Jaco Peyper in action in the Six Nations match between England and Ireland in Dublin. Photo: Ken Sutton/DPPI via AFP.
It is just the case that the average supporter in South Africa believes that we always pull the short end of the stick when the international rugby bosses have to decide on contentious matters involving our rugby.
The latest case slipped by in South Africa, so quickly under the radar and without much comment. This involves the red card with which the South African referee, Jaco Peyper, punished the English full-back Freddie Stewart in the match against Ireland and which was not endorsed by World Rugby’s disciplinary committee. The committee found that the full-back’s ‘punishment’ should only have been a yellow card.
Steward has been waived and can start playing again immediately, it is certain.
And who knows, it could cost Peyper his appointment at the World Cup while someone like the 28-year-old referee from Georgia, Nika Amashukeli, might get an invitation – regardless of the fact that he cost the Springboks a win against Ireland with two big blunders.
Without going into too much detail about the red card which was then reduced to a yellow by the disciplinary committee, one only has to pay attention to the view of possibly the best referee who has ever blown the whistle, Nigel Owens.
Now retired and a farmer in England, Owens believes that the decision, all things considered and with Peyper in the middle of the tough rugby battle, was ‘probably’ right.
Peyper, his assistants and the television referee looked at all options. They were therefore, Owens believes, as the decision makers on the field aware of the implications of what the sending off of Steward would do to the game.
Yellow card flies in the face of proposed rule on high barrel
What makes one particularly intoxicated is that this debatable verdict of the disciplinary committee on a high note follows shortly after the (very recent) writing of World Rugby. It suggests lowering the allowable tackling height for amateur players to the sternum (the middle of the chest), which I briefly discuss below.
And then we don’t even talk about the 350 or so players in Britain, aged between 70 and 20, who all suffered neurological effects from repeated head knocks in the game. They are currently working on a legal case against World Rugby, the English RFU and the Welsh Rugby Union.
The prospective plaintiffs base their case on the fact that the three rugby bodies mentioned were negligent by not providing earlier protection against collisions that could lead to concussions and related injuries.
According to World Rugby, which has conducted in-depth investigations into this in recent years, 74% of all concussion cases are the result of tackles.
The head-to-head collision of Steward who was upright during the incident against Ireland is exactly the kind of thing that needs to be eradicated. The volition of the tackle does not matter, as Pieter-Steph du Toit found out towards the end of last year in Marseille against France.
- SA Rugby will discuss the proposed World Rugby tackle height with their unions and the SA Schools Rugby Association over the next few weeks and get their input before putting it to the test in matches.
This will then probably only apply to school and club rugby.
According to World Rugby, countries such as France, Georgia and Fiji have already introduced this death penalty rule with great success. Their statistics indicate more playing time and a reduction in head injuries. It also led, especially in France, to more rugby attracting more new players.
Money dreams, schools’ prestige leaves a bitter aftertaste
At last year’s Cravenweek, three boys again tested positive for stimulant drugs. These three’s offense came to light in January and is no longer news.
Archive photo.
Why do the young players do this? Simple: To get bigger, faster and stronger; to be noticed by the South African school selectors on the Craven Week with a view to inclusion in the SA Schools Teams; and aim for the u.19s and u.20s at provincial level and finally the Junior Springboks… and pockets full of money that will follow
And important for the use of cheerleaders: To shine in front of the whole lot of overseas agents who come to attract our school talent from the Cravenweek and other school tournaments to overseas clubs.
The young men who run into the drug testing every year, especially at the Craven Weeks, just keep going. All players are obviously not tested, but the ‘offence rate’ varies quite constantly between 6-10% of tested players from 2006.
A logical deduction is at least certain that this means that the order figure for all players will also stand on the percentage.
Testing is of course an expensive process and cannot possibly be done at every school with sports boys or girls. But the SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS) tries to make it as broad as possible.
- It is simply the case that our schools in South Africa skew sport completely on the scale of importance. In places, rugby players are already recruited as 11-year-olds (under 12) at primary schools with school fees and accommodation that are free, and with many parents who fall for it.
The reason is simple: In a year or two, the purchased youngsters will make the Cravenweek team, which will increase the school’s prestige as a rugby school.
Here in the Western Cape there is a good (higher) rugby school which apparently did not live up to expectations last year. To get the rugby right, two male teachers were appointed for this year mainly for their skills as rugby coaches. This school has been training since last year and some of the junior age teams’ boys were already training four times a week.
Is it about the players or the school? And where does his academy stand?
Also in the Western Cape, I know of a coach who warned his first-team players for this year to stay away from drugs, but then jokingly told them: “If you accidentally lie on a needle, I won’t say anything .”
And only then do you really realize how uphill the SARS battle is.
