Stadium clock caused confusion

http://www.superrugby.co.nz/s14news/18726/Stadium-clock-caused-confusion Sportal.co.nz - (5/03/2012)


An incorrect ground clock at Dunedin Stadium caused confusion among the players before the Highlanders clinched a 27-24 Investec Super Rugby victory over the Crusaders on Saturday night.


With the ground clock showing full time, Highlanders fullback Colin Slade kicked the ball out on the full and the Highlanders started to celebrate a win.
But their celebration was premature as there were still three and a half minutes left to play.
The Crusaders were also confused by the incorrect ground clock, missing penalty and dropped goal attempts which would have drawn the match as they thought time was almost up.
"I think they probably thought we were close to the last play of the game but there are no excuses," Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder said.
"In hindsight, we had time to build a bit of pressure. There were three and a half minutes left. I don't think anyone quite knew what was going on. We heard in the coaches box through the referees' mike but I'm not sure the players got the message.

"It is a bit disappointing. You've got to get the little things right because we got a bit frantic at a critical time of the game."
Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph said:" It [the clock] confused everyone. We had 80 minutes on the clock but we could hear through the referee's ears there were actually three or four minutes to go.
"It wouldn't have been nice to have lost the game thinking we had played an extra three or four minutes. I'm just happy we came through."
Blackadder said the Crusaders had their chances but didn't do the basics as well as the Highlanders.

"We gave ourselves a good chance to get back into the game but we couldn't quite nail it. We just weren't quite there and that's a concern for us.
"The Highlanders played as we expected them to be. They put a lot of pressure on us at the breakdown. They took their chances well and scored some really good tries. They showed a bit more hunger than us."
"It was good for rugby in the area-there was a great atmosphere at the ground-but it was disappointing for us."
One plus for Blackadder was that there were no new injury concerns out of the game. They have five points after two rounds and the Highlanders have eight.