Another gripping weekend of Test rugby action is in the books, highlighted by a history-making win for Italy over Australia, while the sight of a pulsating Stade Velodrome in Marseille was a sign of things to come at next year’s Rugby World Cup.
The boisterous French crowd went home happy after their team made it 12 straight Test wins, Les Bleus holding off a determined Springboks team that had seen Pieter-Steph du Toit red-carded after just 11 minutes.
There could be no argument with that decision from Wayne Barnes, nor the one that saw Antoine Dupont also sent off after a frightening aerial collision with Cheslin Kolbe.
Elsewhere, there were wins for England, Ireland, Wales and finally New Zealand, who maintained their unbeaten record against Scotland with a 31-23 win at Murrayfield.
Read on as we discuss some of the big talking points from the weekend.
GIVE THE TWITTER VIDEO REPORTS A BREAK, RASSIE
It seems South Africa’s Director of Rugby and World Cup-winning coach Rassie Erasmus has learned nothing from a 12-month suspension for his infamous YouTube refereeing clinic during last year’s British & Irish Lions series.
In reality, he is now thumbing his nose at World Rugby, almost baiting the game’s administrators into further sanction.
After Saturday night’s 30-26 loss to France, Erasmus took to Twitter to highlight two separate refereeing calls made by Barnes, two decisions he felt aggrieved by. The first was a fend on Chelslin Kolbe in the opening minute of the game, where the winger looked to have copped a forearm to the neck area, while the second was a forward pass call in the game’s closing stages.
Not content with one Twitter video, Erasmus returned to social media on Sunday to pinpoint four further incidents where he thought the Springboks had been treated unfairly.
Rugby is an imperfect game and officials are asked to make decisions in a split second, just as Barnes did throughout the 80 minutes in Marseille. And the whistle-blower got the two biggest calls of the game – the red cards to du Toit and Dupont – absolutely spot on.
But you could pinpoint any number of other calls that were 50/50, including the one that saw the Springboks take a 23-22 lead when France replacement Sekou Macalou was penalised for not releasing the ball when it appeared the tackle was not complete.
Again, Barnes was asked to make a decision in a split second, and that’s how he saw it.
What Erasmus is doing achieves little for his team, in fact it gives off the look that the Springboks believe it is them against the world – that they are the victims of a refereeing conspiracy.
Had the Springboks kicked their goals in Dublin – after which Erasmus published another Twitter rough cut – they would have likely beaten Ireland. Had du Toit not clattered into Jonathan Denty at the breakdown after 11 minutes in Marseille, South Africa would have been far better placed to beat France.
If Erasmus has gripes with the refereeing, then by all means take them up through the official World Rugby channels. Raising any potential issues with the controversial try scored by Silipia Falatea, would be the perfect example.
But going to social media with rough cut video edits is never going to help the Springboks’ cause.
Erasmus is a revered figure in South Africa and rightfully so, what he achieved with the Boks in 2019 alongside skipper Siya Kolisi was special. But he is fast losing respect outside of the Republic and won’t be winning any friends subconsciously among World Rugby’s refereeing panel.
SCOTTISH LAMENT AS GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY GOES BEGGING
Week three of the Autumn Nations Series came to a close with a gripping encounter at Murrayfield, as Scotland chased a piece of history of their own — an elusive first win over the All Blacks.
The Scots’ 117-year wait for a victory over the three-time world champions will extend for at least a few more years yet after they were beaten 31-23, but not because of a lack of effort from the hosts on Sunday afternoon.
In fact, as it was when Beauden Barrett scragged Stuart Hogg in the corresponding fixture five years ago, the Scots came within centimetres of two vital scores that would have given them the breathing space that would have made the All Blacks’ late comeback all the more difficult.
The first came late in the first half, after Scotland had recovered from an early 14-0 deficit when it looked like the All Blacks might be about to blow their hosts off the paddock. Having levelled the scores with a penalty try and then a piece of individual brilliance from Darcy Graham, the winger looked to have produced an incredible finish in the corner.
While Graham was able to ground the ball acrobatically, the assistant referee correctly ruled he had just grazed a fraction of the touchline and Scotland were denied at least five points.
After two Finn Russell penalties had taken Scotland out to a 20-14 lead early in the second, Hogg put his head through the All Blacks defence and set course for the tryline. But in a play that was eerily similar to the one from five years ago, this time it was Scott Barrett who brought Hogg down, just a metre from the whitewash.
Had Hogg gone over, or one of his teammates, the Scots would have been out to a 27-14 lead, and that would have proved a far bigger challenge for the All Blacks to run down.
When Jack Dempsey was sin-binned for a deliberate knockdown the momentum was always going to swing, and so it did as the All Blacks ran in two late tries to win 31-23.
“It was a show of resilience after going 14-0 down to one of the best teams in the world, but we didn’t get the win,” Scotland coach Gregor Townsend said.
“You don’t get to play New Zealand very often and that’s the best opportunity in our history we’ve had to beat them… we scored 23 points to nil during a 50-minute period so those margins you have to kick on and win. You have to see out the win and we didn’t do that.
“I felt our management of when to play and when to kick was excellent and our chase was outstanding, but we let them back in with a couple of errors.”
RENNIE REPLACEMENT MANAGEMENT AGAIN CALLED INTO QUESTION
Australian rugby has hit a fresh new low, with the Wallabies suffering a first ever defeat by Italy.
Outplayed by their hosts for much of the match, an understrength Wallabies outfit still had the chance to avoid the embarrassing loss when Cadeyrn Neville rumbled over right on fulltime. The try left debutant fly-half Ben Donaldson, who had only been on the field four minutes, with a conversion about 15 in from touch for the victory.
But Donaldson pushed his kick to the right of the posts, and joyous scenes erupted around the Stadio Artemi Franchi in Florence.
It was a crushing moment for Donaldson and his debut will now forever be tied to that missed conversion. But, Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has again been thrust into the spotlight for his use of his replacements, just a week after he was slammed by former Wallabies winger Drew Mitchell for taking Bernard Foley off against the French.
Hindsight is a handy tool, but it was always going to be a big ask for Donaldson, on debut, to come on and get a feel for the game in just four minutes – and then line up a potential match winner.
Rennie is under mounting pressure Down Under, with reports Rugby Australia will review his position at the end of the tour. His decision to make 11 changes to the team that started against France has in particular brought heavy criticism, but Rennie has rejected suggestions he disrespected Italy.
The fact the Wallabies still had a kick to defeat Italy, despite conceding 16 penalties and producing periods of play that were nowhere near Test match standard, suggests the players were as much to blame as the coach.
Australia had the necessary talent to defeat Italy, but the Wallabies just didn’t execute consistently well enough.