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Why the Peter de Villiers school of Springbok thuggery has no place in rugby

Did the referee choke on a first-minute red-card? Either way, the South African coach's case for Schalk Burger's defence is laughable.

by Curtis Arms-Williams on 02 July 2009

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Peter de Villiers: Has he lost the plot? (gettyimages.com)

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The two Springboks v Lions Test matches really have been a joy to watch, whether you are British, South African or just a neutral.

The quality of rugby has been great, from both a collective and individual perspective, but the second Test now seems well and truly forgotten in all the controversy.

In case you've forgotten, the Springboks nicked the crucial second victory with the last kick of the match. Morne Steyn took advantage of Ronan O'Gara's rush of blood to the head to convert a long-range penalty and win the game 28-25.

The first talking point took place just seconds into the match, with Boks flanker Schalk Burger gouging the eyes of Luke Fitzgerald. This is illegal in sport, a red-card offence and one that could blind a player and end his career.

The two questions to stem from this incident are: Why wasn't Burger sent off? And what on earth prompted Springboks coach Peter de Villiers to launch a crazy defence of his flanker?

French referee Christophe Berdos trusted touch judge Bryce Lawrence's verdict, as he had a clear view of the incident. The result? Yellow card, 10 minutes in the sin bin. And they say football officials are inept.

What did Burger have to do to get a red card, scoop out Fitzgerald's eyes and crush them with his bare hands?

A red card may not have guaranteed a Lions victory, but the momentum would surely have swung in their favour. You can't help but think 'what if?'. The International Rugby Board have since banned the South African for eight weeks.

The ban could have been eight months, but it still wouldn't have changed the fact that the Lions were blatantly denied an advantage.

Perhaps the referee thought it was too early to dismiss a player; only he knows the answer to that one. Eye gouging in the 80th minute is the same offence as it is in the first, and is obviously worthy of a red card.

This moment later prompted an unbelievable defence from De Villiers, who said: "I have watched the television footage, and I am still convinced nothing he did was on purpose." If that's true, then Elvis and Michael Jackson will form a duo!

He said rugby is a contact sport, so knocks and bruises are part of the game. That's never been in doubt. He then said if some people don't like the physical aspect of rugby, then we "should go to the nearest ballet shop and buy some tutus."

People may say the Lions are whinging about the South Africans being overly aggressive in the second Test. It's in the Springboks' nature to rough up the opposition, but sometimes the legal/illegal line is crossed, and that proved the case on this occasion.

Luckily, De Villiers and the South African Rugby Board have back-tracked and apologised for the comments. Nice try guys, but you can't rewrite the script. Peter de Villiers will always be remembered for these comments.

The statements the Boks coach made will go up there with the comical words of Eric Cantona and Jose Mourinho; however, I doubt Luke Fitzgerald is laughing.

Nor is Brian O'Driscoll. "Semi-repulsive, appalling" and "a disgrace" are just a few of the words O'Driscoll has used to describe De Villiers. He went on to say: "We are trying to promote the game, and yet you hear comments like that."

There is no doubt that from a playing point of view, that did indeed promote the game. It was a cracking match. But the ugly scenes from Burger would not have won over fans.

I have no complaints about the other injuries suffered in this match. Dislocated shoulders and broken cheekbones do happen, and it's very unfortunate for Adam Jones and Gethin Jenkins. These things can happen by accident. Eye gouging is deliberate.

Some may find De Villiers a bit of a character, others may think he's totally lost the plot. Take your pick.

Comments (4)

on July 02, 2009 on July 02, 2009

A couple points: 1."A red card may not have guaranteed a Lions victory, but the momentum would surely have swung in their favour. You can't help but think 'what if?'" - SOUTH AFRICANS LOVE THE IMPLICATION THAT YOU LOT WOULD PREFER A 14 VS 15 MAN GAME ... YOU CAN'T IMAGINE WINNING ANY OTHER WAY, CAN YOU ? 2.'Luke Fitzgerald is laughing' - I BET, ESPECIALLY AFTER REPORTS HAVE HIM (and other Lions) TAUNTING SCHALK BURGER IN THE TUNNEL WITH WORDS LIKE, 'What do niggers call Schalk Burgers sister ? The Burger Queen ?' [A sick racist reference to her rape] 3. PdV knows business. I reckon the IRB could stamp out dramatic devices like eye-gouging (with life-time bans) but they won't. The fact is these incidents create a media feeding frenzy. PdV knows this. Unfortunately he's said it in a way that looks like he's all for it although I doubt it's his intention to promote anything other than the drama... not the hardcore injury causing stuff. 4. PdV was also caught between two things - allegations that he doesn't stand by or support his players VERSUS condemning Schalk Burger. He picked the wrong time to show he's player support.

by Curtis Arms-Williams on July 04, 2009

i said I DOUBT Luke Fitzgerald is laughing you fruit! and it's not the fact the Lions would rather play against 14 men, it's the fact they SHOULD have been playing against 14 men, and even the most diehard Springbok cannot deny that.

by strums on July 06, 2009

Curtis, you have summoned up British idiology perfectly. You just like your pathetic overweight unshaven press members like to focus on, anything but the rugby played to jusitfy why your beloverd overated lions failed to win a test series against a world champion opposition who do not have the luxury of having a proper coach. I live in the UK and have flown over to watch the rugby and i am appauled at the way the Uk press have gone about thier business. Its really really pathetic. Eye gouging is NOT APART OF SA RUGBY!! There are more eye gouging incidents in the UK than in SA- FACT! You only have to look back at the all irish encounter to see that, one of your Lions Quinlin was banned for a far worse eye gouging incident than Burger, hence a bigger ban. Now lets look at that second test and put things in prospective, if you take out the stupid burger incident, there were far more transgressions from the Lions players than the Boks..."Sheridan punching bekker in the nuts"( amongest other things), :Rees Strangle tackling Burger by the neck", "o'driscol high tackling both habana and Danie in the way he did it" Yet we were called thugs because of 1 incident. Yes our coach didnt help our cause 1 bit but anybody with half a brain would be able to tell he is out of his depth and anyone who knows the game aswell as i do will tell you that he has very little say in what the springboks do, so blaming the whole team is below the belt. He is there because of the colour of his skin- FACT. SA rugby are very embarressed by his comments and are looking to recruit a teams spokesman for the future. However its time you and your fellow countryman start being honest with yourselfs and stop blaming everything else for your losses. After losing the 2nd test 3 tries to 1, the lions felt hard done by. Why was this? Surely the boks should feel hard done by with Pienaar and Steyn missing 4 out of 5 kicks which would of made the win allot more comfortable. You were beaten by a better team on both occastions and what makes this special for South Africans is that it was done without a coach! So stop your whinning and take the loss on the chin. This was a close test series and some great rugby was played from both teams. This win was almost identical to 97 except it was the boks turn. I dont hear the British saying the 97 team were lucky even though they were outscored 9-3 in terms of tries.