[imagesource: YouTube / Forever Rugby]

There’s nothing like a Springbok loss bright and early on a Saturday morning to ruin the weekend.

Throw in a Proteas loss to England, by an innings, and you have a day to forget.

Today marks our 1 031st day of 1 449 as world champions, but at some stage, South African fans need to stop blaming the referee when we lose.

That being said, referee Paul Williams made a few dubious calls during the Rugby Championship clash, not least of which was giving Faf de Klerk a yellow card for a brutal assault finger brush on Ozzie number nine, Nic White.

However, to blame Williams is to overlook what is clearly a Springbok side performing well below expected levels, with the scoreline bearing a hint of respectability thanks to two late tries from Kwagga Smith.

Anyway, you’ll find hundreds of post-mortems dissecting the loss elsewhere so let’s hone in on the Faf / Nic incident:

I could stomach a penalty being given, as Faf does make contact with Nic’s face, but Nic’s reaction is what has really drawn the ire of rugby fans around the country.

The comparison to football was easy to make. For a while now, we’ve been watching rugby players milk incidents to try and get an opposition player carded and this is perhaps the standout moment:

Yellow 9 just killed a little piece of Rugbys soul today

— John Smit (@JohnSmit123) August 27, 2022

Just plain embarrassing from Nic White!! Disgraceful!

— Mike Rhodes (@MikeRhodes7) August 27, 2022

Nic White’s oscar may be celebrated by those who dont like the Boks. But it a poor advert for the game.
This isnt football. Theatrics may win you a penalty but they are a blight on the game.
It is an embarassment

— Brenden Nel (@BrendenNel) August 27, 2022

Retired ref Nigel Owens waded in to clarify a few things:

Not necessarily. If he had knocked the ball back it would have been play on

— Nigel Owens MBE (@Nigelrefowens) August 27, 2022

He then delivered this zinger:

Dam I retired to soon 😂😂😉😉🏉🏉 https://t.co/a8kVSIUJS7

— Nigel Owens MBE (@Nigelrefowens) August 27, 2022

In studio, Butch James and Nick Mallett took no prisoners:

🗣️ “It’s a disgrace to the game of rugby that a player can behave like that.”

🗣️ “It’s stupid enough to have a swinging arm, he opened himself up to it.”

Butch James and Nick Mallett on that Faf de Klerk and Nic White incident.. pic.twitter.com/HPUgNnznaG

— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) August 27, 2022

It wasn’t long before the memes rolled in. Apologies if you were behind creating any of these as they arrived unattributed via WhatsApp:

Somebody was also quick out of the blocks to edit Nic’s Wikipedia page:

On social media, the fun continued:

Rugby fans from around the world gather around Adelaide General Hospital to pray that Nic White pulls through … #AUSvRSA #Springboks #Wallabies #RugbyChampionship pic.twitter.com/T36XfyZlb4

— James While (@jameswhile) August 27, 2022

Great to see Nic’s on the mend! 🙏#AUSvRSA #RugbyChampionship pic.twitter.com/8qUoYCZtIA

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 28, 2022

After more than 40 years of acting, Tom Selleck is finally in the running for an Oscar. #NicWhite #AUSvRSA pic.twitter.com/Bq4fea764w

— The Bruce (@RobRay_ZA) August 27, 2022

That’s an all-time bit of scrum-half play by Nic White. Turns an absolutely nothing moment into a yellow card by milking it so vigorously they now serve that moment in vegan cafes.

— Squidge Rugby (@SquidgeRugby) August 27, 2022

Nic White after getting Faf yellow carded pic.twitter.com/BNbPBg1Mk4

— Graham Love (@glove931) August 28, 2022

Then came the YouTube videos, with this perhaps the best of the bunch:

A group of South Africans who bumped into White at an airport after the game gave the man some stick:

Rugby is dangerous! You should be thankful for every close encounter you survive pic.twitter.com/vlReuYX7lw

— Radioraps (Rikus de Beer) (@RadioRaps) August 28, 2022

We can laugh at Nic White, and we should, but deep down the pain is real and the Springboks better turn up next Saturday.

11:35AM, the Allianz Stadium in Sydney – a resounding victory over the Ozzies will be a great deal more satisfying than any (legal) physical retribution that comes White’s way.

Ideally, we get to enjoy both.

[source:rugbypass]