Rassie Erasmus: Canan Moodie ‘was lucky’ as close referee calls could have ‘changed the game’
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus and an inset of centre Canan Moodie.
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus believes that Canan Moodie was ‘lucky’ not to get a second yellow card during the Rugby Championship victory over Argentina.
The outside centre was shown a yellow card in the early knockings of the fixture at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham after a high tackle on Los Pumas winger Juan Cruz Mallia, and looked to be receiving a second soon after his return to action.
Moodie lunged out at an Argentine pass and got one hand to the ball, which could very well have been deemed as a deliberate knockdown and resulted in a second yellow card.
Springboks full-back Aphelele Fassi was sin-binned for a similar offence earlier in the Championship, while Australia and New Zealand have fallen victim to the same law.
Close calls
However, referee Andrea Piardi and his officiating team deemed that it was merely a knock-on and a genuine attempt to catch the ball, meaning that Moodie continued to play until he was replaced by Jesse Kriel in the second half.
Speaking after the game, Bok head coach Erasmus was wary not to criticise referee Piardi but did mention that his midfielder was fortunate not to be permanently exiled from the game and said that there were several ‘close calls’ that could have swung the momentum of the match.
“At half-time, you could see that the guys were a little tired because Argentina came out playing well and loosened the game up, and we missed a few tackles and then the yellow card,” he began.
“I’m not criticising the referee, but I’m pretty sure Canan was lucky that he didn’t get a red card for that tap down, almost two yellow cards there.
“A few of their tackles, I thought, ‘Wasn’t that maybe a red card’, and there were one or two hits where I thought that might have been a yellow.
“I’m not blaming the referee, but there were close calls that could have changed the game even more.”
South Africa were favourites heading into the fixture at the home of English rugby, particularly after thumping Los Pumas in Durban last week but the Springboks staff and players predicted a tough encounter, and that’s precisely what they got as they edged past Argentina by just two points to defend their Rugby Championship title.
Erasmus hailed the efforts of Felipe Contepomi’s side but overall, was not pleased by the performance of his team.
“Argentina have a massive fight in them and they took us to the gutters and we had to swim with them and they scored at the end,” he continued.
“When Manie didn’t kick the ball out, we were going for a third try (three tries more than Argentina), and then, we wouldn’t have won the title on net points in the series against New Zealand; we would have won it straight out.
“Overall, happy that we won, but definitely not satisfied with our performance. It is better, though, to learn while you are winning than losing.
“We are on top of the world rankings now, but we know how tough the end-of-year tour will be.”
Siya on the win
Siya Kolisi, who became the first Springboks captain to defend the Rugby Championship, echoed his coach’s sentiments but also praised his teammates ability to shift their mindset and overcome a strong Pumas outfit.
“The message at half time was simple and the players and coaches felt the same: we needed to play more together, we made mistakes, and the discipline wasn’t good enough,” Kolisi said.
“But you have to give credit to Argentina, you make mistakes and get ill-disciplined because of the pressure they built.
“And in the second half, we were able to just jump straight back into it and change our mindsets. In all the games, what has made me very proud is how the coaches have sent messages to the team and how we have reacted, saying ‘Let’s go do it’.
“Having that confidence that no matter how tough it is in the game, we know how to win and dig deep, that takes a lot. That mentality change has been here since coach Rassie came into the team.”
