When are referees finally going to start penalising Richie McCaw?

Question

I'm not making excuses at all. The All Blacks were the better team and fully deserved to win. Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith and Dan Carter in particular were outstanding.

But Richie McCaw consistently breaks rules at the breakdown and the referee consistently ignores it. Andrew Sheridan did it once, gets sin binned and then New Zealand run in two tries while he's off.

Last week against Ireland your captain did the same. Again, no punishment.

What's going on with referees these days?

Congratulations by the way, it was boys against men in terms of the backs.

Answer 1

Cheating is deliberately breaking the rules and I don't believe McCaw cheats. Like any flanker he pushes things as far as he can and at times he infringes and is rightly penalised.

BUT I guarantee that he knows the laws of rugby better than any correspondent in this forum and probably well enough to be able to do things faster and better than a referee at times (who has to watch for many other things) can keep up with. Good example was the penalty on Saturday when the ref said McCaw was "clearly" not the tackler. When in fact he clearly was.

I'm not saying that he doesn't ever infringe. I just know that he is a good enough player and person not to want or need to cheat.

Answer 2

Actually if you open the other eye you will see Richie gets penalised more for who he is , he is under more scrutiny. What about where he got penalised for not joining from behind he claimed he was the tackler, the referee said "NO you you were not the tackler" replays showed clearly he was.

I guess you missed that part probably checking the calendar to see how many more decades till England actually win something.

Answer 3

Hey,, I'm argentinian and practise rugby.. and I think Richie is one of the bests players in the world..although he sometimes commit some faults..

And it's very difficult to be a referee..more in rugby,, cuz u have to be seeing the offside and the ruck and lots of thing at the same time.. I think the referee always has the reason and i don't think as u..

Kiss..

Answer 4

Same as Schalk Burger, George Smith and Phil Waugh. The top flankers push the boundries thats what makes them great. Sometimes they get pinged sometimes they don't.

Answer 5

He's very good at pushing the boundaries of the law not necessary breaking them. I was at the game and the English were constantly coming in from the side and going over the top.

Answer 6

Yes, he does cheat sometimes, but he is a big name. And the reason he is a big name is because he's an extraordinary player. He turns the ball over a lot of the time not all legal but if you can get away with it why not do it?

Answer 7

He gets away with so much because hes richie fucckingmccaw thats why. Lower profile players don't get away with as much in terms of minor infringements because the refs dont worry about the outcome. If he was to pull up on richie for all his foul plays, the ref would soon be getting booed from thousands of people in the crowd and would get a bad name for himself. To put it simply theres a lot you can get away with in rugby, but it helps a h**l of a lot if youre the worlds bst ever number 7.

Answer 8

he gets there quickly and gets it done before the ref can see it.

thats the only explanation i have for it.

Answer 9

THE TIME HE WAS 'OFFSIDE' HE WAS THE TACKLER BUT THE REF DIDNT SEE IT-IF YOU DONT BELIEVE ME WATCH THE REPLAY MATE

Answer 10

Can't answer your question as I'v never controlled any All Blacks match but them referees and side line refs. can't all  be blind or ignorant of the rules. The game is so quick and spontaneous that referees sometimes miss things like that. Richie is the best losie in the business and he's gotten there by pushing the rules to the limit.In saying that he's not always lucky though cos he does get penalized every now and then. On Sheriden getting the time out call,sometimes you get lucky and sometimes your not and even if he had played the full 80 the result wouldn't  have been different. Watch Ma'a carve up the Pom's back line at Christchurch.