Stop this nonsense

This column could get me sued… so read on. You see, I’m about to take issue with Japie Mulder and, by implication, his lawyer.

Mulder, through his legal advisor Frikkie Erasmus, has, according to newspaper reports, had papers served on Stormers coach Alan Solomons’ lawyer Brian Biebuyck in which the player allegedly demands an apology – presumably a public one – because Solomons accused him of “thuggery” when he smashed De Wet Barry’s cheek bone with an illegal tackle.

I reckon I’m safe describing it as an “illegal” tackle; given that a Sarfu tribunal found Mulder guilty of transgressing the game’s laws and “sentenced” him to an effective two-match suspension. The full banning order was six weeks, but four weeks were suspended.

Mulder, who broke De Wet Barry’s jaw in a similar incident during the Currie Cup last season, now believes himself to have been slandered by Solomons’ choice of words following the controversial incident during the Stormers vs Cats Super 12 game at Newlands and has instructed his lawyer to extract an apology.

Solomons, himself a practicing lawyer before he turned to rugby fulltime, is presently in New Zealand with the Stormers and not in a position to give any attention to Mulder’s demand.

Erasmus magnanimously told ‘Die Burger’ that he did not want to be “unreasonable” in terms of Solomons’ absence but that he would be pressing the issue when he returned.

My view is that Mulder and Erasmus are being utterly unreasonable in launching their petty action.

There are any number of synonyms that equate to “thuggery” which have traditionally been used as part of rugby’s terminology and I believe it was entirely justifiable for Solomons to seek to use strong words in condemning the fact that a player of his had, for the second time in the matter of a few months, been incapacitated by the same player in an off-the-ball incident.

Given this background what would Solomons have been reasonably expected to say? I know that had I been in his position as mentor and guardian of a rugby team I might have resorted to similar language. Remember players in a team tend to be as sons to their fathers.

In between the two De Wet Barry incidents – for one he incurred a fine and for the other a suspension – Mulder has also been guilty of an off-the-ball challenge that broke the jaw of Wales A player Stephen Jones during last year’s Springbok tour. For this he was fined R10,000.00 by his own team, although it appears the Springboks’ disciplinary action might have been no more than a sham to get their player off having to face a Welsh Rugby Union tribunal.

As a lawyer Erasmus will be well aware that previous convictions for the same offence would weigh quite heavily in a court of law and it might have been better for him to advise client to let the matter lie.

Certainly, in my view Mulder was let off quite leniently in that it appears the latest incident was heard in isolation with his other transgressions not taken into account.

It makes wonder whether a response from the Cape may not be to advise Barry to launch a counter-action for damages. If nothing else, he has been deprived of his Super 12 match fees and has, by implication, been called a “slapgat” by Mulder.

Mulder’s need to have his name cleared contains all kinds of implications. I, for instance, have often used the time-honoured saying that “rugby is a game of hooligans played by gentlemen” whereas soccer is the exact opposite. In fact, I’ve just done it again so does that mean all soccer players could take action against me for inferring that they are hooligans? – hooligan, incidently, is a synonym for thug.

A letter writer to “Die Rapport”, who supplied his name, referred to the “Mulder-barbarism” syndrome. Will he too now receive a lawyer’s letter from Frikkie Erasmus?

In the chat room here on SuperRugby a bloke called David, whose IP (Internet Protocol) address is known to me, has on occasion referred to me as “Doos Dan” in what is a public forum. Should I be suing him?

What of some of the things that have been said about Bob Skinstad; the jokes in circulation about Percy Montgomery? If all the people ever insulted in the game of rugby ever went the route of Mulder and his counselor we would very quickly reach a situation in which the whole game was “sub judice.”

Oh for the days of Doc Craven, who would simply have called up Mulder and told him to stop his nonsense.