Duplicitous Aussies at it again

Corné Krige eight weeks. Benoit Baby four weeks. Mose Tuiali`i three weeks. Wendell Sailor scot-free. It seems those double dealing Aussies have been at it again.

Rugby’s judiciary process has again been held up for ridicule following the odd goings-on at Reds and Wallaby wing Wendell Sailor’s disciplinary hearing in Brisbane.

Sailor was cited to appear before a disciplinary tribunal after having aimed a head butt and a punch at Josh Blackie of the Highlanders; this after South African referees Shaun Veldsman and Craig Joubert had somehow conspired to let him get away with the incident in the course of the match.

Sailor was later yellow-carded for tripping Ben Blair, surely an indication of his truculent attitude, and his excursion to the sin-bin meant he played no further role in the game.

He clearly had to be cited for the butt and the punch, which happened out in the open, but now some funny things started to happen.

Sailor’s disciplinary hearing was hastily convened and the next thing we knew it was announced that he would be able to join his Reds teammates on their tour to South Africa – after the judicial committee had allegedly ruled that no further action was required (against Sailor) “following his citing for striking in last night’s (Friday’s) game against the Highlanders.”

This piece of information was gleaned from the Reds’ website and what is odd is that while the outcomes of (other) judiciary hearings are normally released along official channels, providing the names of the members of the panel, this was never forthcoming from either the QRU or the Australian Rugby Union.

It might have had something to do with the incident playing itself out on April Fool’s Day but the first “news” of Sailor getting away with his heinous deed was when the Highlanders, by way of chief executive Russell Gray, objected to the leniency shown to Sailor and questioned the lack of consistency in the judicial process.

Intent or severity has no role to play when a player behaves like a thug and the message sent out by the officials who heard Sailor’s case is that head butting is okay.

In last year’s Super 12 Krige shamed himself by resorting to this yobbish behaviour and was banned for eight weeks, effectively bringing to an end his involvement with the Super 12, and soon afterwards there was outrage in South Africa when Mose Tuiali`i of the Crusaders received only three weeks for a butt. Still, he was banned and he did miss the Super 12 final.

Recently, the Six Nations tournament, French Benoit Baby, in his international debut, was pulled up for aiming a butt at Ireland’s Brian O’Driscoll and was banned for four weeks.

The lack of consistency is alarming and yet again it is the Australians, who can be so sanctimonious about the dirty play of players from other nations, who have been duplicitous when it comes to meting out punishment.

Little would be gained from listing the other incidents in which South African players have been harshly treated by Australian disciplinary tribunals but, then, it says something that a player such has Justin Harrison, who made himself guilty of crass racism, remains as the president of the Australian Rugby Players’ association.

There is no gainsaying that the spirit of law has been subverted in the Sailor case and yet again rugby is embarrassed by the inconsistency in which punishment in disciplinary cases is handed out.

The Tri-Nations and the Super 12 have been running for a decade and still officials can’t see that they only way to run disciplinary matters is to have a strict code of conduct and list of punishments and to have these administered by the same people, preferably a panel of respected former players.

Only then will there be any uniformity for, at the very least, panel members will remember what penalties they previously handed out and measure any new infringements against the rule of precedent.

And, if that were the case, Wendell Sailor would not now be in Cape Town preparing to play against the Stormers on Saturday.