated - if you really want to.
@Bones said in Bulls v Highlanders:
@taniwharugby said in Bulls v Highlanders:
@Bones oh, right, sorry, I was wrong all along, you have shown me the error of my ways oh great messiah
In other news the Canes could've probably beaten the Crusaders by 30 odd points.
They fucking could have, and I'll sleep a lot easier tonight with that in mind.
Yeah got to agree there is no way that was going for the ball or bracing for impact. 100% stupid, late, clumsy shoulder. Probably didn't mean to hit him in the head but has no one to blame but himself there. IMO that "should" be a yellow but definitely a red with current interpretations.
The extra stupid thing is the Bulls player was focusing on juggling the ball, Naholo could have buried his shoulder in the guys ribs perfectly legally and his team would have got the put in to the scrum.
what is interesting though, is we are on a rugby forum, with rugby fans from all over, but obviously mainly NZ, where most have played rugby for a good many years and we often cant agree how an incident has played out, yet we vent our frustration that one man gets it wrong...is that the fault of the rules or just down to the way the game is played?
Just watched highlights. Can't remember the last time I saw a Bok pitch that muddy. Durban in 1995 semi was MUCH wetter, but (from what I can remember) that seemed to leave pools rather than mud.
Fekitoa's try was a good reminder of his potential. I'd love to see how he'd go outside a savvy 12 like Ngatai.
