Scott Robertson still not over that Bongi 'try'

NEWS: All Blacks head coach Scott Roberston has revealed how the side tried to intervene to get Springboks’ hooker Bongi Mbonambi’s controversial try looked at in the Ellis Park Test last year.

The Springboks were blindly awarded a try to Mbonambi breaking from the back off the maul against the All Blacks in Johannesburg, despite replays showing a clear knock-on by the hooker afterward.

The try stood, there was no TMO intervention, and no check by the referee. Those five points helped swing the game South Africa’s way.

It was a case of miscommunication that changed the outcome of an entire Test match.

Robertson’s analyst called it immediately. “It’s a knock-on.” Robertson didn’t hesitate and passed the message down to captain Scott Barrett, who relayed it to referee Andrew Brace.

But the official was locked into the shot clock for the conversion, misinterpreting the protest as a time-wasting distraction rather than a challenge on the try itself.

The conversion had been missed, but the real issue – the try – was never looked at.

Robertson was boiling on the sideline, urging his team not to restart play, trying to buy time for any possible check.

“That’s when you see me animated,” Robertson recalled. “I’ve got to be a step ahead, not emotional. Think what’s next.”

“Let’s use Bongi’s try, that wasn’t a try, that wasn’t a try,” Robertson told Justin Marshall in an exclusive interview for The Breakdown, “That’s a prime example.”

“Ellis Park, first Test, at that moment, you know it is not going to go up on the big screen, not at Ellis Park.

“So our analyst, who is always checking that stuff. He’ll say ‘It’s a knock-on Razor, okay sweet, I go straight down to Scooter [Scott Barrett], “Scooter, get to Andrew Brace.”

“Sacha, at that stag,e was taking the kick [at goal]. Remember, he went too long on the kick, over 30 seconds.

“Scooter comes up to him [Brace] and goes, ‘Can you check the knock-on from Bongi?’, he goes, ‘Nah, nah, we’ve got the kick he’s over the 30-second limit.

“Scooter goes, “nah, nah, nah, we’re not worried about the kick, we’re worried about the try,” and he goes, “I’m not talking about the kick, he’s missed it.”

That got Scott Robertson up in arms and reacting to the drama unfolding on the field.

“Anyway, so there’s confusion around which one [we are asking about].

“We should’ve gone to the AR. Talk to him and get through so the guy upstairs can see it, because you’ve got until the kick-off. The conversion’s done, but you’ve got til the kick off, the next start of play.

“That’s when you see me animated, “Don’t kick it off D-Mac, hold the ball, hold the ball” and the ref’s going “kick it”.

“Those are the ones I’ve got to be a step ahead, I can’t get too emotional in that moment because I’ve got to think what’s next.”