Bok fans convinced by Eben Etzebeth conspiracy
Even Eben Etzebeth’s greatest critics would have to admit that he was on the receiving end of some strange calls yesterday against Argentina in the final round of the Rugby Championship in Durban.
It did not look good for the lock from the opening ten minutes, where his try was chalked off by referee Damon Murphy due to him apparently being in an offside position in a maul. It seemed pretty harsh as the on field call was for a try, meaning there had to be conclusive evidence that the try was illegal, which there wasn’t.
That was odd, but the most controversial moment of the match came on the hour mark, when the Sharks lock was yellow carded for a push on Pumas No6 Juan Martin Gonzalez when chasing a high kick. The officiating team believed this push resulted in the flanker knocking into Etzebeth’s teammate Canan Moodie, who hit Pumas scrum-half Gonzalo Bertranou, who in turn took Emiliano Boffelli out in the air, like a line of human dominoes.
Firstly, Etzebeth did definitely push Gonzalez near the jumper, which is illegal, so the 30-year-old was not exactly innocent in all of this. Then again, it is very tough to see how his push resulted in Boffelli being taken out. Bok fans are not happy with the way Etzebeth was treated in this match, with TAS Analytics sharing a video online of both of these incidents. While Bok fans are always going to side with their own player, they might have a point here.
Take a look at the video:
Despite South Africa coming away 38-21 winners in Durban, meaning they levelled the All Blacks at the top of the Rugby Championship table, they did not get the 39 point win margin that was required to win them the competition, meaning New Zealand were crowned champions.
