Owens sides with the officials
Two Springboks went to the bin inside a handful of minutes last weekend, and South Africa never recovered. Nigel Owens has now gone back over both incidents and reached a conclusion the Boks will not enjoy. The former Test referee, speaking on World Rugby’s Whistle Watch, called the two acts cynical and said the yellow cards were correct.
Marco van Staden went first. The replacement flanker tackled Cam Roigard from an offside position and spent ten minutes watching from the sideline. Owens explained why the law now leans towards the scrum-half in that situation.
“They’re giving a bit more protection to the scrum-halves now so if the ball is on the ground and the scrum-half has hands on the ball, being onside is irrelevant, you’re taking the nine out without the ball,” Owens said. The detail that condemned Van Staden was position. He was in front of his own hindmost foot, which made him offside before contact was ever made.
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Two cards, ten minutes, one series lead
Cobus Reinach followed him almost immediately. The All Blacks had opted for a scrum after officials decided an Ardie Savea tackle on Jasper Wiese was legal, and from the attack that followed Reinach threw out a hand at a ball he was never going to catch.
“I think he’s in front of the tunnel which means he’s offside anyway and he just sticks his hand out. There was no attempt to gather that ball,” Owens said. “That’s deemed to be a deliberate knock-on, cynical again, good attacking position again and a correct yellow card.”
South Africa trailed 26-16 when the first card came. Two men light, they conceded a fifth try through Will Jordan, and New Zealand walked off with a 33-16 win and a 1-0 lead in the four-Test Greatest Rivalry series.
Discipline becomes the story in Cape Town
The sequence matters more than the scoreline. South Africa had kept the margin manageable for an hour, then handed the All Blacks a numerical advantage at the precise moment New Zealand were camped in the Bok 22. Rassie Erasmus has reshuffled for the second Test, with Cheslin Kolbe back in and Handre Pollard ruled out, but selection was never the problem at Ellis Park.
Owens’ verdict removes any argument about hard luck. Both calls were right, both were avoidable, and the Boks have three Tests left to break a habit that cost them the opener.
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