SARU boss claims South African players are victimised

The CEO of the South African Rugby Union, Oregan Hoskins, has launched an astonishing attack on SANZAR (the body that organises and runs Super Rugby) in which he claims South African players are treated more harshly than those from New Zealand and Australia.

The tirade comes in the wake of a spate of red cards and bans for South African players, including lengthy spells on the touchline for internationals Frans Steyn (five weeks), Bismarck du Plessis (four weeks) and Jean Deysel (seven weeks).

Steyn’s case was particularly strange. The centre was shown a red card for a tip tackle in the Sharks game against the Chiefs, but that decision was overturned at the ensuing disciplinary hearing. SANZAR then appealed, as is their right to do, and the card was reinstated along with a five week ban.

Hoskins, usually a relatively reserved man, is so incensed that he has taken to the media to express his frustration.

“I didn’t intend to go to the media on this,” the CEO told City Press. “But frankly, I’ve just had enough. I feel we, as administrators, are fighting one fight and do not have the support of our judicial and refereeing panels.

“To be absolutely honest with you, I am at my wit’s end, because I am seeing how we are being torn apart on the field of play and by judicial decisions – and we are not getting the support we should be getting from these people, who are part of our organisation.”

Hoskins picked out the recent Sharks vs Crusaders game – when the New Zealand franchise were shown three yellow cards – as an example of the discrepancies in officiating.

“I was at Kings Park [when the Sharks played the Crusaders]. Take nothing away from the Crusaders, they deserved their win, but I was on the centre line watching the dangerous high tackles and shoulder charges.

“The first one, on SP Marais, almost took his head off and the next, on Odwa Ndungane, went totally unpunished. Then the third one, on Deysel, almost took his neck off.

“They [the referees] just continued to dish out yellow cards, because that’s the instruction they’re given. Deysel did a stupid thing, obviously, by retaliating with a knee on the guy’s head, although it wasn’t an injurious type of thing.

“But still, it is not allowed, and he got a red card and a heavy suspension – while the others were not even cited.

“There was also an incident in the previous game [between the Sharks and Chiefs] when Du Plessis and Steyn were sent off, when a Chiefs player dangerously kneed Cobus Reinach in the back – he wasn’t even cited.”

Hoskins has called a meeting with key figures in judicial and disciplinary structures to discuss his frustrations with the rulings.

“I’m so incensed, absolutely frustrated, and the public is outraged. I was a judicial officer; I was a citing commissioner, I know the drill. I studied the laws; wrote the exams; it’s not like I’m standing in judgement as a layman,” added an angry Hoskins.

“Steyn’s situation was handled by an experienced citing administrator, who felt there were grounds for leniency, because another player was involved in the tackle. Then there’s an appeal by SANZAR CEO Greg Peters – of his own volition – and the banning is escalated to five weeks.

“How can that be? And if that is the right way to go, why are there no other citings and appeals when it appears the match officials and judicial officers have erred?”