Brits hits out at SANZAAR judicial system

Cape Town - After returning from a four-match ban, Bulls hooker Schalk Brits has called for an overhaul in Super Rugby's judicial process.

Brits, who has been included in the Bulls' starting XV for Friday's Super Rugby encounter against the Crusaders in Pretoria, believes his ban was harsh.

He was slapped with a four-game suspension after his appeal failed following a SANZAAR ban for a red card received against the Sharks in Durban earlier in the season.

Brits and Sharks counterpart Akker van der Merwe were involved in a scuffle which included several punches thrown.

SANZAAR reasoned that the Springbok hooker deserved a four-game suspension because he was previously banned for striking offences while playing for English club Saracens.

"I think going forward there needs to be changes made as to how they apply rules‚" Brits was quoted as saying by the Rugby Pass website.

"Sometimes you feel that‚ 'How can a guy in Australia get two weeks and a guy in South Africa get four weeks?' As a rugby player‚ I feel that we get the short end of the stick a lot of times in South Africa. I really think they need to reassess the process.

"You are penalising me for a record that I got four years ago. Do I think that is fair? Maybe not‚ but it happened and I can't do anything about it now. But I did ask them to have a proper look at it. Rugby is a fair game and if you look at the incident from beginning to the end‚ their outcome should not have been what it was - but I made peace with it quickly."

Van der Merwe, who was the instigator in the incident, only received a three match ban for starting the fist fight.

Friday's Bulls v Crusaders clash is scheduled for 19:10.

Teams:

Bulls

15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Handre Pollard (captain), 9 Andre Warner, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 RG Snyman, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Lizo Gqoboka

Substitutes: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Wiehahn Herbst, 19 Thembelani Bholi, 20 Paul Schoeman, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Divan Rossouw

Crusaders

15 David Havili, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Jack Goodhue, 12 Ryan Crotty (captain), 11 George Bridge, 10 Richie Mo'unga, 9 Bryn Hall, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Matt Todd (captain), 6 Jordan Taufua, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Mitchell Dunshea, 3 Michael Alaalatoa, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Joe Moody