Hurricanes vs. Bulls

[tommowins]

Wow 54 mins and so far 5 yellow cards and 1 red. The ref is crazy.

 

[QLD]

Disgraceful to watch.

 

[Flux]

Congratulations Matt Goddard for ruining the game I love. To then go and talk to the captains about playing the game 'positively' was like tipping a **** load of salt into a gaping wound.

Should be sent back to coaching rippa rugby where he belongs. But he won't be, because the IRB likes to reward refs like these (isn't he supposed to be one of the best in the world?).

Other than that the Hurricanes went back to their hot 'n' cold selves and the Bulls gave everyone a lesson in winning ugly. What an absolutely **** poor excuse for a rugby match. I hope nobody had to go through the pain of having that as their first game experience.

The red card was the only definite sending off in my opinion, but it did look like an accident. I hope Conrad Smith is alright (although it doesn't sound like he is) because the Hurricanes back line fell apart when he left the field.

 

[Sneaki]

I don't think I've ever been so agitated after 80 minutes of rugby. The ref was just shocking... Although it was funny when he told Botha that he had big ears.

 

[Flux]

I don't think I've ever been this annoyed either. Probably wasn't even this bad after the World Cup in 2007, and that's saying something.

 

[Charles]

Total brain fart by the ref ...I hope this clown doesn't referee internationals...

 

[tommowins]

Yeah I rushed home to see the second half. I would have been happier doing something else. The Bulls defense was too good, as well as constant brain explosions/retarded drops from the Canes. A frustrating match to watch. Full credit to the Bulls though, their defense was relatively impenetrable. They held back Nonu well and he cracked because of the constant defense.

 

[TheFan]

It’s a pity that refs like this ruin great rugby matches. Well done to the Bulls

 

[William18]

Yellow cards are given away way to easily now. They really do change the game but they're given away so easily. It just makes the game a bit of a joke. Definately not what I want to see.

 

[jawmalawm24]

I was at the game live and I had to put up with the 1st 20min of alright Rugby but than the leftover 60min being dominated by the referees whistle. I couldn't beleive how many yellow cards he gave out and the 1st one against the Bulls wasn't really warranted maybe a full arm penalty but definately not a yellow card.

Congratulations to the Bulls thou they arrived late to the capital and managed to play Rugby without some of their star players like Matfield and Habana. That Pierre Spies is awesome he's a big unit and can make plenty of metres no doubt he'll be in the Sprinkboks starting lineup anytime soon because his work rate is enormous.

It was a hard game of Rugby for me to watch the result wasn't really disappointing because we at least came away with a bonus point but I think the ref ripped off both the Bulls and Hurricanes. Good on the Bulls thou for adapting and good luck for their remaining games hope to meet them later on down the track.

 

[Gay-Guy]

Normally under ELV the ref gives a long arm penalty for offside at the ruck...but he went a bit overboard and started giving it for hands in the ruck, lying all over the ball etc.....as SOON as someone lies on the wrong side of the ruck and slows it down the ref blows the whistle with the free kick to SPEED the game up...after a while teams get tired of trying to slow the ball down with hands in the ruck and lying all over as they realise all it does is immediately give the ball to the opposition to continue running. What Goddard was doing was calling full penalties for non offside infringements which is not ELV at all but takes the game back to pre ELV days. Both teams yesterday were confused on how to play the game and the winner in the end was the team that realised they are playing the old rules of full arm penalties. Two tries to the Hurricanes....one try to the Bulls but they won with PENALTY shots! S14 teams train to play under ELV....the Hurricanes mistake was they were too slow adjusting to the ref playing non ELVs...the Bulls realised this much quicker and started to kick the ball downfield to play in the Hurricanes half and perhaps get a penalty.

 

[esoj]

it was a terrible game to watch even as a neutral. the game became more about the ref than the players trying to play rugby.I feel really sorry for people that paid to see that at the stadium as they were robbed of a game of rugby.I think matt goddard wad taking the advisory of getting players to at least attempt to roll away in the tackle a bit too closely. there was no flow at all to the game which is supposedly what his actions were trying to help but they simply made it worse.nobody wants to see a game like that with both teams down to 14 guys for most of the match and penalty after penalty after penalty. It was so bad it got to the point where neither team was really challenging the other at the ruck for fear of conceding a penalty and getting a player sent to the bin. that is not good for rugby where the breakdown is meant to be a battle for possession it simply was not in this game thanks to goddard. this is yet another failure of this supposed merit system being trialed in this years comp. it certainly isn't improving the reffing standards and is actually making it worse. even though my beloved blues got hammered against the chiefs it was a far better game of rugby because we had a ref willing to let the game flow instead of show off to his assessor mate in the stands. in an equal and just world mark lawerence would be promoted/kept for another big game while goddard would be demoted preferably out of the ground or at the very least to the tmo position. what we all know will happen though is the exact opposite and goddard will be praised for his fine efforts be awarded one of the top games this weekend and lawerence will get the game between 2 lesser teams.

 

[tommowins]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (esoj @ Mar 22 2009, 05:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

what we all know will happen though is the exact opposite and goddard will be praised for his fine efforts be awarded one of the top games this weekend and lawerence will get the game between 2 lesser teams.[/b]

lol so true!

 

[Flux]

Would you look at that, Goddard's not going to feature in round 7. Let's hope he's out for the rest of the competition.