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Bok fans react to Scotland-Ireland referee appointment
By Ian Cameron
The appointment of Australian referee Nic Berry for the upcoming Pool B decider between Ireland and Scotland at the 2023 Rugby World Cup has stirred a largely good-humoured debate among Bok fans.
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Admittedly, the choice of Berry to officiate a match that could significantly impact South Africa’s World Cup hopes has raised eyebrows with some more paranoid fans, primarily due to the contentious history between Springboks director of rugby Rassie Erasmus and Berry.
The appointment, which was made way back on August 22 , has resulted in much guffawing from the wider rugby community, for whom the serendipity of such an appointment is not lost.
The rugby world still vividly remembers the 2021 British and Irish Lions tour, during which Berry was the centre of attention due to the reaction of the Springboks’ coaching ticket to their negative perception of his performance in the first Test.
Erasmus publicly criticized Berry’s refereeing decisions in a now infamous online rant, leading to a highly charged atmosphere during the series and many newspaper headlines.
The content of the video ultimately led to a hefty ban for Erasmus, as World Rugby perceived that it incited abusive behaviour towards the Australian whistler.
The fact that he is now refereeing such a pivotal game for the Boks has triggered plenty of chat on X.
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South African journalist Brendan Nel wrote: “The irony of World Rugby appointing Nic Berry for the Ireland-Scotland game is not lost on anyone…”
The irony of World Rugby appointing Nic Berry for the Ireland-Scotland game is not lost on anyone… pic.twitter.com/NWxz7huyfM
— Brenden Nel (@Brendennel) October 4, 2023
Another account wrote: “No one could’ve script this any better. Rassie’s RWC fate lies on Nic Berry’s whistle he critiqued 2 years ago. We’ve come full circle.”
Squidge Rugby was a voice of sanity, writing: “He’s a professional, not some random fan…To avoid these conversations. Nic Berry, Angus Gardner & Paul Williams refereed their own nations over COVID and there were no complaints of bias, because they’re professionals.”
The reality is that the Springboks, no matter what referees Nic Berry does, are highly likely to make the quarterfinals, despite the gnashing of teeth from a small section of fans. Nevertheless, the appointment made nearly two months ago will no doubt be more grist to the mill for the more paranoid subset of Bok fans.
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More often South Africa has to worry about the TMO. Forget about the ref.
In fact all southern hemisphere teams should be wary of the TMO! The ABs were penalized because of the TMO injecting for any sign a knock on, high shot neck roll etc against France in the opener. It’s almost like they don’t see the other team at all? !
Nic berry or Angus Gardiner are great referees.
All good lads , this is rugby so we can count on a fair game ,,,, it's not football that only consists of fake injury and money laundering 🙈😜🍺👍
Weak. Jump higher, little girl. Much higher.
Does anyone seriously think Nic Berry will engineer a Scotland win to spite Rassie? Rugby scribes are getting dumber by the day
Higher, little girl, jump higher. You know you can. Get mommy to spell check your bleats, that way you won’t come across as such a pathetic loser.
Lame. Jump higher, try harder. You know you can, little girl.
Rassie is trying to influence referees at the World Cup with such comments. Foster is too. Calm down everyone. It’s not sour grapes. It’s thinking ahead. Putting referees on notice and playing mind games with world rugby in the hope that Nic Berry won’t referee any of their games coming up. It’s not petty shenanigans. It’s bigger picture antics.
quite right but the usual will have theirsh;t to say
You took the words right out of my mouth. It must have been while you listened to me. I don’t know the real words to the song so those will have to do lol.
Gents, and ladies perhaps if there are any here, Rassie was not wrong with the 62 minute video of Nic Berry in 2021. He said it like he saw it, he picked up on a lot of Nic’s mistakes of which there were plenty. As a professional ref particularly at high level matches, you cannot be cowtowing to the whims and wheres of the players. You gotta be able to be above that as well. Not letting one team get to you. On top of that as a ref, you gotta understand that a huge portion of fans are inevitably not going to like you during and after every match. It's how it is.
Nic Berry hid behind the skirts of World Rugby to protect him from a game that was far from fair. Even for the B&I Lions in that game there were calls that went awry.
What happened to the panel that would critique a ref after each game so that he can improve and know what is the best calls to make in any given circumstance? I haven't heard of any ref getting any sort of positive criticism recently.
Jean Claude
It would be justice if Ireland lost to Scotland and the Box were sent home, wouldn’t it. Rassie would then have 4 years to cry like the moaning baby he is!
No cure for your stupidness John boy !
What a stupid comment. Fucken stupid in fact.
slither back into your hole
Can you point out any mistakes made by Rassie in the video.
looking at these comments just makes me grin from ear to ear, these fools never learned. It’s just a catalyst for the Springboks, so carry on please, keep it coming.
But yeah haters are gonna hate, and jealousy makes you nasty it’s probably because their teams suck, except for Ireland, those blokes are great sportsmen unlike the AB’s that cry foul every time they lose.
Here is a little word of advice, you want to weaken the Springboks……this is not the way to do it
Have the ABS cried foul this World Cup? I don’t & haven’t seen or heard anything of the sort. In fact they are completely staying off the radar. They didn’t have 4 of their best players on the field when they played France in the opener and didn’t even make any excuses for the loss. Quietly going about their business in the background! SA v NZ final
Way too negative. The boks deserve better fans than this guy. They are a class act.
yeah cry baby loser ABs what have they won recently …. RC who were in that comp mmmm the exact same SA team NZsthe unconvincing crying and struggling seems to have benefits SO, in the end its who lifts the cup right , RIGHT and who lifted that cup i guess SA didnt really want to win those games now this comp is poised in the 1/4s for anyone to exit although france weren,t that convincing as were the ABs however i think bad games bring criticsm which in turn improvement plus crowd still i think you guys will win i also predict we will beat ireland why cause we have joe and jason
Agree @etienne You have to work hard for hate. You get pity for free.
Who cries foul after a loss? Every bloody SA fan and his mother…FFS Nick Mallet has already blamed the officials for SA not winning this Cup.
I call it karma…Rassie can't get his way all the time, hopefully he will throw all his toys out of the cot😆😆
Ah, I see you counting the chickens before they hatch. You a fool mate, but to dumb to realise it
Lol the video which Berry and Rugby Australia leaked themselves. But there a surprise, a media outlet misrepresenting the facts… and before you say go look at the interview by Rassie recently. It was a video uploaded on vimeo and was sent to a closed group. The uploader can track where the info is downloaded snd released…
Nigel why have you blocked me?
Didn’t I jump high enough or try harder 🤣
nigel is a fool
“Rassie’s RWC fate lies on Nic Berry’s whistle” Oooor if the Boks play good enough it’s fully up to Rassies coaching.
Publicly, wow, I still believe it was Andy Marinos who leaked that video. No one can say most of what RE said in that video wasn't correct. Berry had an atrocious time in the middle.
Let’s not forget exactly how many errors World Rugby recognized in Berry’s officiating in that game - and how there were no consequences for him as a professional (other than being publicly called out). The only noise around any of this was around Erasmus’ conduct. By everyone other than South African supporters. And he copped the ban.
Rugby must be one of the very few sports in the world where the referee’s competence/performance is unquestionable/beyond repute.
Agree 100%. Players get banned but referees stay week after week making the same mistakes - Rassie gets a 1 year ban for pointing out officiating mistakes while Sexton gets a 3 game ban for verbal abuse towrads a referee - No other team in the world would take this much s…
Uh, no. Australia lost the 2006 Football World Cup Round of 16 to Italy due to shocking refereeing, a penalty given in extra time which was not a penalty. Luis Medina Cantalejo continued with his career. Nobody gave a shit. Italy and Spain must continue in football.
Agreed, in Football, soccer for the yanks, the ref’s can drop down a tier or two ftom poor performances. Rugby you can be absolutely one died and still ref in the top tiers.