Iuth says...

bwganbrain,

You totally lost point -- Boks had protested against discision of judical comittee, which in my thought has nothing to do with "rule of law from referee" -- has it ?

Glen0,

Ref had not yellow-carded Botha. IIRC, he had not even penalized for that incident.

Although Botha should behave himself, the ban he got is totally a joke. And since it had come from outside of game, I think Boks have every reason to fight against. I will support them if they bring this charging-issue to, say, CAS or somewhere.

Posted 16:26 08th July 2009

colmhely says...

The protest wasn't supported by the Lions management team. They thought that the ruling was harsh but didn't support it.

Also a lot of the SA's are complaining about double standards. Alan Quinlan received a 12 week ban for gouging which wasn't anywhere near as bad as Schalk Burger's 8 week ban. Where is the bias there?

Posted 10:10 07th July 2009

rugbyphile says...

What brings a game into disrepute is discriminatory citings followed by " judicial" dcisions which are blatantly discriminatory. Don't even bother to count the number of players who have charged into rucks without binding since Botha's citing and ban--you will run out of fingers before half time in any international.Who are the old farts at the IRB anyway? Where do they come from and who appoints them? South Africa accepted the ban-wrong though it was-how did they undermine the disciplinary process by a low key protest while complying with the ruling? What would O Driscoll have got if he had been cited for headbutting by the Boks--probably a recommendation for a medal by the IRB.

Posted 08:34 07th July 2009

Springbok says...

Anybody who's ever played on a sports team knows that you stick up for your teammates. No one cares when the Lions supporters release a floodgate of complaints and whinging but as soon as the Boks protest it's unprofessional and throws the game into disrepute? Give me a break. It was the best way to protest. Say little, wear the armband and play the game. This media room stuff has to go. The game needs to stay on the field. Period. Bakkies cleared that ruck like anyone else would, it just happened that Jones was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was a laughable ban and I stand by the protest. Just because it's South Africa doing it gives everyone a headache for some reason.

Posted 07:29 07th July 2009

countryboy says...

I understand their frustration at the Botha ban (heck even the Lions said it was rubbish - after the fact though), but the protest was pathetic. I suspect many of these issues can be traced to the almost non-existence of the coach.

Posted 04:46 07th July 2009

mixedup says...

Finally some action.

For years SA has been the whipping boy of the judiciary process. Just look at how easy it is to cite and ban a SA player in Aus. or NZ and how virtually impossible it is to to get an Aus. or NZ player cited in their home countries. The S14 and Tri-Nations records speak volumes.

England, NZ and Aus. are immediately vocal about any objections to the process and the decisions and actively lobby their cases. For too long SA has has just sat back and taken unjust decisions on the chin without a murmer. Can anybody say Wikus van Heerden?

For too long referees have been able to unjustly yellow and red card SA players with impunity, while refusing to make the big decisions against the other 'big five' because of the inordinate pressure put on them by their unions.

Smaller unions too have the same complaint that there are two sets of rules, one for the big boys (except for SA) and another for the smaller unions (especially Argentina). Referees seem so quick to penalise the smaller unions, while they seem to think twice before blowing up the larger unions, when dealing with the 'big decisions'.

Lack of consistency is also clearly an issue. BOD-NZ-Spear Tackle ring any bells?

What is it with 'assistant referees' as well? When they are in the middle they seem reluctant to make the big decisions, yet when they are on the side-line all of a sudden they are happy to give a the big decisions even though they may have been in a worse position than the referee!!! Perhaps distance from the ultimate decision makes them less prone to circumspection.

I am glad that the protest has happened and would welcome a review of the whole process and hopefully gain some reliability and consistency in the judicial process. Rugby can only benefit from that.

Posted 03:47 07th July 2009

PadraigFitzpat says...

When big hits (with no binding arms) start to be glorified by the majority in South Africa we are in trouble. I say give Bakies Botha some pads and a helmut and ship him off to the NFL in America where he will be appreciated for his ramming techniques.Braun and bulk is absolutely a part of the game of rugby but there is no place for smash hits and illegal ramming.

I am surprised that John Smith has gone down this road although I think it was used by the captain more as a motivation technique to rise the troops for the last test.

South Africa were deserved winners in a close test series with Habana being the only difference and poor refering on the Beast's sideways scrummaging in the first quarter of the first test.The 2nd test should have been a tie saving O Gara's gift to SA.SA would most likely have won the 3rd test with a full strenght team with all the B&I injuries on a long tour.

Posted 01:54 07th July 2009

concretec33 says...

Bok fan in New Zealand, listen, lets move on, the boks expressed themselfs the best way they felt necassary, not the most effective way of getting your point accros and not the most intelligent either, however they got there point across. We are the world champs and have to accept that we are now in the limelight all the time, we now have to look at ourselfs and asses our current situation. We need to gagg the coach,let him coach, appoint a media liason or let the other assistant coaches speak. De villiers is not acceptable on the world stage, no matter what. I dont doubt his coaching abilities, in fact in think he is a breath of fresh air(coaching), his opinions however is not!!!!!!!! schalck burger deserves every bit of the punishment he received, that does not make him a bad player or a weak caracter, he had a moment of pure stupidity, nothing more, nothing less, and that was dealt with appropriatly. I telll you what, his father would have given him a massive "klap"around the head for that, by now!

the Lions need to move on and accept there defeat and focus on the future of there game in the northern hemisphere, take the wealth of experiences back to there respective unions and share the knowledge gather in there time in S.A.. Make no mistake about it, if there was a 4th test,we might have see a drawn series, But sadly, there is not. Learn from the Past, focus on the future. Stop acting like girls it makes you seem weak.

Posted 22:45 06th July 2009

Armchaircritic says...

What sanctions can the IRB bring against South Africa?

Anybody know?

Posted 21:16 06th July 2009

bwganbrain says...

This is excellent news.

One thing that sets Rugby apart from all other sports is our willingness to smash each other around with real passion and then accept the rule of law from a referee, even when it might be an incorrect decision.

It was crass stupidity for the SAfrican team to wear those childish arm bands and they deserve to be punished.

Posted 18:54 06th July 2009