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
Alfred Walker (rugby union) Alfred Walker (rugby union) Arthur Stanley Billingsgate "Alfred" Walker (circa 1893 – September 1958) was an Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative scrum-half. His representative career lasted from 1912 to 1924 and he captained the national side on fifteen occasions including eleven Test matches between 1922 and 1924. Later he was a NSW state selector and representative team manager. Born in Sydney, Walker was schooled at Sydney Grammar and then joined the Eastern Suburbs club. At aged nineteen, before he had made any state representative appearances, he was selected for the 1912 Australia rugby union tour of