Schalk Burger has received an 8-week ban for this horrific offence in the first minute of the Second Test on Saturday.
Here is the replay of the incident. Make up your own mind – a red card offence? Surely anything that warrants a ban has to be a red card offence if it is spotted by officials.
Definitely a red card, and definitely worth more than 8 weeks. That’s about as blatant a case as I have ever seen.
Uncle Mat says it all
Of course it should have been a red card. He’s lucky to get away with only 8 week ban as well. The minimum is 12 weeks.
What I find possibly even more distressing is De Villers’ defence of Burger. That is absolutely reprehensible, and the respect I had for him has gone straight out of the window.
Yep dobbin, that’s because he’s a prize idiot (see below from BBC):
Burger was banned for eight weeks after the incident in the second Test but De Villiers had continued to insist the flanker did nothing wrong in Pretoria.
However, later on Monday the coach said: “It was never my intention to suggest that I condone foul play.
“That is the last thing I would ever do and I apologise for that impression.”
De Villers went on to say that “eye-gouging is something that we as a team will never be part of”.
we as a team will never be apart of but DO.. How does that work. He is the dirtiest rugby player in the world and should be banned for life. He could blind someone for life. Surely something like that even goes into criminal proceeedings
Well I do not think that it is clear cut to warrant intention. A penalty of course should be given, but the video I do not think is that conclusive to warrant the amount of attention that has been given. I agree that the coach needed to be a bit more harsh, but it is also the job of the coach to stand behind his men. I think all of the strong feelings are more due to the fact that we lost, the game and more importantly the series. We played well, but not well enough. I think we need to also be self critical. Although we were in the lead for most of the game, we were outscored in the try by 3-1 and RSA had a terrible kicking day. We still continue to have a tough time against the Southern Hemisphere. On the day any drama can happen, and it is part and parcel of the game. Sometimes in our favour and sometimes not. We also need to learn to be more objective, and accept defeat graciously. We need to learn from the game, and try to prepare strategies that help defeat the big Southern sides, or otherwise we will be complaining for many years to come.
de villiers is an utter clown, how anyone in rugby circles – his players, SA officials and fans, opponents, IRB etc etc could have an ounce of respect for the man is impossible to fathom. does he think he’s untouchable because the race issue will rear its head if he was to be shown the door? i hope the travelling lions’ media give him a thorugh working over during the last 5-6 days of the tour
Derek,
I agree with you about the circumspection that we ought to show and accept the defeat. When we were leading 13-5 I always felt that the Boks were going to come back, and we were indeed beaten three tries to one. Ultimately, in both matches they scored the points when they were needed – 1st Test, gained a good lead and held out; 2nd Test gave away a good lead and clawed it back.
I disagree totally however with the idea that the strong feelings were due to the defeat, as I was angry about the incident from about 32 seconds into the first half. As a ref. I said then that it was a red, not a yellow, and intent does not come in to it. If intent had been adjudged, he should have had 8 years or even life, not 8 weeks.
As to PDV, I am annoyed at his statement that he didn’t even think it was a yellow, and his crass ballet analogy. His apology also seems to be something he has been told to say, not that he wanted to say.
What’s got my goat is that on the several message boards I have been on since the match, our beloved Saffa cousins seem unable to differentiate between disgust at Burger’s actions and blaming the lack of a red card for the defeat. The facts are, Burger should have been sent off. If he had been, the Lions would in all likelilhood have won. Fact.
However there were many other reasons that the Lions did not win. It was a great effort from South Africa to come back from the position they were in, just as it was an incredibly courageous effort from the Lions to hang in there as they did. So congrats to South Africa.
But don’t lose sight of the fact that Burger should have got a severe punishment. It was clear cut. Lots of Saffas have mentioned that the Lions were guilty of some rough stuff as well, citing BOD’s shoulder charge on Roussouw. Well there’s foul play and there’s foul play. Do not equate a shoulder charge with an eye gouge. Ridiculous.
Just as the officials should be censured for their lack of spine, PDV’s comments were an absolute disgrace, and don’t give me any nonsense about standing by your players, there are some things which cannot be defended. Sir Alex Ferguson is known for being one-eyed but he didn’t try to defend Eric Cantona after his kung-fu kick. He said ‘that’s part of sport’. Well if that’s part of your rugby chaps then you can keep it.