Springboks overcome iffy officiating to beat Italy

FOR several reasons, the Springboks' 32-14 defeat of Italy in Turin must rank among Rassie Erasmus' top 10 most gratifying wins, given this was a performance of the highest standards in the face of rank adversity. I can picture Erasmus in the Bok change room saying, "The officials can throw whatever they want at us, but we will suck it up and show them the middle finger.

- MIKE GREENAWAY

This unbelievably dramatic game will sadly be recalled for the ridiculous red card given to Franco Mostert, but it should equally be revered as a match where the Springboks confirmed they are one of the greatest teams to grace the game, as they once more found a way to win against the odds.

The wonderful Schalk Burger in the SuperSport studio best summed up the red-card disaster that struck the Boks when he said, "The referees are coming up with more fiction than Hollywood's script writers."

Schalk nailed it. For the second week in a row, a Springbok lock was given a permanent red card by the on-field referee, with no thought given to the proper process of referring the matter to the bunker, where officials can look at all the angles and arrive at the right decision.

If the Lood de Jager decision last week against France was harsh, the Mostert punishment was diabolical, mostly because replays showed that it was totally unwarranted his shoulder did not make contact with the head of flyhalf Paolo Garbisi in the 11th minute.

Further, for the referee to say there were no mitigating circumstances is pathetic because, as Mostert was preparing for the tackle, Ethan Hooker tackled Garbisi and lowered his height.

It is wrong that inept officials are permitted to ruin the games for the spectators by making massively impactful errors.