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'Absolute disgrace' - Bok fans rage over Eben Etzebeth yellow
By Ian Cameron
They may have won the game, but Springboks' supporters were left more than a little miffed after talismanic lock Eben Etzebeth was yellowed carded for pushing an obstructing player of his way.
Etzebeth was sin-binned after pushing the Argentinian player out of the road as he advanced towards Emiliano Boffelli, who had jumped to claim a high ball.
Boffelli took a heavy fall, although replays showed that the Puma had collided with another Argentine player in the air which altered his trajectory downward, while it appeared that the player Etzebeth had shoved had little to do with the incident.
Referee Damon Murphy didn't see it that way and gave Etzebeth his marching orders.
It was a decision that enraged many Bok fans and feeds into the greater narrative of referee incompetency that has been popular in South Africa since the British & Irish Lions tour in 2021.
Popular South African superfan Jared Wright observed: "I don't agree with that. Eben has clearly pushed someone but his push did not result in Boffelli landing badly. I don't know how they got to that decision."
Sports broadcaster Matt Pearce wrote: "Look forward to anyone in rugby officialdom being able to justify that yellow card for Eben Etzebeth. Hope it is removed from his record on review."
The Rugby Balrog wrote: "I really hate criticizing refs, but that card to Eben was one of the craziest calls I've ever seen. Carding a guy pushing an obstructing player? Wh... what?"
"The officials have ruined Rugby Union. The Rugby Championship was decided by officials. Eben gets a yellow card for what? Pushing someone out of his way? World Rugby, your refusal to do anything about this is killing the game."
Another account wrote: "Yellow to Etzebeth an absolute disgrace... Officials are cocking up the game of rugby. And turning people away from the game ... It's becoming very difficult to watch."
Dylan Jack wrote: "I cannot explain that yellow carding of Eben Etzebeth. Wish I could, but I can't. Damon Murphy saw something everyone didn't."
South African journalist Brendan Nel took issue with the Australian referee's overall performance, writing: "Damon Murphy was terrible today. Crucify me if you must as an internet troll. But any ref who gives 6 yellow cards, and 39 penalties doesn't want a game to flow. This was supposed to be a spectacle. It was the opposite. And Murphy confused everyone. More than once."
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Latest Comments
The boy needs to bulk up if wants to play 10 or 11 to handle those hits, otherwise he could always make a brilliant reserve for the wings if he stays away from the stretcher.
Go to commentsIn another recent article I tried to argue for a few key concept changes for EPCR which I think could light the game up in the North.
First, I can't remember who pointed out the obvious elephant in the room (a SA'n poster?), it's a terrible time to play rugby in the NH, and especially your pinnacle tournament. It's been terrible watching with seemingly all the games I wanted to watch being in the dark, hardly able to see what was going on. The Aviva was the only stadium I saw that had lights that could handle the miserable rain. If the global appeal is there, they could do a lot better having day games.
They other primary idea I thuoght would benefit EPCR most, was more content. The Prem could do with it and the Top14 could do with something more important than their own league, so they aren't under so much pressure to sell games. The quality over quantity approach.
Trim it down to two 16 team EPCR competitions, and introduce a third for playing amongst the T2 sides, or the bottom clubs in each league should simply be working on being better during the EPCR.
Champions Cup is made up of league best 15 teams, + 1, the Challenge Cup winner. Without a reason not to, I'd distribute it evenly based on each leauge, dividing into thirds and rounded up, 6 URC 5 Top14 4 English. Each winner (all four) is #1 rank and I'd have a seeding round or two for the other 12 to determine their own brackets for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. I'd then hold a 6 game pool, home and away, with consecutive of each for those games that involve SA'n teams. Preferrably I'd have a regional thing were all SA'n teams were in the same pool but that's a bit complex for this simple idea.
That pool round further finalises the seeding for knockout round of 16. So #1 pool has essentially duked it out for finals seeding already (better venue planning), and to see who they go up against 16, 15,etc etc. Actually I think I might prefer a single pool round for seeding, and introduce the home and away for Ro16, quarters, and semis (stuffs up venue hire). General idea to produce the most competitive matches possible until the random knockout phase, and fix the random lottery of which two teams get ranked higher after pool play, and also keep the system identical for the Challenge Cup so everthing is succinct. Top T2 side promoted from last year to make 16 in Challenge Cup
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