Are teams ever going to get a fair go at Loftus? Playing there is like a throw back to 40 years ago. No, not because of the hick music but because of the seemingly farcical officiating that managed to rob the All Blacks of victories in the republic time and again.
Is there some kind of unofficial quota system in South African officiating, too? Who could explain the "no clear forward pass" when 29 of the 30 players on field had returned downfield because of what they had seen on the big screen? You may argue the later call that went against the Bulls evened things out but it was a decision that took the Bulls out to 23-6 at halftime and the horse had more or less bolted.
When Peyper tells Hore it's too many penalties in the opening minutes when the actual count was Bulls 6 Highlanders 4 you know something's amiss. Rubbing salt in the wound warning of more yellows for tacklers not rolling away when for the 1st hour that's precisely what the Bulls had been doing....in fact that's precisely the Bulls' game. When they dominated the Bok lineups in seasons past the same thing snuck into the national team. It took our dreadful officials a whole season to clamp down on it and again it's raising it's ugly head. This time the Bulls are trying to find that median of rolling around on the ground out the back of rucks just enough to impede arriving cleaners but not enough to earn the wrath of referees...well...not South African ones anyway.
And the water cooler?
Why don't we just give the whistle to Hugh Bladen?
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