24games Ancestry24 Answerit Blueworld Careers24 Channel24 Fin24 Food24 GoTravel24 Health24 Kalahari.net Mobile My Account News24 Nuus24 Parent24 Property24 Spaces Sport24 Weather24 Wheels24 Women24

Lions in SA

IRB to probe Bok protest

2009-07-05 17:59

Email | Print

Bok coach Peter de Villiers (AP)

London - The International Rugby Board are investigating South Africa's protest against the suspension of Bakkies Botha during Saturday's third Test against the British and Irish Lions.

The Springboks sported white armbands with the message "Justice 4 All" after Botha was banned for a dangerous charge on Lions prop Adam Jones in the second Test.

Springboks coach Peter de Villiers confirmed after the game he agreed with the protest, which was orchestrated by captain John Smit and the South African Rugby Players Association (SARPA).

According to the Telegraph website, an IRB spokesperson said: "The IRB is looking to establish all the relevant facts before making any further comment."

Botha was banned for not binding as he cleared Jones from a ruck, an incident which left the Lions prop with a dislocated shoulder and out of the game for six months.

The Springboks launched an unsuccessful appeal and then called for rugby's judicial system to show greater consistency in the application of the law.

Smit slammed the suspension as "ludicrous" while Lions forwards coach Warren Gatland confirmed they had no issue with the challenge.

South African Rugby Players' Association chief executive Piet Heymans explained the decision to protest.

"Over an extended period of time, numerous other players have charged into rucks without binding, but were either not penalised at all or received only a penalty," he said.

"Bakkies hit a ruck just before the one in question in a similar style and was not penalised.

"The players want to send a clear message that they require the International Rugby Board to have an urgent and serious re-look at Law 10.4.

"The inconsistency has upset the players, and they felt very strongly that they must take a firm stance and show their unhappiness with the application of the relevant law.

"We will be consulting with our legal team next week to consider all our legal options available to assist Bakkies Botha and provide him with a sense of justice."

Picture - AP

Your Comments

Mike & Brandon Sinequan9/5/2009 6:45 PM: Go WRC BOKKE, referees who are killing the WRC Bokke games,wherever we play we always get the short end of the stick.We need the media to come to the fore to expose blatant incompetent & biased referring that rugby must rule the game.GO BOKKE CHAMPS 4LIFE

malcolm7/6/2009 2:16 PM: Peter tell your mates thanks for the pounds they spent in SA. and thanks for re-writing the history of the anglo-boer war. Not Now p*** off back home and learn how to win a series not a match.

Molefe7/6/2009 1:57 PM: @Peter, you still don't understand do you. Nobody cares what you think dude. Simple as that. Nobody cares!

Fissim7/6/2009 1:04 PM: Shame Boks, time and place for everything and Saturday was supposed to be a test not a venue to throw toys.

Molefe7/6/2009 1:04 PM: @Ian, you know.. It is not that he angers me. It is that the irrelevant p*** actually thinks that anybody here cares what he thinks. I have had the good fortune to work everywhere around the world. But nowhere is there a more irrelevant people than the English. All you have to do is look at what they have managed to destroy. From THE economy in the world to what they are today. Nothing. They contribute absolutely nothing to the world, but man they are opinionated! Perhaps one day they will learn just how little they matter.

cowards7/6/2009 1:02 PM: @Peter, ...remember what you rooinekke did to Fourie du Preez on Saturday...? You red-necks are all a buch of cowards...!! and hypocrites...!!

Ian7/6/2009 11:50 AM: Molefe...I first laughed at your clearly irritated reply to some or other t*** Peter, then I realised that you were so angry you might end up with a stroke. Chill broer, he is simply not worth it. We won the series so to all critics shut up unless you can do better. We are standing on the brink of sporting heroics, the Bok side is in great health and world champs, Bafana showing some real class in Confed, and the Proteas are world No 1

Peter7/6/2009 10:52 AM: @Molefe: Nothing has changed, you are still cowards on the battlefields, we came out in the open dressed in red to fight then u boers hid in the hills and attacked during the night, coming like bandits and thiefs, nothing honourable, same with rugby, you hide behind quotas when you loose but when you win it is brilliant choice of players, we are laughing, you leave the best players out because he is white or black, you are the laughing stock of the world.

CWF7/6/2009 10:15 AM: Quite frankly, Bakkies is probably a victim of his own foul play over the years. Nevertheless, there is definitely a problem with the way the laws are applied. During the match on Saturday Chilliboy was taken out in exactly the same way - a shoulder charge (from the side) which saw him left a little worse for wear. Yet, nothing was done about it. Maybe something would have been if he had been injured. In my mind the cleanout was no different than what Bakkies did except it was done from the side. In my opinion, the takeout was illegal as he came in from the side and not from behind the ruck. Anyway, not sure how Bakkies gets 2 weeks and this guy doesn't even get cited. I also feel Shaw was a bit hard done by with a 2 week ban - he already had a yellow. Almost looks like they were trying to make up for the stuff up on Bakkies.

Molefe7/6/2009 9:55 AM: @Peter 08:58. I have read your comments on this and other topics. You spout the most incredible amount of k@k! Why don't you take your flaming somewhere where people actually care about what you think? I promise you nobody here gives a damn what you think. And yes, do remind us about the Anglo Boer war. About 80 000 South Africans defying almost 400 000 Poms, and how the whinny Poms could only win by unfair action (camps and scorched earth). Do you for one second think that it is only the white South Africans who cannot stand you? Same thing is happening today still. You lot sit on your pathetic little island and think that you can dictate to the world? Nobody cares about you! Your little island nation is totally irrelevant! The only thing that keep you afloat is that fact that your collective heads are so far up the Yanks @sses that the brown rings are around your ankles! So keep on spreading your vitriolic. I will tell you again, NOBODY CARES WHAT YOU THINK!

gava7/6/2009 9:52 AM: I watched the game - the bands i saw read "Justice 4" and none of this "Justice 4 All" nonsense reported above - my oldman was right - when we watch the box we all see different things!

Deon7/6/2009 9:51 AM: The Boks are a group of schoolgirls. Typical South African reaction, they simply do not repect rules. Botha and Burger should join JP Nel in Japan!

victim7/6/2009 9:46 AM: Bakkies = victim! ...Bakkies = victim..!! Bakkies = victim..!!

Gerrit 7/6/2009 9:42 AM: Seems our rugby officials, like members of parlement, have become 'fat cats', earning big bucks and sitting on their buts instead of standing up to serve not just "rugby" but their own players. Instead our rugby players are serving the fat cats. RSA players have always become the ones being unfairly treated by officials on international level, even it seems by our reps at the IRB. Spectators are becoming exceedingly frustrated and something has to be done by our officials at international level to say enough is enough and to bring back respect and fairness t'wards all.

ike7/6/2009 9:29 AM: Ken - SA fans are defiantly not childish wimpers unlike your consistent whining, we are grow up and do watch the games with both eyes not just the green or red ones like yourself. If there was consistent in applying the 10.4 rule and the pathetic refereeing and TMO from the French official; then possibly your one red eye would turn to two eyes and enjoy the same game.

Dinesh7/6/2009 9:18 AM: It's about time action is taken to redeem the class of the bok players, we dont see this kind of injustice being handed down on the all blacks and aussies,let alone the northern hemisphere teams, they cant beat us on the field so they use underhanded tactics to disrupt our progress.

Jo7/6/2009 9:10 AM: So what is the IRB going to do? Suspend the entire Bok team for a couple of weeks! I think that Bakkies was unfairly treated in this instance for just playing the game, however, I think it's his unfortunate reputation as a thug that came back to haunt him. He has been yellow carded, red carded and sighted on a number of occasions. But, IRB, do your worst - we're South Africans and we can take it!

Jeff Aucamp7/6/2009 9:06 AM: The IRB have their heads so far up their own you-know-whats it is difficult to fathom how they could probe anything but their own gonads.They are out of touch with the very people who own rugby,the supporters.Well done to the world champions for winning the series.We wont let the Lions thuggery take the shine off what in effect was a well won series.

kwk7/6/2009 9:03 AM: I assume the IRB is investigating Boks' implicit criticism of the video footage based judgement. Senior British players and officials have criticised (without any base!) the outcome of video decisions in the past two years, such as Fourie's justly awarded try the previous Saturday, and the English "try" that was not awarded in the RWC final. Did any IRB investigation follow? Nope. The Boks on the other hand aren't even saying that Bakkies was innocent. They're only begging for consistency.Now the IRB, by suddenly being up in arms following Bok criticism (but not following British criticism) is just proving the point.

Peter7/6/2009 8:56 AM: A battle is won in the last fight. South Africa looked pathetic receiving that trophy on Saturday when all the green spectators already left the stadion. South Africa will remain a white and black rainbow where their will always be moaning and groaning about the racial team make-up, forced racial quotas, moaning about unfair application of the rules, unjustice here and there, blaming of the ref and people playing the race card. This is so pathetic sorry but the Lions showed you how to play rugby with pride and you are soore loosers.

ken7/6/2009 8:46 AM: What a bunch of childish wimpers South African rugby supporters are,grow up and watch the games with both eyes not just the green one

message7/6/2009 8:28 AM: Wel done Bokke, ..At least the IRB got the message...!!..Bakkies = victim ...JP Nel = victim...

Johan7/6/2009 8:08 AM: Daar verloor ek nou die respek wat ek vir John Smit gehad het. Pleks speel hulle eerder rugby.Nou gooi hulle slefs gedurende die wedstryde hande in die lug en kyk van die lynregter vir "justice". Hulle sou altyd verloor met so 'n houding.

Ben7/6/2009 7:44 AM: Guys, do you all really feel that writing memo's on this page will have any value to our rugby players, etc. Do you really think that any of the so called officials are reading these comments. I do believe that most of them don't even know how to open the page and if they do, so what, they get paid for doing nothing (blunder) and why should they attend to our comments.

hannes7/6/2009 6:28 AM: Thanks to John Smit to take position on this unfair isuue. I am convinced Prinsloo and Hoskins don't have the balls to make things better for us. Just look at the issues we have with refs for so many years. Go Bokke "en ou Bakkies ons is trots op n man soos jy"

Omari7/6/2009 4:30 AM: It is appalling to see a South African player being penalized heavily and see in the very next match an opponent doing exactly the same thing (albeit wirh somewhat less vigour) and not even be whistled for it. Similarly during any one international match the Boks get penalized time and again for "illegal / so-called dangerous" moves, but their opponents nearly always get away with similar moves without being called to book at all. I wouls think "consistancy" is the name of the game as far as at least the same referee is concerned, must more between different referees on the IRB book of international referees.

tyrin7/5/2009 10:06 PM: Well done to the Boks. Bakkies cleared that ruck perfectly. It was just a good hard clean out. Whoever is at the top of the IRB is trying to turn rugby into a "soft" sport. They've taken out rucking already, which provided quicker ball, now it looks like they want fast cleaning out.

Tommygun7/5/2009 9:51 PM: I have said this before; the officials in the game today have to be the worst in decades. The northern hemisphere refs that handled some of the lions games weren't afraid to show where their allegiance was.Our refs go overboard to try and show how fair they are at the expence of our teams. Well done Boks on your protest, the Lions backed you verbally pity they did'nt back you with the arm bands. I want to know how long has this law about binding with another player when cleaning out and the one about putting the ball strait in the scrum been on the books.My view is get rid of both.

naas m janse van rensburg7/5/2009 9:46 PM: I>M The walking of the field because of one sided unfair referee dicisions is going to happen its only a matter of time.THE MEN THAT CONTROL THE GAME RUGBY ARE SLAPGATTE. Rugby Players should be able to RED CARD REFEREES.

Peter7/5/2009 9:19 PM: There will always be a problem until some way is found to get all the refs to interpret the laws in the same manner. There is too much at stake in modern rugby for results to depend on how an individual judges an incident. Maybe more than one ref is the answer.

JB7/5/2009 9:17 PM: Hopefully SA's spineless reps at on the IRB, i.e. Hoskins and Prinsloo, will wake up for a change back our players.

ER7/5/2009 9:17 PM: I sometimes long for the days when rugby was played by two teams of fifteen players each and the ref was there to blow thw whistle. The laws were straight forward and not subject to sometimes stupid interpretation by a team of officials who often appear to have some other agenda.

zen zulu7/5/2009 9:01 PM: I'm with the Mzantsi players on this one, the IRB has been idle while SA has been suffering at the hands of Referees who clearly have an agenda against SA Rugby. Both Bordes and Stuart were quick to call a Bok ball "OUT" in the breakdown while penalising Boks if they went in for an "OUT" Lions ball. The only referee who was fair was Bryce Lawrence. The less said about Paul Honiss and his Irish (O'Gara) fumble in '04 the better.

Colin Rosenkowitz7/5/2009 8:32 PM: It is about time some like The Boks make a statement all as one, instead of PdV talking so much Kak.No one is listening to PvD, they are all laughing at him.Am all of the way with the Boks, what else are they suppose to do? Every referee has their own interpretations of this law, so hopefully this can be sorted out sooner than later.

Molls7/5/2009 8:27 PM: Congratulations players - we're proud of you for standing up for your team mate. The administraters bring the game into disrepute and get away with it time and time again.

Adriaan7/5/2009 7:19 PM: The IRB also need to wakeup and investigate International Ref`s, because see some of the late tackles made. Yellow card`s for Boks, B$I can slow the game by holding on to the ball. That is why Boks were upset and the Captain tried to speak to Dickonson, but this Aussie was not interested. IRB to install point system and penalize Ref`s.

Grant 7/5/2009 7:12 PM: This has been a long time coming for SA rugga and i agree to the protest. Although there could have been a little more professional approach as appose to the likes of Matfield sporting a large JUSTICE on his scrum cap. It looked amateurish and school boyish!!!

DJ7/5/2009 6:50 PM: Let them investigate as much as they want. Do they want to ban the Boks from rugby as well ?. Rules are about fairness and consistency, that is an international norm and any sport controling body knows this. If the IRB wants to "investigate" it tells me that they are not sure what to say about the protest. What the heck is there to investif\gate except the fact that Bakkies was wrongly penalised. WELL DONE BOKKE !!!. We're behind you and proud of you guys. Let the IRB "investigate". They will fail rugby if they don't recognise the problem, not the players but the inconsistent rules.

Jan7/5/2009 6:35 PM: The players will have to take matters in thier own hands. If they expect management to site opposition players, they are going to wait for a very, very long time. This whole issue around the application of laws will never stop as long a SA officials roll over and play dead or screw up deadlines as they did this season. Players should focus on the game and officials should not only go on tours for the purpose of seeing other countries (tourism), they should look after our players. Maybe Pieter de Villiers should stop clowning around in press conferences and rather focus on other more importanat issues, like consistant application of laws

Your Name: *
Email: *
Comment: *
: Please enter the text below:

*

X Close

Comment Submitted

Thank you for your comment.
The Sport24 editors reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received. Comments are moderated and published or deleted based on the following criteria:

the relevance of the comment to the article
offensive content
suspicious username and/or e-mail address
duplication of opinion and/or comments

For more information, please visit our Terms and Conditions

Boks protest Bakkies ban

Shaw handed two week ban

Simon Shaw has been suspended for two weeks for dangerous play in the Lions' victory over the Springboks in Johannesburg.

Div keeps heat on himself

Will coach Peter de Villiers and Co regret making the wholesale changes they did for the final Test against the Lions?

Video Gallery

Introducing Bokkie
The cute new South African Springboks mascot promotional video produced entirely in house at Sunrise Productions in Cape Town. www.sunrise.co.za

Dale Steyn's jaw-dropping spell
Dale Steyn takes a magnificent 7 wickets against India

Varsity Cup - Ikeys v Pukke
Highlights of the FNB Varsity Cup match between UCT and Pukke from Groote Schuur, Cape Town.

Gallery: IRB NZ Sevens

It's party time at the IRB Sevens in Wellington

Front Row Grunt

Tank's take on Varsity Cup round 2

Featured Blog

Lion-hearted

Nary a ball had been kicked in anger in the Super 14, but years of woe haven't dampened Huge Dude's spirit. 'This is their year', he says, the year when the Lions will go forth and conquer, and crush all foes beneath them to a bloody pulp! Take note, fair-weather fans, we have a true supporter in our midst!

Latest blogs

live Manchester City vs Bolton Wanderers live streaming epl soccer on pc 2/9/2010 5:33:44 PM

The Rooney vs Drogba debate continues. Unnecessarily! 2/9/2010 4:23:08 PM

Bulls looking a tad pale? 2/9/2010 3:32:15 PM

View all sports blogs

Vote

What will be your lasting memory of the 2009 British and Irish Lions' tour of South Africa?

The Schalk Burger eye gouging incident

The two week suspension dished out to Bakkies Botha

Every occasion Peter de Villiers found a microphone

The 'Beast's' manhandling of Phil Vickery in the first Test in Durban

Morne Steyn's 53m last-minute series-winning penalty in Pretoria

Willem de Waal's touchline conversion to secure a draw for the Emerging Boks

The impact French ref and touch judge Christophe Berdos had on the series

The R1 140 Test ticket price fiasco which led to numerous empty seats

View Results | Vote Archive

5% The Schalk Burger eye gouging incident

2% The two week suspension dished out to Bakkies Botha

23% Every occasion Peter de Villiers found a microphone

14% The 'Beast's' manhandling of Phil Vickery in the first Test in Durban

39% Morne Steyn's 53m last-minute series-winning penalty in Pretoria

2% Willem de Waal's touchline conversion to secure a draw for the Emerging Boks

2% The impact French ref and touch judge Christophe Berdos had on the series

13% The R1 140 Test ticket price fiasco which led to numerous empty seats

Vote Archive

Blueworld

Check your mate!

Did you have your pic snapped at the Cape Town Tens or the new stadium? Blueworld and Sport24 have teamed up to bring you fan galleries - with you in them! Take a leisurely gander, or sign up and upload your own pics ...