Western Province have once again fallen at the hands of a so called minnow of South Africas Currie Cup, this time losing 38-32 in nice try thriller in Brakpan on the weekend. The Gauteng Falcons claimed the scalp of the boys from Cape Town to record a famous victory for a small union who were very much the underdogs in this one.
Province were looking for an improved performance after their
loss to Griquas
last weekend, but once again disappointed as the game went to the side who showed the greater heart on the night.
The Falcons, commonly known as the Valke, have impressed many with their exciting brand of rugby so far this season. The expansive aspect of the game was matched by the physical though, as we saw hits flying in from all angles.
The game produced
two yellow cards and one red
, all of which are possibly up for discussion.
The first yellow went to Ross Skeate, who last week was on the receiving end of a few
crunching hits
himself. Skeates tackle this week was a bit of a
Brad Thorn
, picking up and tossing the player to ground rather than spearing or bringing him back down safely.
Next we saw a red card for Johan Swartz, the Valke winger who picked up little
Gio Aplon
and flipped him around before slamming him into the ground. The tackle was possibly based on momentum, and was similar to
Paul Emericks tackle on Olly Barkley
in the World Cup last year. Swartz got his marching orders, and Aplon, despite looking badly injured at once stage, got up and carried on showing no signs of bodily harm.
Once the standard had been set, referee Marius Jonker, along with his touch judges, made a point of being consistent, so when young Francois Louw made a tackle that closely resembled a spear, he promptly got his marching orders and spent ten minutes in the cooler himself.
So in summary, 70 points, two yellows, one red, and a whole bunch of big hits and running footy on display. Just a regular night of Currie Cup rugby really.
Over to you:
What are your thoughts on the tackles that were carded? Its a nice example for us to examine and compare three supposed spear/dangerous tackles from the same game with the same ref. Were all of them dealt with accurately, or did you think that the Valke were hard done by with their red, when Western Province only got yellows?
Time:
04:35
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