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'It came as a bit of a shock': Michael Rhodes' reaction after he learned he was cited this week

(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Michael Rhodes has admitted he was shocked to learn that he had been cited following his man of the match performance for Saracens in their Champions Cup quarter-final win away at Leinster last Saturday. 

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The energy provided by the 32-year-old South African around the Aviva Stadium pitch was one of the prime reasons why the defending champions repeated their May 2019 final success against the Irish province.

When it came to potential foul play, Rhodes was involved in the second-half incident where he tackled Johnny Sexton after the Leinster player had released the ball. That resulted in a penalty against Saracens and no more. 

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However, it emerged on Monday that the back row was being cited for a very different incident, a second-minute breakdown meeting with Robbie Henshaw in which he was accused of striking with his head.   

It was Tuesday evening when his disciplinary hearing concluded that although he had committed foul play, the incident didn’t warrant a red card which freed Rhodes to play for Saracens against Racing in this Saturday’s semi-final in Paris.  

Speaking on The Rugby Pod before the verdict emerged, Rhodes said: “It [the citing] came as a bit of a shock to me… there is a clash of heads at a breakdown. You know I can’t really say anything when it comes to that side of things until I am retiring and sitting on the couch and then I can say what I like. We’ll see what happens. Of course, from our point of view, I don’t think there was anything in it. We’ll see how it pans out and hopefully I can still play in the semi-final.”

There was talk some years ago that the South African’s form with Saracens could see him called up by England. Nothing came of that speculation but he would still love to play Test rugby at some stage even though he is committed to sticking with Saracens for their 2020/21 season in the Championship. 

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“There hasn’t been any more chat from anyone with England. Of course, I was disappointed when I didn’t get a chance to play. Like anyone, I was looking forward to testing myself in the international arena. Unfortunately for me, it’s pretty quiet on that front but if the opportunity ever came up I would jump at the chance to play international rugby. We’ll see. Maybe I need a couple of more man of the matches to get there. 

“I’m still here (with Saracens) for next season so we’ll be going to all sorts of weird and wonderful places I have never been before and looking forward to it. It will be something different, a chance for the younger players to come in and get experience. 

“Old boys like myself can get 20 minutes on the bench and then go for pints in the changing room. It will be a good chance for the team to build for hopefully going back into the Premiership for the following season.”

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Hellhound 35 minutes ago
South Africa player ratings | 2024 Autumn Nations Series

There is this thing going around against Siya Kolisi where they don't want him to be known as the best national captain ever, so they strike him down in ratings permanently whenever they can. They want McCaw and reckons he is the best captain ever. I disagree.


Just like they refuse to see SA as the best team and some have even said that should the Boks win a third WC in a row, they will still not be the best team ever. Even if they win every game between now and the WC. That is some serious hate coming SA's way.


Everyone forget how the McCaw AB's intimidated refs, was always on the wrong side, played on the ground etc. Things they would never have gotten away with today. They may have a better win ratio, but SA build depth, not caring about rank inbetween WC's until this year.


They weren't as bad inbetween as people claim, because non e of their losses was big ones and they almost never faced the strongest Bok team outside of the WC, allowing countries like France and Ireland to rise to the top unopposed.


Rassie is still at it, building more depth, getting more young stars into the fold. By the time he leaves (I hope never) he will leave a very strong Bok side for the next 15- 20 years. Not everyone will play for 20 years, but each year Rassie acknowledge the young stars and get them involved and ready for international rugby.


Not everyone will make it to the WC, but those 51/52 players will compete for those spots for the WC. They will deliver their best. The future of the Boks is in very safe hands. The only thing that bothers me is Rassie's health. If he can overcome it, rugby looks dark for the rest of the rugby world. He is already the greatest coach in WR history. By the time he retires, he will be the biggest legend any sport has ever seen

4 Go to comments
J
JW 50 minutes ago
'They smelt it': Scott Robertson says Italy sensed All Blacks' vulnerability

No where to be seen OB!


The crosses for me for the year where (from memory);


This was a really hard one to nail down as the first sign of a problem, now that I've asked myself to think about it. I'd say it all started with his decision to not back form and fit players after all the injuries, and/or him picking players for the future, rather ones that could play right now.


First he doesn't replace Perofeta straight away (goes on for months in the team) after injury against England, second he falls back to Beauden Barrett to cover at fullback against Fiji, then he drops Narawa the obvious choice to have started, then he brings in Jordan too soon. That Barret selection (and to a lesser extent Bell's) set the tone for the year.


Then he didn't get the side up for Argentina. They were blown away and didn't look like they expected a fight and were well beaten despite the scoreline in my opinion. Worst performance of the year in the forth game and..


Basically the same problems were persistent, or even exaggerated, after that with the players he did select not given much of an opportunity, with this year having the most number of unused subs I can remember since the amateur days.


What I think I started to realise early on was that he didn't back himself and his team. I think he prepared the players well, don't get me wrong, but I'll credit him with making a conscious choice in tempering his ambition and instead choosing cohesion and to respect (the idea of it being important in himself and his players) experience first and foremost (after two tight games and that 4th game loss). I think he chose wrong in deciding not to be, and back, himself. Hard criticism.


And it played out by preferring Beauden to Dmac on the EOYT (though that may have been a planned move).


I hope I'm right, because going through all the little things of the season and coming up with these bullets, I've got to wonder when I say his last fault is one we have seen at the Crusaders, playing his best players into the ground. What I'm really scared of now is that not wanting a bit of freshness in this last game could be linked with all these other crosses that I want to put down to simple confidence issues. But are they really a sign that he just lacks vision?


Now, that's not to say I haven't seen a lot of positives as well, I just think that for the ABs to go where they want to go he has to fix these crosses. Just have difficult that will be is the question.

24 Go to comments
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