It affected me: Bryce Lawrence
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Bryce Lawrence says his performance in last year's World Cup quarter-final was influenced by complaints from ARU chief executive John O'Neill.
Retired ref Lawrence claims he was hounded out of rugby by South Africa and Australia following his showing in the Springboks and Wallabies match.
"I had four really good games at the World Cup and then I had that," the 41-year-old told the Bay Of Plenty Times.
"There was some pretty nasty political stuff going on about that appointment. I refereed Australia versus Ireland and Ireland had won but behind the scenes guys like John O'Neill were kicking up a massive stink.
"I knew a bit about that and it was enough to affect me, and it probably made me freeze on the biggest stage."
Australia won the game 11-9 which has now led to Lawrence calling it quits and taking up a role as the New Zealand Rugby Union high-performance referee reviewer. He was stood down from the International Rugby Board's elite panel after the World Cup and didn't referee any Super Rugby matches in South Africa.
"It (the reaction) got pretty bad," Lawrence said.
"On Facebook they launched a 'get rid of Bryce Lawrence' site and it was pretty nasty.
"That was absolutely the reason for my career change.
"I got told at the end of the World Cup that I would have a break from Test rugby for the Six Nations and I could totally accept that as there has to be a consequence for poor performance.
"I was told I would be brought back in the middle of this year, as I was ranked in the top three or four referees in the world. But because of the political reaction from rugby unions like Australia and South Africa behind the scenes, they dropped me."
Last month, British & Irish Lions boss Warren Gatland highlighted the pressure Lawrence had been placed under by O'Neill as he outlined the challenges that await his squad.
"They are masters at it and possibly the best one was John O'Neill, as a master of influence in certain things," said 2013 touring coach Gatland.
"I'm not 100% sure, but I think that after Ireland beat Australia in that pool game, certain complaints were made about the referee (Lawrence), subtly and tactfully, and I think that had an impact on the quarter-final.
"We've got to be aware about what sort of things are going to be done on and off the field."
O'Neill is on his way out of his post at the ARU to focus on business interests outside rugby.
Comments
flyman says...
Unbeleivable how low certain people will stoop!!!!!
I now understand why promient sports writers have been pushing for O'Neill to step down.
Posted 23:08 16th October 2012
philipjfry says...
We are always calling for referees to be held accountable for poor performances but there has to be a consensus on how the performances are evaluated and the results should be made public so it can be scrutinised. There is no question that Lawrence had a shocker in Wellington, but I don't think for one minute that the Springboks had a right to win that game. The same can't be said for Craig Joubert's performance in the final, where France undoubtedly earned the right to have a shot at winning the match but were denied it by Joubert's non-refereeing (I'd be happy to provide examples of offenses and infringements).
Bottom line is Lawrence is discarded and Joubert is refereeing a Bledisloe cup match this Saturday. Where's the justice in that?
Posted 22:37 16th October 2012
melkdave says...
The way some SA fans treated him was disgracefull imo.So he didnt have a very good game ,My god i read enough complaints about alot of referees here and elsewhere.They arnt perfect and will have off days and make mistakes ,but the SA reaction was OTT and quite frankly disturbing.I can remember the blatant not even hidden bias of SA referees against any and all touring sides of the 90s ,and no one was saying they should be killed ect.At the moment they went mad against BL ,my respect for SA as a nation plumated ,and is only just recovering now .
Posted 22:17 16th October 2012
ManWarrior says...
Well whoopdy dooh!!!
There you have, referees are human and make mistakes. This one however, as bad as it was, did not cost the Springboks that game. Even tough Pocock was hailed has a "fake" hero, SA dominated that game against 16 player (Bryce being player 16) but we failed to finish. Fourie du Prees should have been substituted instead of Habana and the game would have been ours. Either way, it's good to know that Bryce has come clean! Money talks and bull#*+t walks...GO Bokke!!!
Posted 21:45 16th October 2012
MacTavish says...
1. Poor form allowing outside pressure dictate an on field performance. Whistle what you see in front of you, anything else and you deserve to be dropped. 2. John ONeill. What a W@#ker. Typically Australian. Arrogant. You see it in the League, you see it in the Cricket. Anything that does not suit the greater good of Australia then it is not good enough for them...
Posted 21:10 16th October 2012
new_j4a says...
I never rated him as a top ref but it's a great pity to lose him. I think he screwed up, admitted it, and should have been allowed to move on and rehabilitate himself. He may well have eventually been the top ref as a result of the bad experience.
Posted 20:57 16th October 2012
JayStarr says...
I TOLD YOU !! Back then that is exactly what I said - because Australia kicked up such a fuss after the Ireland game and got Lawrence in trouble, he was too scared to blow them up in the next game !
The thing is, I can't really blame him... I think a lot of refs would've been affected after the backlash there was from Australia from the Ireland loss. Blame should, to a large extent, go to Bryce's buddy Paddy O' for giving him a QF game after all of that - especially the Australian one!
That whole scenario should never ever play itself out again at the WC - with any team. I know a lot of fans have criticized the Springbok fans for their reaction - but I beg those people to watch that game again... It is insane what Lawrence allowed Australia to get away with at the breakdowns - he was like a deer in headlights! Imagine that was your team they were playing against. Actually, you can't imagine it... I don't wish that experience on any team at a world cup after 4 years of preparation.
Posted 20:29 16th October 2012
BokAvenger says...
To PR's so-called journalists: If there was no conspiracy to ensure the ABs won the 2011 Rigged World Cup, then why did you see fit to DELIBERATELY obscure the truth in this article by omitting Bryce Lawrence's admission that he was influenced by senior people in the rugby world before the Aus vs SA quaterfinal? If there is nothing to hide then why are you hiding it?
Posted 20:20 16th October 2012
BokAvenger says...
What did I tell you PR? But instead of acknowledging that Bryce Lawrence was influenced you go and DELIBERATELY obscure the truth from your own readers. What else are you hiding? Why can't you acknowledge that Bryce Lawrence was influenced? Even he has come clean:
"I had four really good games at the World Cup and then I had that. I had outside pressure from pretty senior people from rugby countries behind the scenes that really created my mindset of lacking confidence to deliver what I normally do." - Bryce Lawrence http://www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz/news/rugby-pitch-perfect-bar-one-blowout/1583964/
Posted 20:11 16th October 2012
BokAvenger says...
Bryce Lawrence finally admits he was influenced by "pretty senior people" before the Aus vs SA quarterfinal and Planet Rugby DELIBERATELY leaves that out of their article. So called "journalists" hiding from the truth - PATHETIC! Here is the full article with Bryce Lawrence's ADMISSION OF GUILT: http://www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz/news/rugby-pitch-perfect-bar-one-blowout/1583964/
Posted 20:07 16th October 2012
BokAvenger says...
Planet Agenda conveniently leaves out this admission from Lawrence in the Bay of Plenty Times article: "I had four really good games at the World Cup and then I had that. I had outside pressure from pretty senior people from rugby countries behind the scenes that really created my mindset of lacking confidence to deliver what I normally do."
What's wrong PR? What are you hiding from? The truth?
Posted 20:04 16th October 2012