The Springboks are getting frustrated with inconsistent refereeing and recent bans that have been going against them.
It seems that the Springboks are running out of patience, after assistant coach Mzwandile Stick admitted that the team felt a massive sense of injustice over the permanent red cards handed out to their players over the past month.
Stick was speaking at a Bok press conference in Dublin on Monday, ahead of their clash with Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, where they will be without several key players due to various bans.
Their most recent and high profile red cards were handed out to Franco Mostert, in their 32-14 win over Italy in Turin over the past weekend, and Lood de Jager a week earlier, in their 32-17 win over France in Paris, and both players will still hope to be involved against the Irish.
Hearing and appeal
Mostert, whose red card has been heavily criticised, will have his hearing this week and will know his fate before Thursday’s team announcement, while De Jager, who was handed a four game ban last week, is appealing that decision.
“I think Sous will be having his hearing on Tuesday or Wednesday and we’ll also be putting in an appeal for De Jager again. But once again as a team, we’re just disappointed with how things are,” explained Stick.
“At the moment, week after week, we’re losing players, and it’s sad that everyone was looking forward to the Italy game and for it to turn out the way it did, is just disappointing.
“If you look at Franco Mostert’s actions, and even those of Lood de Jager the previous week, they’ve done everything by the book. The only mistake is that maybe the contact was high and near the head, but I don’t understand how that becomes a permanent (red card).
“From our side as coaches, we still need to work hard. We can see that these guys are nice and tall and they try to do everything by the book but, because rugby is a physical game we don’t always get it perfect. But for them to say the tackle was never legal, is disappointing.”
Recent bans
Stick also pointed out other recent bans that have been handed out to Bok veteran Makazole Mapimpi, who received a red card in a URC match, and young utility forward Jan-Hendrik Wessels, who was controversially banned on hearsay evidence in a URC game.
He also highlighted calls against other teams over the past weekend that either weren’t looked at or weren’t treated as harshly as the Boks.
“I don’t want to say things and then also get banned like Rassie (Erasmus) in the past. But once again, if you look at the last four red cards we had players like Makazole Mapimpi suspended and not on tour at the moment … the guy has 47 Test caps and it would’ve been an opportunity for him to get to 50 … Jan-Hendrik Wessels, a youngster, misses out with suspension.
“Looking at the Fiji and France game and the cleanouts that were there, same with Ireland-Australia, there were situations that were even worse than what those guys have been suspended for.
“They are suspended but other players will come back again this week. Surely somewhere, somehow, this is not fair. I don’t think we deserve this as a team. Are we treated fairly? I don’t think so.”
