VIDEO: White on why he spoke to the ref after crazy card game
It resembled a satirical sketch from Monty Python’s Flying Circus, as Irish referee Eoghan Cross attempted to make sense of the befuddlement caused by the rash of cards he dished out.
The Bulls managed to overcome a challenging second half in which they received a red and two yellow cards to beat Ospreys 29-19 in Swansea and remain unbeaten in the United Rugby Championship.
However, the drama that unfolded in the latter part of the game prompted Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White to approach the referee in the immediate aftermath for some ‘clarity’.
The Bulls spent a substantial chunk of the second half playing with 13 men and the last few minutes with just 12.
Centre David Kriel was red-carded in the 50th minute for a ‘leading elbow’ that connected with the neck area of an opponent, while two yellow cards – Elrigh Louw in the 52nd minute for a deliberate knock-on and Alulutho Tshakweni in the 72nd minute for a high tackle – left the Bulls down two players.
It was in the last three minutes that it became almost farcical as Cross and his match-official team attempted to figure out how many players the Bulls should have on the field.
With Gerhard Steenekamp having failed his Head Injury Assessment and having been replaced by Tshakweni, who was now in the sin bin, the match was reduced to uncontested scrums.
It required Johan Grobbelaar, replaced by Armand van der Merwe, to return – as the laws required the Bulls to have three front row forwards on the field, even though it was uncontested scrums.
With Grobbelaar on, the Bulls had to lose another player.
First captain Ruan Nortje was sent off, then recalled, and sent off again, before, eventually, fellow lock Ruan Vermaak was ‘substituted’ to allow Grobbelaar back on.
It meant the Bulls were down to 12 players for the last three minutes of the match.
The Bulls boss, White, admitted he had some questions for Cross.
(WATCH as Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White speaks about his post-match reaction to the hard-earned 29-19 win over the Ospreys, following a chaotic second half in Swansea….)
He said his team shot themselves in the foot with their discipline.
“I went to ask the referee about that red card,” White said, adding: “I see different interpretations of how you read it.
“It had a massive impact on the game.”
The Bulls boss said he has never experienced such chaos in a game in his 42 years of coaching.
“The captain came off and I don’t know who took the captain off,” he said, adding: “I don’t think even the referee knows who called our captain off.
“It is the first time I ever experienced that.
“It was fortunate we got through that on the other side.”
The Director of Rugby says he does not believe it was a discipline issue, but unfortunate incidents.
White credited his players with finding a way to win despite the two-man disadvantage for most of the final quarter and the three-man deficit for the last few minutes.
“The defence in that last 10 minutes – with 13 and 12 players – was outstanding.”
White admitted that, with two players who suffered concussions—Gerhard Steenekamp and Elrigh Louw—and Kriel’s red-card hearing, he is likely to make at least three changes for the Round Five encounter with Scarlets this coming Friday.
“You need depth and we are fortunate to have a lot of depth,” White said.
He revealed that he was flying Devon Williams in after he recovered from his injury.
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