Where's the consistency in rugby's suspensions?

Controversy within rugby’s governing bodies is officially killing the game for the fans, and something needs to be done if rugby is to grow further as an international sport.

Already this year there have been numerous incidents resulting in weekly bans, and the Super Rugby tournament is becoming a staunch advocate for how poorly the game is being officiated.

This week the president of the South African Rugby Union, Oregan Hoskins, revealed that he and the rest of the SARU are furious about the “inconsistencies” in recent decisions by Super Rugby’s disciplinary committee.

“Frankly, I’ve just about had enough,” Hoskins told City Press. “I feel we, as administrators, are fighting one fight and do not have the support of our judicial and refereeing panels.

“To be absolutely honest with you, I am at my wits end, because I am seeing how we are being torn apart on the field of play (by the officials) and by judicial decisions, and we are not getting the support we should be getting from these people, who are part of our organisation (SANZAR).”

Hoskins then revealed that he was present at Growthpoint King’s Park when the Sharks faced the Canterbury Crusaders, and that he saw numerous dangerous high tackles and shoulder charges that simply weren’t picked up by the officials on the field.

He then elaborated on those that were picked up:

“The first one, on SP Marais, almost took his head off and the next, on Odwa Ndungane, went totally unpunished despite the assistant referee seeing the incident clearly. The third one, on Jean Deysel, almost took his head off.

“Now there is no denying that what Deysel did was a stupid thing, obviously, by retaliating with a knee to the guy’s head, although it wasn’t an injurious type of thing. But still, it’s absolutely not allowed, and he, correctly, got a red card and a heavy suspension, while the others were not even cited.”

He also alluded to the Sharks versus Chiefs game at the same venue where Hika Elliot dangerously kneed Cobus Reinach in the back, a stunt that wasn’t cited, and another incident where All Blacks star Liam Messam not only held a player down for a long period of time, effectively taking him out of play, but also choked him all the while. Yet SANZAR just gave him a slap on the wrist.

Hoskins said he is “gatvol” – an Afrikaans term meaning “fed up” – and that he has called a meeting with SANZAR in which the SARU will demand clarification on all the decisions going against South African Rugby, something that numerous South African pundits have claimed has been happening ever since the dawn of professionalism and their readmission to the world stage.

Whew! Quite a mouthful mister Hoskins! Before I give my take on this subject I must send out this request to each and every South African rugby supporter all across the world: let’s all donate a few rands to everyone at SARU a beer, maybe three.

Not because they’re gatvol, but because they’ve done the unthinkable and grown a spine.

I am a South African, and I am upset by how incidents like these are being handled, not just against South Africa, but against New Zealand and to a lesser extent Australia as well.

Last year I was invited to a Facebook page named “All Blacks and New Zealand rugby supporters” by a Kiwi. It’s a great page where I’ve watched debates commence, and after a while joined in.

I didn’t encounter one fan who excused or downplayed the actions of the Kiwi players involved in controversial incidents throughout the year. The general consensus was that both Hika Elliot and Liam Messam deserved to be punished further.

Back home in the Republic, most fans were appalled by the actions of Bismarck du Plessis, Francois Steyn and more recently, Jean Deysel.

All three of them deserved to be banned. My only differing opinion was the length of the bans in correlation with other players who were sanctioned.

Du Plessis received a four-week ban for kicking a Chiefs player in the face, while Deysel got seven for a knee to the head. Upon first hearing this I was stunned. I would imagine that digging your solid steel studs into the face of an opposing player would be considered worse than just patting someone on the head with your knee.

However Deysel had received a similar red card in Christchurch last year, also against the Crusaders. OK, fair play I thought. That was until James Horwill received his second red card for the season, with scarcely a month between them and got a week’s suspension.

Why did Horwill get off so easily after being pinged twice the same year, but Deysel gets a whopper for incidents with months separating them?

Moving on, there was the red card Hayden Triggs got at Newlands in Round 2 for repeatedly punching Stormers captain Duane Vermeulen in the face.

SANZAR gave him two weeks, stating that it was shortened due to the fact that the Blues lost the match and because he’s been playing for so long and that it was his first incident of this nature. A “good record” they said.

After the game, John Kirwin said that Triggs apparently reacted to a provocation by Vermeulen, an elbow to the chest to be exact.

Vermeulen is my favourite player in the whole world, alongside Richie McCaw, but I must admit that in the footage of the game I did see a movement from Vermeulen that suggested Triggs was telling the truth. I might be wrong, but if I’m not why wasn’t this incident taken any further? Was Vermeulen ‘protected’ too? I guess we’ll never know.

Francois Steyn’s was a very, very dangerous tip tackle and he deserved to be banned. So I was shocked by the initial decision to let him off the hook. In the end though, justice was served and he’s carrying out his five-week sentence.

But again, five weeks? Deysel gets seven? Last year Steyn put on a dangerous tackle on Kurtley Beale at Durban as well, so if Deysel’s red card last year counted against him then why doesn’t Steyn’s yellow for the ‘let’s fling Beale around by the jersey’ count against him?

On the subject of Steyn’s tip tackle and Deysel’s kneeing, what about James Broadhurst’s knee to another player’s face? I mean it was literally in his face, Deysel’s was to the back of the head. Broadhurst got a one-week ban.

Owen Franks punched Coenie Oosthuizen in the face during the epic 2013 Ellis Park test against the Boks and he got a yellow for it but no suspension. Then in the second round of the 2014 Super Rugby season at Newlands he also punched Stormers flanker Rynhardt Elstadt, and absolutely nothing happened. Not a yellow, not even a citation.

In Round 3 this year, Blues flanker Brendon O’Connor gave Boom Prinsloo a nice dose of forearm to the face in Bloemfontein, and was never cited.

Where was the citing commissioner? Watching Days of Our Lives?

However I find it strange Hoskins is throwing his toys out of the cot considering the SARU has shown favouritism to Springboks in the Currie Cup.

In the 2013 Currie Cup season, Western Province flanker Michael Rhodes received a red card and a four-week ban for stomping Blue Bulls captain Jono Ross in the face at Newlands. At the end of the tournament our old friend Bismarck du Plesses stomped a Freestate Cheetahs player in broad daylight. No card was given, it was cited, but he was let loose because according to the judiciary he was not even looking at the player and therefore it was an “accident”.

And how many people have to fall victim to Ma’a Nonu’s shoulder charges before action is taken? This includes incidents against his own Kiwi mates – just ask Piri Weepu. He hasn’t done it in a while, but still, where were the citing commissioners? I digress.

South Africans and New Zealanders can argue about the whole victim thing until doomsday, I’m not interested in conspiracy theories. Truth is everyone’s getting screwed over, doesn’t matter which country it is. The Kiwis have just as much reason to feel aggrieved as the rest of the world.

When exactly are World Rugby planning on getting a firm grip on this game before controversies by officials damage the game beyond repair?