Lions in SA
SARU, Div apologise
2009-06-29 21:54
Email | Print
Coach Peter de Villiers (File)
|
Johannesburg - South African Rugby Union president Oregan Hoskins and national coach Peter de Villiers on Monday apologised for comments that followed Saturday's Test against the British and Irish Lions at Loftus Versfeld.
De Villiers while defending Schalk Burger, who was banned for eight weeks after being found guilty of eye gouging, made comments that outraged media at home and abroad.
SARU now want to make it clear that the organisation does not condone eye gouging, after appearing to give off that impression.
Burger was charged with making contact with Lions winger Luke Fitzgerald's face only 32 seconds into his 50th appearance for the Springboks and was subsequently yellow carded.
Hoskins and De Villiers jointly condemned all acts of foul play and sent out a clear message that such acts would not be tolerated in South African rugby.
"We would like to apologise to the rugby community for the erroneous impression that acts of foul play are in any way condoned by South African rugby," said Hoskins.
"That has never been the case and is not now, and we support strong action by rugby authorities when such acts occur. Rugby is a physical game and a hard game but it is a game that rightly prides itself on good sportsmanship and we as SARU categorically condemn any such action. SARU fully supports any action that the IRB feels appropriate to stamp out eye gouging in the game."
De Villiers added that as Springbok coach he stood against play that was not in the spirit of the game. "Eye-gouging is something that we as a team will never be part of," he said.
"The same applies to biting, head-butting, spear tackling or any other foul play that doesn't belong in the game."
"My comments on Saturday were based on what I know of Schalk Burger as a player and not on what occurred. 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 creating any other impression."