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South Africa rugby chief wants crack down on 'hot-headed thugs'

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA - AUGUST 10: Springbok supporter Pieter Van Zyl is removed from the field by officials after assaulting Irish referee David McHugh during the All Blacks 3023 win over the Springboks in the TriNations rugby match at ABSA Kings Park Stadium, Durban, Saturday.. (Photo by Ross Land/Getty Images)

South Africa Rugby president Mark Alexander is writing to all 15 member unions demanding a crack down on “hot-headed thugs” who physically or verbally abuse match officials by banning them for life.

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It follows a second incident involving the assault of a referee in the Eastern Province region of the country.

As a result, Alexander wants disciplinary panels to take immediate action when an issue arises and throw those guilty out of the sport. He told South African media: “These hot-headed thugs who physically assault officials have no place in the sport and should be banned for life from participating or attending.

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“We must protect our match officials – without whom there would be no sport – and the message must out go out in the strongest possible terms that such actions will not be tolerated.

“Attacks on referees are rare but when they occur provinces must not hesitate to act.

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“These attacks have been condemned by the relevant unions and I trust they will follow through by bringing these matters before disciplinary committees. I shall be repeating our message of ‘zero tolerance’ for such behaviour with our members.

“There can be no sympathy or toleration of the assailants. There is no reason at all why anyone involved should lay a hand on a match official. If it does not happen in the most pressured environment of Test rugby, why should it happen at a club match? It must be clamped down on most severely.”

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3 Comments
B
Blair 572 days ago

This is the result of Rassie and the SA media criticising the referees for every springbok loss. If the SA rugby leadership doesn’t show any respect towards the match officials why do they expect their players to do the same?
If the springboks lose this WC it’ll be the refs fault, not the teams

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SK 22 minutes ago
What is the future of rugby in 2025?

Set pieces are important and the way teams use them is a great indication of how they play the game. No team is showcasing their revolution more than the Springboks. This year they have mauled less and primarily in the attacking third. Otherwise they have tended to set like they are going to maul and then play around the corner or shove the ball out the back. They arent also hitting the crash ball carrier constantly but instead they are choosing to use their width or a big carrying forward in wider areas. While their maul is varied the scrum is still a blunt instrument winning penalties before the backs have a go. Some teams have chosen to blunt their set piece game for more control. The All Blacks are kicking more penalties and are using their powerful scrum as an attacking tool choosing that set piece as an attacking weapon. Their willingness to maul more and in different positions is also becoming more prominent. The French continue to play conservative rugby off the set piece using their big bruisers frequently. The set piece is used differently by different teams. Different teams play different ways and can be successful regardless. They can win games with little territory and possession or smash teams with plenty of both. The game of rugby is for all types and sizes and thats true in the modern era. I hope that administrators keep it that way and dont go further towards a Rugby League style situation. Some administrators are of the opinion that rugby is too slow and needs to be sped up. Why not rather empower teams to choose how they want to play and create a framework that favours neither size nor agility. That favours neither slow tempo play or rock n roll rugby. Create a game that favour both and challenge teams to execute their plans. If World Rugby can create a game like that then it will be the ultimate winner.

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J
JW 5 hours ago
'Let's not sugarcoat it': Former All Black's urgent call to protect eligibility rules

Yep, no one knows what will happen. Thing is I think (this is me arguing a point here not a random debate with this one) they're better off trialing it now in a controlled environment than waiting to open it up in a knee jerk style reaction to a crumbling organtization and team. They can always stop it again.


The principle idea is that why would players leave just because the door is ajar?


BBBR decides to go but is not good enough to retain the jersey after doing it. NZ no longer need to do what I suggest by paying him to get back upto speed. That is solely a concept of a body that needs to do what I call pick and stick wth players. NZR can't hold onto everyone so they have to choose their BBBRs and if that player comes back from a sabbatical under par it's a priority to get him upto speed as fast as possible because half of his competition has been let go overseas because they can't hold onto them all. Changing eligibility removes that dilemma, if a BBBR isn't playing well you can be assured that someone else is (well the idea is that you can be more assured than if you only selected from domestic players).


So if someone decides they want to go overseas, they better do it with an org than is going to help improve them, otherwise theyre still basically as ineligible as if they would have been scorning a NZ Super side that would have given them the best chance to be an All Black.

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