SA vs England RWC controversy
Brad Morgan
13 September 2007
The Rugby World Cup pool A clash between defending champions England and group favourites South Africa in Paris on Friday has been dealt a serious blow, with each team losing an influential player to bans that many feel were too harsh.
England captain Phil Vickery, after being cited for a deliberate trip in his side's 28-10 win over the USA, will miss two matches, while Springbok Schalk Burger, more controversially, will miss four matches after being found guilty of a dangerous challenge on Samoan scrumhalf Junior Polu.
Vickery's ban means he won't be considered for matches against the Springboks and Samoa, while Burger, whose punishment is being appealed and will be heard on Thursday, would miss out on the rest of the Boks matches in the pool, as well as the
quarterfinals. Should South Africa win in the last eight, he would then be available for the semi-finals.
Judicial officer's decision
According to the Rugby World Cup website, "Following a RWC 2007 judicial hearing the Judicial Officer (JO) Terry Willis upheld the citing complaint and determined that South Africa flanker Schalk Burger breached Law 10.4(e) and committed a dangerous tackle on Samoa scrum half Junior Polu during the South Africa v Samoa match on Sunday 9 September in Paris."
It appears questionable, however, whether Burger was even attempting a tackle. Photographs taken in the moments just before the collision between the flank and Polu show Burger focusing on the rugby ball. Then, he is shown clumsily colliding with the scrumhalf.
So, the question is whether Burger was guilty of a dangerous tackle or dangerous play. In the case of a dangerous tackle, that would indicate that his action was deliberate and premeditated,
while dangerous play would suggest that the Springbok star did not intend to take out Polu in midair.
Super 14 final incident
The incident brings to mind what happened early on in the final of the Super 14 when Bryan Habana tackled Percy Montgomery in the air as the fullback fielded a kick. Referee Steve Walsh decided that a penalty against Habana was sufficient punishment for the wing. And that was the end of the issue.
Therein lies the problem. For a long time now, it appears that there has been little uniformity in dealing with incidents of foul play. Habana's action was clearly a tackle on the player who was fielding the ball in the air. The result: a penalty. One cannot conclusively say that Burger aimed to tackle Polu in the air, yet he has been handed a stiff four-match ban.
On rugby websites the message boards are buzzing with discussions about the Burger ban. Predictably, some conspiracy theories have been put forward given
that the Judicial Officer Terry Willis is an Australian and, in the Super 14 competition, the South Africans have often felt Australians have treated them more harshly than they have their own players or those from New Zealand.
Lima not cited
Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that Samoa's Brian Lima was not cited. After being introduced as a substitute, he lasted only a few minutes on the field after injuring himself while trying to execute a late and high tackle on Andre Pretorius, which he led with his head and failed to use his arms.
Consistency in the citing process is a controversial area.
The Springboks hadn't expected anything to come of the Burger incident; it wasn't as if it was being discussed after the game and the citing, when it came, happened only hours before the 48-hour period allowed for such matters after matches was up.
Thus, it would appear that it wasn't a clear-cut incident. The four-match ban says
otherwise.
No Burger vs England
What is certain is that the Springboks, no matter how well the team's appeal against Burger's suspension goes, will be without the 2004 IRB Player of the Year for the showdown against England.
The South African team management was flabbergasted by the severity of the suspension, terming it "shocking and incomprehensible".
Springbok manager Zola Yeye compared Burger's "tackle" to that which Lima carried out on Andre Pretorius and said, put into that context, the South African's ban was a "shocking sanction".
Bok selection
With Burger out of contention for selection, Wikus van Heerden will take his place on the side of the scrum.
There are two other changes to the starting fifteen that took the field against Samoa. Francois Steyn cracks the nod at inside centre in place of Jean de Villiers who tore a biceps muscle which will require surgery to repair and, up
front, BJ Botha takes over from CJ van der Linde at tighthead prop.
Van der Linde was very impressive against Samoa, so it could be that Jake White wishes to send him into the fray against a tiring England scrum.
On the bench, one further change takes place, with Ruan Pienaar being preferred to Ricky Januarie at scrumhalf. He also brings further versatility to the substitutes' bench, especially with Steyn having been promoted to the starting line-up.
With so few changes, it is obvious that Jake White and his fellow selectors are happy with what they have seen in the side that did duty against Scotland in a World Cup warm-up and against Samoa on Saturday in Paris.
Third flyhalf
England, apart from losing their captain, will be onto their third choice at flyhalf for the showdown against the Springboks. Former rugby league star Andy Farrell will start in the number-10 jersey for the first time. Talk about a baptism of
fire!
Jonny Wilkinson missed England's first match against the United States because of an ankle injury and is still sidelined, while Olly Barkley, the team's best player against the Eagles, failed to come through a fitness test on a hip injury.
Matt Stevens, educated at Kearsney College in KwaZulu-Natal, replaces Vickery in the front row, while flank Martin Corry takes over as captain.
Jason Robinson, who started on the left wing against the USA, takes over from Mark Cueto at fullback, with Paul Sackey cracking the nod on the wing.
Veteran Lawrence Dallaglio was left out of the squad after being in the run-on side against the Eagles; Nick Easter was instead named at number eight. Joe Worsley also fell out of the match day 22, with Corry taking over in the number six jersey.
RWC history
Going back in World Cup history, England were four-try victims of Jonah Lomu in 1995 in South Africa. On Friday evening, they will face
another man with four World Cup tries in a single match behind his name: Bryan Habana.
The defending champion's defence coach Mike Ford has indicated that the problem of stopping the Bok flyer has been on his to-do list. He reckons Habana cannot be stopped by man-marking. The solution, says Ford, will be to try and prevent South Africa getting the ball out wide to the winger.
The Springboks and England have previously met at the Stade de France in the World Cup. It happened in 1999 in the quarterfinals when the Boks recorded a 44-21 victory.
Despite the high score, there were only two tries in the game, scored by Pieter Rossouw and Joost van der Westhuizen. The accolades, though, went to SA flyhalf Jannie de Beer who kicked five penalties, converted both tries, and landed a world record five dropped goals, all in the second half, for a haul of 34 points.
Records
And speaking of record-breaking or record-equaling performances,
Percy Montgomery will be appearing in his 89th test on Friday. That will see him join the above-mentioned Joost van der Westhuizen as the most capped Springbok of all time.
Montgomery is South Africa's highest scorer in test rugby with 797 points. He has scored 69 of those against England.
South Africa
Percy Montgomery, JP Pietersen, Jaque Fourie, Frans Steyn, Bryan Habana, Butch James, Fourie du Preez, Danie Rossouw, Juan Smith, Wikus van Heerden, Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, BJ Botha, John Smit (captain), Os du Randt.
Replacements: Bismarck du Plessis, CJ van der Linde, Johann Muller, Bob Skinstad, Ruan Pienaar, Wynand Olivier, André Pretorius.
England
Jason Robinson, Josh Lewsey, Jamie Noon, Mike Catt, Paul Sackey, Andy Farrell, Shaun Perry, Nick Easter, Tom Rees, Martin Corry (c), Ben Kay, Simon Shaw, Matt Stevens, Mark Regan, Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements: George Chuter, Perry Freshwater, Steve Borthwick, Lewis Moody,
Andy Gomarsall, Peter Richards, Mathew Tait.
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