News

Springboks protest Botha ban

July 04 2009

South Africa wore white arm bands against the British and Irish Lions in protest to the banning of Bakkies Botha who was suspended for dangerously charging into a ruck in the side's series win in Pretoria.

The result was a broken collar bone to prop Adam Jones and a two-week ban for Botha. The Bok management's appeal against the sentence failed, which didn't go down well for the rest of the team.

With the World Cup-winning lock forced to watch the third Test from the sidelines in Johannesburg, his team-mates and management wore white arm bands in solidarity with Botha's absence bearing the word: 'Justice'.

When quizzed over the team's decision to go ahead with such an act, captain John Smit was not forthcoming in answering the British media's obvious disapproval of the protest.

Instead, he directed everyone to South Africa's official website where a statement on the matter read as follows:

"The Springbok players all feel for Bakkies as he will miss this memorable final Test against the British & Irish Lions. As a sign of solidarity the Springbok players have decided to wear white arm bands during the Test match. At the same time the players want to send a clear message that they require the IRB to have an urgent and serious relook at Law 10.4 (j)," said Piet Heymans, CEO of SARPA (South African Rugby Players Association).

"Despite comprehensive submissions by the attorney acting for Bakkies Botha and SARPA, where a very important point of principle was developed as to the proper application of this Law, and in particular when a player lawfully binds or attempts to bind for the purpose of this Law, the appeal was not successful.

"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. Bakkies hit a ruck just before this one in question in a similar style and was not penalised. Coaches are coaching players to hit rucks in this manner and therefore this is a major cause of apprehension.

This 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.

"Rugby as a spectacle will lose its excitement and appeal if the best players in the world are not sure how the laws will be applied and that their participation in world class rugby could be affected by the actions of judicial officers," says Heymans.

"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 as he has suffered significantly due to this suspension."

The case is to be futher investigated by the IRB.

By Dave Morris in Johannesburg