Schalk Burger insists he is no rugby thug.
Jaques van der Westhuyzen – Cape Times
Springbok flank Schalk Burger says he is not “a rugby thug” after being banned for eight weeks for “making contact with the face in the eye area” of British and Irish Lions wing Luke Fitzgerald.
Burger’s actions in the second Test against the British and Irish Lions last weekend, which saw him being yellow-carded in the first minute of the match and handed an eight-week ban, have led to worldwide condemnation.
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers also come in for heavy fire from star Lions centre Brian O’Driscoll and Lions forwards coach Warren Gatland for his reaction to the incident.
De Villiers at first said that he did not believe Burger should have been yellow-carded. The South African Rugby Union then issued a statement apologising for comments by De Villiers defending the flank.
Burger was, in fact, cleared of “eye-gouging”, but suspended for “committing an act contrary to good sportsmanship by making contact with the face in the eye area of Lions wing Luke Fitzgerald”.
Burger said on Thursday: “I am not a rugby thug and will never intentionally engage in eye-gouging or similar illegal actions. This was also the case in the second Test against the Lions.
“I am therefore grateful that the judicial officer confirmed my stance with his conclusion that there was no deliberate eye-gouging as charged by the citing official. I will always play the game as hard as possible within the rules.”
Burger added that, as a proud South African and Springbok rugby player, he only had the utmost respect for the traditions of rugby.
“Through my life and career I have always approached the game with the intention only of playing it hard and fair.”
Judicial officer Alan Hudson, who found Burger guilty, said the flanker’s actions were “clearly reckless”, adding Burger “knew or should have known that there was a risk that his actions could result in an act of foul play – that is contact with the eye area of Lions No.11 (Fitzgerald).”
Hudson’s findings further state: “I am unable to conclude that there was eye-gouging in the sense of a ripping or aggressive intrusion of the eye area but I do conclude that there was contact in the left eye area, which, while not serious in the result, cannot be described as insignificant.
“Contact with an opponent’s eye area is a serious matter because of the vulnerability of the human eye and the potential of a permanent injury to one of the key sensory organs of the body.”
Meanwhile, Bakkies Botha lost his appeal on Thursday against a two-week ban for “dangerously charging in at a ruck or maul without binding”.
Botha’s “clearing out” of Lions prop Adam Jones at the weekend, which resulted in Jones injuring his shoulder to such an extent that his tour of South Africa is over, was called a “textbook” clean by Bok forwards coach Gary Gold.
“It was a sensational clean – it was fair, it was honest and it was tough. He cleaned the body away – something we coach our players to do. It is preposterous Bakkies was cited.”
