History of the South Africa national rugby union team on to criticise New Zealand referee Bryce Lawrence for "one-sided" refereeing, claiming that Australian openside David Pocock was allowed to "reduce the breakdown to a farce". Lawrence was dropped from the nine-man elite panel in 2012. Following the World Cup exit, several stalwarts of the 2007 World Cup-winning side and the 2011 squad went on to announce retirements or moves abroad. This included captain John Smit, influential lock pairing Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha, and scrum-half Fourie du Preez. History of the South Africa national rugby union team The History of the South Africa national rugby union team dates back
Glossary of rugby union terms offside player remains offside until either he/she retreats onside or is put onside by a member of their own team. Test match International rugby union matches with full (Test) status are called Test matches. Tight Head The tight head prop is the player who takes the right-hand position on the front row of the "scrum". A tight head prop traditionally wears the number 3 shirt. He is named the tight head since in the scrum he will have an opposition player bind to both his left- and right-hand sides, meaning his head is unexposed to the side of the scrum,