Shows how little you know about Ted.
He is a person who, like a lot of kiwis, does not pander to snobs, the politically correct and those who are afraid to say what they really think. During his time as the Headmaster of Auckland Grammar, the boys were given no favours for who they were (or who their parents were). He was only interested in what they they could achieve, and how hard they were prepared to work to achieve it. Like a lot of Kiwis, he will say what he thinks, and not giving a monkeys whose feelings might be injured, or toes might be trod on in saying it. He doesn't call a spade a spade, he calls it a shovel!!!
If you haven't read his book (and I have) you might be better to read it first before you indulge in idle, ill-informed and misguided speculation. A lot of the bollocks that has been quoted in the media about what he said has been taken entirely out of context. IMO, this was the right time for him to put his feelings and perceptions in print. He has now won a world cup, and has retired from the game; there is no unfinished business. I find it refreshing to read a sports biography that doesn't gloss over the uncomfortable issues and sweep the controverial things under the rug. He is telling HIS story, the way HE sees it, and I applaud him for doing so without fear or favour.
Technically, his analysis of the 2007 quarter-final is right on the money. It was extraordinary (and unprecedented) that a team who spent three quarters of the last 50 minutes of a match defending, much of it within their own 22, could do so without being penalised even once. Not even a free kick or an advantage call. His suggestion that Wayne Barnes was too inexperienced to be refereeing a match of that magnitude, and that he essentially folded under pressure, was also correct. It was clear and obvious to ANYONE watching the game that he was refereeing only one side, and completely ignoring material offences by the French that were occurring right in front of him. The parallels between that match and Bryce Lawrence's abysmal effort in the Australia v South Africa semi in 2011 are remarkable; but at least BL had the courage and fortitude to come out after the game and admit how badly he got it wrong.
Bob Francis, one of the selectors who picked WB for that match agreed in a radio interview this morning that, in hindsight, it was a mistake to select such an inexperienced referee for such an important fixture, when there were far more experienced referees available, e.g. Chris White, who was not appointed to referee any play-off matches in spite of his vast experience as an international referee. Instead, he was posted to the TMO Box. What were they thinking??
Having said all that, as Cave Dweller rightly states, Ted and his team didn't have the Plan B they should have had, and if they had, then this whole issue would never have arisen. However, this does not negate the fact the WB should never have been put in the position he was with so little international experience, a position that the iRB clearly did not allow any referees to be put in at the 2011 event, and likely, they will never make that particular mistake again.
