@no-quarter said in The Top Two Inches:
@stodders said in The Top Two Inches:
There feels to me to be more angst at refereeing these days and more talk of unconscious bias leading to 50/50 calls going against teams. I seem to recall the Oz GAGR forum curating videos uncovering AB skulduggery in the past (lots of yellow circles), and I'm sure there was a NZ one (or two) after 2007. This mantle has been picked up by the South Africans (with a large dollop of help from Jaco Johan) who now seem to be making videos showing how the Boks are the victims of a global conspiracy by refs. I recall some Irish ref-bashing in the past, but this seems to have died down now that they've managed to beat NZ a couple of times.
So my questions are, do you feel your team is more penalised than other teams? And if so, do you think there is a reason why? Or is it more to do with your own team's inadequacies?
I think not all penalties given in a game have the same impact. Some can really change the momentum and a couple in a row can lead to crucial points that can change a game big time. People say it evens out in the end, but the fact is it doesn't within 80 minutes - often one team will benefit more from calls going their way at crucial moments in the match.
I don't for a second believe there is any conspiracy, or that any one team is more often unfairly penalised, but sometimes your team does get pretty screwed by refereeing mistakes, so fans feel aggrieved.
It's a fast dynamic sport though, I'd say the hardest sport in the world to officiate, and I've come to accept that refs are going to make a handful of mistakes every game. I used to get really riled up at the injustice of it all, but these days I tend to not be too fazed. It's part of the game, and the best teams need the mental toughness to overcome things that don't go their way - the ABs under Richie post 2007 were superb at not letting bad calls throw them off their game.
This post needs more love.
