Loose Pass: Good old days, clock-watching, something to be outlawed and the art of the intercept
Referee Andrew Brace and the Springboks' Siya Kolisi is tackled by Sam Cane of the All Blacks.
This week we will mostly be concerning ourselves with TMOs in absentia, clock-watching, the new art of catching a ball and an interception story…
Good old days?
An interesting question was posed to your correspondent on Sunday as we picked over the remaining memories of Saturday’s cash in Joburg: “when was the last time you remember a Test match with no TMO?”
I couldn’t. Who can? But despite many a justifiable rumble of discontent that Bongi Mbonambi’s try was not looked at or the collision between Sam Cane and Siya Kolisi was not analysed more, it did remind of a more enjoyable age when games were games and post-match chat was just post-match chat.
For the record, the analysis here is that as Mbonambi was in contact with the ball all the way to the ground (his upper arm) it was a valid try. Cane’s hit ended up high because Kolisi dipped – there is perhaps a case for a yellow card with Cane’s height, but he was hard done-by in the final and would have been hard done-by here too.
But back to the point: the lack of TMO intervention was great. There was a moment early in the second half when one of the teams was audibly asking for the TMO. Referee Andrew Brace, who didn’t get everything right but exuded confident authority and calm all the way through and facilitated a superb game, was quite succinct: “if there’s something to look at it’ll be shown,” a minute later adding: “it’s been looked at and there’s nothing to see.”
He backed his own decisions and the TMO did as well; neither felt compelled to have a cosy chat with the other to confirm suspicions. The result was a game that flowed and that held excited attention from start to finish, not once the irritation of endless replays and unrealistic slow-mo displays.
Fans can debate all they want: they’ll do that anyway, regardless of whether the TMO interfered or not. But an interruption-free game made for a vastly-improved product, redolent of the good old pre-TMO days, for which we should all be grateful.
Clock-watching
Here’s a strange one though. Beauden Barrett, believing it to be half-time as the clock ticks in the late 39:50s, boots the ball out. The hooter goes after he does so (the ball crossed the line around 39:57). Mr. Brace says that as the clock was not at 40 when the ball went dead, there is still a play to be had.
Six hours or so later in Argentina, Noah Lolesio pushes a penalty to the right of the upright; as the ball hits the deck past the in-goal area, the clock shows that magical time: 39:57.
Not that Argentina probably wanted a 22 drop out, but this was a glaring inconsistency which needs addressing.
Springboks v All Blacks: Sir John Kirwan takes a cheeky dig at TMO after ‘great Test match’
But clocks generally caused problems in both games at the weekend, with seeming differences between what was on the TV, what was in the stadium, and what was being perceived.
Damien McKenzie clearly took a penalty three or four seconds after the TV clock had hit zero, yet was not prevented from kicking as Sacha Feinberg Mngomezulu was earlier in the game (presumably there was a more official shot clock in Mr. Brace’s ear?). Referee James Doleman interrupted a penalty routine to specifically ask for the shot clock to be reset as, in his words: “it’s clearly wrong.” From the moment of the whistle awarding Australia’s winning penalty to boot hitting ball took over 80 seconds; it’s a struggle to believe that Australia took 20 seconds to make up their minds about that decision (the clock starts from the moment the team nominates a kick at goal).
By and large, shot clocks and clinical time-measurement are good things, but there are still teething problems.
Something to be outlawed?
“It’s become an art form,” said Sean Maloney as an Argentinean player managed to milk a penalty from a harmless catch by jumping into the air and tucking his legs up to make sure everybody saw he was in the air.
There was clearly no need for him to jump – and we’d remember the game-winning penalty during the Lions’ second Test in New Zealand in 2017 as a further high-profile example.
Outlawing this is open to a problem of subjectivity, but milking penalties like this – turning it into an art form, is not something we want to see in the game either.
The art of the intercept
New Zealand lost the game but won the battle of the interceptions. Caleb Clarke’s first try was notable for not one but two attempted intercepts by South African players who, had their team not ultimately triumphed, would be described as ‘still out there looking for those passes’.
Jordie Barrett showed both how to do it, reading a play that, in the words of the Soth African commentators, “has already been run a couple of times.”
Once upon a time it was Bryan Habana who was the king of the intercepts: South Africa have lost one of their crowns (insignificant compared to how many other global benchmarks the team is currently setting, it is worth adding).
