The final nail in the coffin of the incompetent performance of referee Romain Poite in the match between the All Blacks and the Springboks last week came yesterday when a Sanzar judicial hearing overturned the Frenchman’s ultimately game-changing decision to sin bin Bismarck du Plessis for a perfectly legitimate tackle on New Zealand’s star flyhalf Dan Carter.
Carter, who has been sidelined for six weeks with a collar bone injury as a result of the brutal but fair tackle by the Springbok hooker, was the first to proclaim Du Plessis’s innocence. Then came condemnation from a variety of sources, including the world’s most experienced practising referee, Jonathan Kaplan, who said the decision was “farcical”, while one of the world’s most experienced international coaches, Nick Mallett, said: “This decision is nothing short of a disgrace.”
The International Rugby Board then responded to a complaint by Saru CEO Jurie Roux and admitted that Poite had got it wrong.
The coup de grace for the wronged Du Plessis came yesterday when there was a legal verdict on his alleged illegal action.
“Not guilty,” said Sanzar Judicial Officer Terry Willis from Australia of the 17th minute tackle on Carter, and he removed the red card from the disciplinary record of Du Plessis, who was condemned to the sidelines two minutes into the second half of the Rugby Championship game following a second yellow card issued for elbowing an All Black in the throat, which meant an automatic red card.
While yesterday’s hearing said Poite had got it right in issuing a yellow card to Du Plessis for the second offence, his faux pas in the first instance had to be highlighted and admitted.
The Sanzar judicial hearing was held via teleconference after Willis granted an application made by South African attorney, Gerrie Swart, who appeared on behalf of the player, for an expedited hearing. The hearing was originally fixed for today. At the hearing, Willis was assisted by former professional player, David Croft from Australia. The former Wallabies flanker agreed that Du Plessis had effected a tackle within the laws of the game, even if it had injury-resulting consequences.
Submissions were made on behalf of the player and the video footage was reviewed. The judicial officer found that “the decision made by Poite to issue a yellow card as a result of the tackle by Du Plessis on Dan Carter was wrong, as it was within the Laws of the Game”.
“No further sanction was imposed on the player. However, the second yellow card remains on his record for the remainder of the Rugby Championship,” a statement said.
When Du Plessis was contacted yesterday to comment on the latest development, he said that he preferred not to make any comment.
This is in line with a clear Springbok policy of maintaining the moral high ground on the issue. After the match at Eden Park, neither coach Heyneke Meyer nor captain Jean de Villiers would be drawn into an issue that had left the Boks privately seething. “We have a saying in our team – the referee is always right,” Meyer said. In the privacy of the change room it is certain that he said something entirely different, but to the credit of the Boks, there will be no public whingeing.
The silver lining to the unfortunate cloud of their first defeat in nine games, largely because they were down to 14 men for 50 minutes of the game in Auckland, is that Du Plessis is free to play against the Wallabies at Newlands next week.
The 29-year-old was in great form in the match before falling foul of Poite and was back to his best after an injury lay-off of almost a year following a catastrophic knee injury against Argentina in July last year.
He has been playing mostly off the bench since making his return for the Sharks in May, and indeed has been behind Cheetahs hooker Adriaan Strauss at the Boks until a fortnight ago. - Pretoria News