VIDEO: Jonker 'robbed' Crusaders at Newlands
WATCH as Crusaders coach Scott Robertson speaks about the feedback he got from SANZAAR over the contentious TMO decision which denied the Crusaders victory over the Stormers in Cape Town last week.
In a week of turmoil, there was at least a morsel of favourable news.
The week, since their contentious 19-all draw with the Stormers at Newlands, has been consumed by the fall-out of the players’ off-field behaviour.
New Zealand Rugby launched a formal inquiry on Tuesday into allegations that Crusaders players engaged in homophobic abuse and groped a woman during their recent trip to South Africa.
NZ Rugby Chief Rugby Officer Nigel Cass described the allegations as “very serious” and said a lawyer had been engaged to investigate them.
Robertson front up to the media on Thursday and addressed both the contentious TMO decision which denied the Crusaders victory over the Stormers in Cape Town last Saturday and the off-field drama.
The Crusaders coach confirmed that South African official Marius Jonker had been misguided in his overzealous attempt to stamp his mark on the game.
Jonker, who will be a TMO at the Rugby World Cup in Japan later this year, had clearly made up his mind before communicating with Australian referee Nic Berry – putting the pass in question on the big screen at Newlands.
“I’m going to show you a forward pass,” he told Berry.
After a couple of replays – both from the same view – were shown, Jonker said: “So, we have a forward pass, it’s clear and obvious evidence of a forward pass.”
It has since emerged that Jonker was removed from the panel of match officials for this week’s Round 15 Super Rugby matches.
“We got clarity of the understanding of the rule,” Robertson told a media briefing in Christchurch – as they look to move on from the draw and build towards their north-south New Zealand derby with the Blues.
“If it’s backwards out of the hand, the pass is going backwards,” the coach added.
“Obviously, momentum is a big part of why it looked forward but it isn’t forward.
“It would be a pretty tough game of rugby [if you had] to stand still and pass backwards.
“It’s a momentum game.
“Look, they [SANZAAR] just cleared up that the ruling was wrong.”
Had Sevu Reece’s 75th-minute chip-and-chase try stood, the Crusaders would have led 24-16 (before the conversion attempt) and all but had a bonus point (four tries to one) win in the bag.
Instead, the Stormers earned a penalty from the resulting scrum and launched the raid which led to the match-levelling penalty, kicked after the final hooter.
While the result will stand, it has been reported that Jonker and Rasta Rasivhenge have been punished for questionable decisions they arrived at in last weekend’s Round 14 matches.
Rasivhenge and Jonker were scheduled to do duty this weekend at Newlands – where the Stormers host the Highlanders – but both have disappeared off the list of match official appointments.
Australia’s Nic Berry takes control of the match instead of Rasivhenge‚ while TMO duties now fall to Christie du Preez.
@rugby365com
