South Africa have issued on unqualified statement condemning eye-gouging after the International Rugby Board launched an investigation into remarks made by the Springboks' coach, Peter de Villiers, at the end of the second Test following the yellow card issued to Schalk Burger for making contact with the left eye of Luke Fitzgerald.
De Villiers said in the after-match media conference: "I do not think it should have been a card at all. For me, and everybody, this is sport." His opposite number, Ian McGeechan, the following day expressed his "disappointment" at the remark and said that there was no place in the game for gouging, an offence he felt should command a red card.
Burger, the flanker who won his 50th cap on Saturday, was subsequently cited and banned for eight weeks. De Villiers held a media conference yesterday in which he defended the forward and denounced gouging in a roundabout way.
That was not good enough for the IRB, which asked the South African Rugby Union and the Lions for their observations. The immediate outcome was a statement from SARU late last night that offered an unequivocal condemnation of gouging.
"We would like to apologise to the rugby community for the erroneous impression that acts of foul play are in any way condoned by South African rugby," said the SARU president, Oregan Hoskins in a statement. "That has never been the case and is not now, and we support strong action by rugby authorities when such acts occur. Rugby is a physical game and a hard game but it is a game that rightly prides itself on good sportsmanship and we as SARU categorically condemn any such action. We fully back any action that the IRB feels appropriate to stamp out eye gouging in the game."
De Villiers added that as Springbok coach he stood against play that was not in the spirit of the game. "Eye-gouging is something that we as a team will never be part of. The same applies to biting, head-butting, spear tackling or any other foul play that doesn't belong in the game. My comments on Saturday were based on what I know of Schalk Burger as a player and not on what occurred. It was never my intention to suggest that I condone foul play. That is the last thing I would ever do and I apologise for creating any other impression."
The IRB is concerned at a perceived rise in incidents of players making contact with the eyes of opponents with a number of high-profile cases in the last year. Burger received a relatively light ban because the judicial officer, Alan Hudson, accepted his contention that contact with Fitzgerald's eye was inadvertent rather than deliberate.
The Lions returned last night from an excursion to a game park reserve. They will not be resuming any media activity until tomorrow. South Africa have delayed announcing their side for Saturday's third Test until Thursday, giving De Villiers a couple of extra days to prepare for his next showdown with the media.
