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The closing quarter of the first Test handed South Africa two yellow cards, a finish with thirteen men and plenty of material for the Monday argument.
Marco van Staden went first, punished for illegally playing the opposition scrum-half. Soon after it was Cobus Reinach, on from the bench: a deliberate knock-on, a second yellow, and the Springboks were down to thirteen.
Long after the horse had bolted
By then the game was gone. South Africa still had a couple of chances at thirteen against fifteen, but burned them by losing the ball in contact again — one more replay of the problem that had ruined their whole evening.
Worth being clear about one thing: the two cards didn’t decide the Test, they only rubber-stamped it. The account had been closed long before.
The two calls that lit the debate
The Ellis Park finish handed referee Matthew Carley two decisions that will be argued over for days: on both occasions the Englishman waved away the recommendation of Scottish TMO Mike Adamson.
The heavier one came on 70 minutes and involved New Zealand captain Ardie Savea. Adamson asked for a review of a tackle on Jasper Wiese for possible head contact; Carley watched it back and concluded the impact was on the shoulder and that it was the South African’s head that had come forward. No foul play, no card, play on.
Shortly afterwards, the same pattern on a possible foul play incident involving Luke Jacobson: another flag from the video booth, another decision from Carley not to stop.
Savea later admitted he had spent those minutes holding his breath. In South Africa, where officiating standards in home Tests are a permanent talking point, those two calls will make noise for a while. But the argument is one thing and the scoresheet another: five tries to one, and twenty-three turnovers conceded, describe a match that was not decided in the video booth. Pieter-Steph du Toit, captaining in Siya Kolisi’s absence, admitted as much: the Springboks shot themselves in the foot.
Read also: All Blacks stun Springboks 33-16 in first Test · Scrum and metres to South Africa, the win to New Zealand
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