South Africa v New Zealand. RGR, Test Two. Argentina v Australia.
South Africa v New Zealand, Test Two If last week’s game was summed up by South African dropped ball unproductive entries into the 22, this game was summed up by a stat that’s not really recorded - the unwillingness of the referee to blow the whistle. The scrums were a shambles, and some, maybe most, of that was his fault - the cadence between bind and set in particular was all over the place. As short as 2s, as long as 10s. Crouch to bind was pretty consistently 3s. Yes, I timed it because it was so noticeably all over the place. (in the later test there was a bit of variation, but it was about 2-4s so the players still had to listen, and react, but weren't just waiting forever.) If both sides are a mess, and they were sometimes, a chat or better yet a fast reset. But if you’re only talking to one side, blow the fucking whistle. (Again, comparing to the later match, BOK spoke to the front rows once. Gus about four times, and once he called them all over, then only spoke to...