Bryce fears for safety in SA
16 Nov 2011
Bryce Lawrence says he won’t officiate in South Africa next season if his personal safety is under threat.
Since Lawrence’s controversial performance in the Wallabies’ 11-9 quarter-final win over the Springboks at the World Cup, the Kiwi referee has been critcized for his handling of the breakdown by South African players, fans and media.
Retired Springbok captain John Smit said: ‘The one positive of retirement is that I won’t ever have to be reffed by him again’. Even Saru manager of referees Andre Watson slammed Lawrence’s performance, saying the New Zealander won’t officiate at a future World Cup as he would be severely admonished by the IRB.
A Facebook campaign titled ‘Petition To Stop Bryce Lawrence Ever Reffing A Rugby Game Again’ set up a platform for public abuse to be directed at Lawrence, while 94.7 Highveld Stereo radio station’s Darren ‘Whackhead’ Simpson has claimed to have prank called him in the middle of the night.
Speaking to Tony Veitch on Radiosport, Lawrence said he is aware of the threat of refereeing in South Africa during Super Rugby next year.
‘I’m not totally concerned. I know a lot of other people like the New Zealand Rugby Union and SANZAR do have some serious concerns,’ Lawrence said. ‘In all honesty, I’m not going to go over there if there’s any personal threat or I have concerns about my safety because in the end it’s a job. I know that, and also it’s just a sport so I’m not going to put myself at risk.’
‘I refereed the [Super Rugby] final last year,’ he continued. ‘I’ve refereed a lot of play-off games so that level is something I’m more than capable of refereeing. I’ll referee South African teams in Super Rugby, it may be in Australia or New Zealand that I referee them and I’m sure the criticism will resurface every time I do referee them.’
Lawrence admitted that he always thinks back to his performance in the Wallabies/Bok quarter-final fixture.
‘It hasn’t been the greatest four or six weeks of my life…in all honesty there isn’t a day goes by even now that I don’t think about what I could have done better and how it’s affecting me and what it means for me going forward. It’s still very fresh and probably pretty raw really,’ he said.
‘I was disappointed with some aspects in my own performance that day after refereeing four really pretty strong games in pool play. I’m not blaming anyone for the quarterfinal refereeing display apart from myself. I didn’t referee as well as I could.
‘I was pretty relaxed going into that game, and Australia/South Africa I have refereed numerous times in the last few years at Tri-Nations level so the game didn’t scare me or concern me. I just think I went away from what I’m best at. I’m best when I’m pretty decisive and reasonably technical and tactical – and I just went too much down the tactical side of things where I was really trying to minimise making technical errors.
‘I got criticised heavily and some of that I accept because I know I could have done better.’
Lawrence added that he has been punished by being left out of the Six Nations.
‘Look, there have been some pretty clear consequences from my quarterfinal display. I’m not going to be refereeing Six Nations next year, they can say that means I’m rested but in reality I accept that one of the consequences of my performance is that I’m not going to be doing Six Nations.
‘That’s disappointing from a personal level but also something that I probably support. Referees often get criticised and not held accountable – well I’m clearly being held accountable I’m not refereeing Six Nations.’
Meanwhile, Sanzar CEO Greg Peters told Eyewitness News they have not expressed any concerns regarding Lawrence’s safety in South Africa. Peters explained that he consulted their legal advisors and said the Lawrence safety saga has not been discussed within Sanzar.
395 Comments
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16 Nov 2011, 17:18 pm
@Gunther(gunther)-344: Speaking of noodles, I was searching the Net for a funny Pot o’ Noodle TV ad the other day (the marathon runners – very lol) and completely accidentally stumbled upon an online anti-Capo petition. Couldn’t believe my eyes, but there it was: http://www.notapoodle.com
16 Nov 2011, 17:23 pm
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-319:
I was watching that test and recall the incident well. For a snap call it wasn’t so clear cut obvious because Robertson still had a lot of running to do – and a penalty try is a big call. There has to be absolutely NO DOUBT there would have been a try – and in those days the touch judge didn’t comment and nor was their video replay. Rhodesia was my country and we often saw in Currie Cup SA refs favouring home sides in cricket and rugby so cheating came naturally to them – that’s a fact.
So Gert was probably the same because it would likely have been a try and the foul was deliberate and he didn’t have the ball.
As for your comment about my views being “pathetic” – no more insults if you want to talk with me. OK? I make a point of not insulting your views so I expect the same respect reciprocated.
I have listed my ‘grievances’ for the Kiwi element in these columns – loads of expamples of biased, mainly anti-Bok reffing – and nobody has the courtesy or maturity to respond to them one by one – why should I do it again? Even when we have visuals of an Aussie-Scotland forwards coach and a former Irish international pointing to obvious irregularities which favour the All Blacks and are not getting called – all we get from you guys is dismissal and the “sour grapes” accusation. What possible axe do these guys have to grind? You asked me about Gert – I conceded the point because I actually thought about what you were asking.
16 Nov 2011, 17:31 pm
@J.B. Cowper(J.B. Cowper)-352:
JB not your views are pathetic, I’m saying anybody who suggests he was on the take is pathetic. I respect your opinion because you know and clearly love the game.
16 Nov 2011, 17:55 pm
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-353:
Thanks likewise – and I AGREE that a comment that he was on the take is utterly ridiculous … he might (or might not) be predisposed but it’s for love of country (if it is true) and not money … seriously, that is absolutely stupid thing to say.
16 Nov 2011, 18:18 pm
Fck that. Brycie’s reffing is the closest Rugby can come to match fixing. Simple. His “concern for his safety” is because the fckwit knows he is rotten to the core. A guilty conscience.
16 Nov 2011, 18:20 pm
A public bogwash for Brycie the moment he steps onto SA soil. And then a weekend locked up in a cell with 28s… Yes please.
16 Nov 2011, 18:42 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-356: lol papa wag vir jou,,.,..,,,,,
16 Nov 2011, 19:00 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-357: Yeah…
16 Nov 2011, 20:12 pm
You Saffies,really have to calm down on the Kiwi hating.
I know it’s hard coming from a third world country,with little to look forward too in life except the occasional game of rugby against the world champs.
I can understand that beating the World champs,once in a while may alleviate some of the suffering you all go through just to survive in South Africa.
I suppose I can’t fully appreciate the hardships you guys have,just trying to find your next meal and the famine and disease your exposed to on a daily basis.
But despite all the heartaches of living in the third world, it’s a bit rich taking out all your problems on a little country like NZ,especially with all the wonderful charity work we do.
In conclusion Saffies….wake up and don’t bite the hand that feeds you.
16 Nov 2011, 20:24 pm
hahahahahahhahahahhahahaha
Bryce you are such a little wan ker, go suck your mothers *** you baby!
16 Nov 2011, 20:26 pm
@bokke baiter(bokke baiter)-359:
hey doos, the only thing our hand does is reduce the loss you so called first world idiots make………..
16 Nov 2011, 20:55 pm
@whatever(whatever)
Whatever
16 Nov 2011, 20:57 pm
its only a game. get over it.
16 Nov 2011, 20:58 pm
Chokka?
16 Nov 2011, 21:00 pm
Oops thought it was bok bait.
16 Nov 2011, 22:46 pm
Where is our African hospitality gone? Its a game, he tried his best made mistakes (he is human),so lets move on.Come on every one, lets show the world why South Africa is great.Its our team spirit and hospitality that should rise above all petty arguments.
17 Nov 2011, 00:48 am
Yarpies and their violent vindictiveness simply shame their nation and expose their own third-worldliness.
17 Nov 2011, 00:53 am
Through the course of the tournament (and through the course of the last 2 years), Bryce has managed to stuff the chances of NZ’z greatest threats in SA and AUS. He has done it repeatedly and without regret.
Is this a conspiracy?? Who knows. NZ were desperate to win this WC and there is every chance that they would cheat to do it. They have a long history of cheating so it doesn’t surprise.
But this has gone way over the top. It’s still a game , it’s not life and death. I would hate to see us turn into Kiwis where Rugby is the only thing that matters, where we beat our wives when we don’t win, where we fall into depression when we don’t win, where we constantly whinge and blame everyone else when we don’t win. Let’s not let that happen.
Half the teams at the WC got screwed by referees (except NZ). Let’s just acknowledge that, say we didn’t deserve to win it anyway as we weren’t the best, and move on. And as for the ANZAC conspiracy….well…the Aussies hate him even more than we do.
17 Nov 2011, 00:56 am
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-367: Hahaha,” tough luck” Bryce is a third world ref
17 Nov 2011, 01:54 am
@jeest(jeest)-368:
What a joke of a post.
you just accused me of beating my wife.
You may make a joke of wife beating but that cr@ps serious.
And what really gets me is the way you say it, its like it never happens in South Africa,1000s of rapes and murders happen in SA every year,just as much gets un reported. Do you kill each other cos of a 3 nations loss??
Sounds like it.
You know nothing about us Kiwis, rugby is not the only thing that matters. We support mostly anything to do with sport.
17 Nov 2011, 02:37 am
@JL1(JL1)-369: Bryce is — and remains — a TEST grade referee. You’re good, if you can say that. And the 2011 3N rankings were perfectly reflected in the RWC — NZ, Oz and wooden-spooners SA in that order yet again.
17 Nov 2011, 02:53 am
http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3943_7310868,00.html
this is how the world is looking at the rainbow nation. read the comments.
not a good look
and this post is funny
codis says…
Bryce Lawrence mountain biking in South Africa http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2oymHHyV1M
17 Nov 2011, 04:10 am
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-370: I can see you were unable to comprehend my post. I will try to put it into terms a 3 year old would understand next time in order to correspond with the level of education you are required to achieve in NZ.
Apologies for confusing you into thinking you beat your wife and for making a “joke” out of it when I said that it would be a shame if that sort of stuff went on here too as a result of losing a game. Obviously you have a different concept of the term “joke’ to the rest of the world.
Rugby is far too important in NZ – and I realise that you are all too insular to recognise that fact but why don’t you just stay of of the conversation while educated people post.
Thanks.
17 Nov 2011, 05:08 am
@jeest(jeest)-373:
So really what are you trying to say here?
“when I said that it would be a shame if that sort of stuff went on here too as a result of losing a game”
So you are still saying we beat our wives after a loss.
You seem to think your alot more intelligent than me, damn am i worthy talking to such a higher power as yourself?
You really need to get over yourself man, your honestly not all that.
Rugby is important to NZ, didnt say it never did but have you missed how important rugby is to SA as well? Bryce isnt allowed in the country, death threats even on here.
Not once can i recall the IRB stopping a ref going to a country cos of the chance he will be in danger.
17 Nov 2011, 05:37 am
@jeest(jeest)-368:
Bryce reffed S15 Final 2011,who won that game? He reffed the 1/4 final Aus v SA .Who won that game? Your conspiracy theories are a joke as are you.
17 Nov 2011, 05:43 am
With regard to the Bryce situation, I have quite clearly stated that what has happened is ridiculous. I don’t for one second condone death threats or the behaviour that is continuing. The game is over, the tournament is over, it should all just be put to rest.
With regard to your issue with my statement that there are domestic violence increases in NZ that mirror All Black results –
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/all-blacks/news/article.cfm?c_id=116&objectid=10468736
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/rugby-world-cup/4190359/Police-fear-violence-if-All-Blacks-fail-at-cup
These are from your own publications.
With regard to what I mean…I think it was obvious. I’m saying just that…It would be a massive shame if things were like they are in New Zealand where domestic violent spikes just because the Rugby team loses. Where Rugby is taken so seriously that opposition fans at an international event are subjected to constant abuse and threats, and where productivity falls and depression increases based on Rugby results. And I feel that the continuation of this Bryce hatred is the sort of thing included in this statement.
17 Nov 2011, 05:48 am
@Te Rangatira(Te Rangatira)-375: He reffed the final and tried to let the Crusaders win but the Reds were just too good.
In any case – he has ruined dozens of games over the past 2 years, don’t pick up one example and use it as a rule. He destroyed the QF (Tahs, Blues) with atrocious refereeing to favour the Blues. A couple of weeks earlier he made one of the most ridiculous rulings in history at scrum time. He has blown the way of his home teams in every game i’ve seen in 2010 and 2011 and now he has continued that form into internationals where everyone gets to see what we have been dealing with. The bloke is a joke, whether deliberate or not. You will also I see I didn’t say it was a conspiracy. I clearly stated “who knows”.
17 Nov 2011, 07:48 am
Funny how some bloggers on here slate South African refs….then praise Kiwi refs as TEST grade…logic goes out the window when the argument is clearly biased.
Pfffffffff….
17 Nov 2011, 09:50 am
@jeest(jeest)-377:
But you also said
“They have a long history of cheating so it doesn’t surprise”
So you dont know if its a conspiracy but it wouldnt surprise you if it was cos we cheat alot?
And then you say:
“where we constantly whinge and blame everyone else when we don’t win. Let’s not let that happen.”
And then you go on to bleat and complain about all the losses that you guys have suffered cos of one ref.
Are you a doctor heckyll and Mr Hyde sort of character?
17 Nov 2011, 10:17 am
Everybody knows kiwi refs are the best in the world. They are reffing World Champion players day in and out.
By reffing the country with the worlds best players it follows that their refereeing skills are the best in the world.
Any injustices felt by Saffies or any other countries are simply down to fact they don’t understand rugby as well as kiwis.
If there were diplomas in rugby,kiwis would always be top of the class.
17 Nov 2011, 11:38 am
Haha, Saffas get over it boys! you came 8th in the WC because your team was to old, and basically rubbish!Not because of a ref.
70% possesion and you could still not get the deal done, mugs!
Rugby is important to Kiwis as it is to you, otherwise you would still not be bleating on about it
2 months on.
I don’t blame Lawrence for been worries, remember that big fat Bok supporter that ran on the field to attack the ref as the “ref was cheating” in his words.
Luck Richie was there to knock his fat biltong eating *** out.
17 Nov 2011, 15:46 pm
@lawsy25(lawsy25)-381: Oi!!! I Object!!!
What’s wrong with eating biltong…?
17 Nov 2011, 16:16 pm
I come back to this thread more farken pi.ssed off than when I first set my bleeding eyes upon it:
This farken Brycecunt:
- Not only screws the Boks in the QF by doing nothing less than fixing the match…
- He also implicitly screws the reputation of the Country SA and all Bok fans by implication, not by logic, but by his emotions and fears borne of a now obvious guilty conscience…
Brycecunt “fears for his safety” – so this is the bravery of a Kiwi…? Farken Coward, like many of his snivelling countrymen who now occupy this Rugby site. They all display similar snivelling, snorting, blinkered cowardly characteristics.
Fark this fool!
17 Nov 2011, 20:18 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-383: ouch bitter. gosh i’m so happy your more p!ssed off than usual. get over it HG. your a petty childish loser whose an embarrassment to any race.
yeah kiwi’s are cowards. thats why we come over to southAfrica and win 3Nations. all of NZ are cowards. thats why we went through the WC undefeated. didnt realise that winning was cowardly.
boks didnt deserve to win. boks were a team of old men and a figure head coach. boks got biased refereeing through out the tournament but all you bleat on about is bryce. you guys had heaps of ref’s call fall your way in the wales and samoa games but convienently all you remember is what suits.
the truth will set u free. 4 more years
17 Nov 2011, 20:53 pm
@lawsy25(lawsy25)-381:
Get your facts straight doos for brains. It was AJ Venter who gave the guy a smack
At least the fat dude did not try sexually molest a runner on the side of the road, like the drunken role model All Black
Idiot
17 Nov 2011, 20:56 pm
So a few blogers are still bleating on about little brycie, hey at least we did not spend millions on a commission of enquiry like NZ did after 2007. Faaak me the whole nation spat the dummy. Funny how all that is now forgotten after a jammie 1 point win over a rabble French team
Wow, how proud
17 Nov 2011, 20:59 pm
Just to show how proud you all are, lets have one of those face pulling competitions somewhere again, you know those boring dime a dozen little dances you tossers do at every oportunity that actualy means nothing cause the words make zip sence. Called a haka I think
beeeaaautiful
17 Nov 2011, 21:13 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-383:
So now calling Kiwis cowards is bravery?
And yet you sit behind the computer at home while doing all the name calling etc.
lol
Damn, so much for South African bravery, you are really showing how its done.
17 Nov 2011, 21:16 pm
@whatever(whatever)-385: yes embarrasing about guildford. luckily sexual harrassment and rape never happens in SA. wish NZ didnt have so much carJacks, drivebys and murder. southAfrica is such a better, greener, safer and racially tolerant place to live.
“we did not spend millions on a commission of enquiry like NZ did after 2007″ um we didnt spend millions and how is your reaction to bryceGate any better than ours was in 2007? isnt andreWatson(irony) also trying to get in on the bloodletting by taking bryce to court? have you not read saffa’s reaction to bryce? yeah y’all handling it much better than we did 2007. Barnes came and reffed in NZ in 2008 and all NZ did was refuse to acknowledge him. he never felt threatened. we try to win our games on the field thanx.
cheap shot at the haka, but it is only a dance so get over it.not sure why the world makes such a big deal over it. i’m sure the only culture u know of is in yoghurt or in your undies
17 Nov 2011, 21:25 pm
@whatever(whatever)-386:
“Funny how all that is now forgotten after a jammie 1 point win over a rabble French team”
1 point is a win, dont you think?
I mean you took the Wales game in the RWC as a win didnt you? The ref gave you that game.
@whatever(whatever)-387:
Yeah, it was full on as you know cos YOU live here.
So really if you dont like being in a country while its hosting the RWC, you should leave and comeback when its over and done with or NZ should just apologise to you Whatever, how dare we.
Must have been torture for you. Just imagine the poor people wishing they could have been a part of the experience in NZ , you know real rugby fans. And here you walking down Queens street muttering under your breath about the damn haka.
17 Nov 2011, 23:27 pm
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-390:
aaaahhhhhh poor little Hurricane………..you offended and nose outa joint? Do a face pulling dance, you may feel better
On second thoughts, rather not!
Dude, if you don’t think the haka is overdone then you on P like the rest of ya mates
The Haka has run it’s course, there is no place in moden rugby for a heathen dance and throat slitting. And you have a crack at SA for being 3rd world. Cry me a river!
For the umteenth time, I dig the country and most of it’s inhabitants, just not the few one eyed twats that think their sh it does not smell and does not come out in little marble shaped black pellets
And I must have missed the bit about Watson taking Brycie Wycie to court?
One other thing, the Boks never lost due to Brycie, they lost because they could not turn possesion into points……….simple
Finaly, did you have your head in the sand after 2007? Did you not witness the angst in NZ, the endless anti Henry letters to the press, the inquiry into “where it all went wrong” and all the anti Barnes talk in the papers and on the blogs.
Please don’t tell me you are one eyed as well?
18 Nov 2011, 00:38 am
@whatever(whatever)-391: yes haka is probably over done and it’s a bit antiquated. definitely has no place in modern rugby but that’s what makes it that much more dramatic.
would you like all the teams to be boring and do the same old thing all the time? kiwi’s are precious about the haka, but then so is the world towards it. why does a simple tradition get so much attention? what’s the harm? it’s only a dance yet people go on and on about it.
the throat slitting gesture I can understand is misinterpreted (supposed to be the drawing in a breath of life) and the players that perform it tend to use it as a throat slitting (nonu in the finals) but so what’s the big deal? It’s a simple little ritual that AB’s have been doing for over a hundred years.
Does it really impact on the game? Who does it hurt?
18 Nov 2011, 04:09 am
@man1a(man1a)-392:
Does not hurt anyone, it’s just become a joke and the NZ public (in general) are so precious about it, it is quite pathetic.
But hey if a bunch og grown men want to pull faces and look like complete tossers, well hey thats their right I guess?
And can someone give me the actual meaning of the words? Or are they really meant to mean googldygook?
26 Jan 2012, 12:02 pm
“Lawrence told allblacks.com website this week that the fallout from the Springboks’ World Cup game had been “intense”.
“From the quarterfinal through the first two weeks after that, it was pretty hectic,” he said.
“I was getting messages via Facebook and on my e-mails like ‘watch your back when you get here because I’m going to take you out. I can’t wait for you get here so I can spit on you’ [said messages from South Africa].
“I wasn’t too worried about people telling me they couldn’t wait until I got to South Africa so they could spit on me.”
Lawrence said the hardest part was the realisation he could have done better, including spending time with Paddy O’Brien dissecting the quarterfinal performance.
“The criticism didn’t hurt me that much because I know I didn’t referee as well as I should have,” Lawrence said.
“I took a plan of not being overly technical into that game and possibly that was not the right plan.
“To get to my biggest game and not referee anywhere near as well, I let myself down and I also let the team down.”
He said that what hurt him were accusations that his actions had been deliberate and underhand to benefit the World Cup hosts.
“It only really hurt when it became personal, when people started saying it was a fix-up and I’d done it so the All Blacks could get through. That hurt,” he said.
“I’d done my self-review and realised I’d missed a couple of things, but you can’t get overly concerned about that because I had just missed them – it wasn’t as if I’d seen them and decided not to do anything.”
27 Jan 2012, 23:42 pm
@bokke baiter(bokke baiter)-359: Third world is correct, but everything outside Auckland is Hill Billy country, mate.
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