Referee Nic Berry was at the centre of the Rassie Erasmus video, which has got him banned. Picture: EJ Langner/Gallo Images
As propagandists have noted before, nothing unites a nation like a common enemy. And South African sports fans may be about to embark on a spell of irate unity, thanks to the recent rulings in the disciplinary hearings against South African Rugby and its Director of Rugby, Rassie Erasmus.
The hearings were conducted on October 30-31, although the findings were only released this week. They largely concern a raft of complaints raised by Erasmus about the performance of referee Nic Berry during the first Test of the rugby series between the Springboks and the British & Irish Lions in July this year.
Also Read: World Rugby suspend Rassie Erasmus, fine SA Rugby
The concerns were contained in a classic 62-minute video released – or leaked, depending who you believe – soon after the Test.
Following the release of the video, World Rugby charged Erasmus with six offences, and SA Rugby with two offences. These charges centred around bringing the game into disrepute and disrespecting the authority of match officials by questioning their decisions.
The upshot of it all has been that Erasmus has been suspended from all rugby activities for two months, and from all match-day activities until October next year.
From a deeply biased South African perspective, the decision stinks to high heaven, particularly one gem of a finding: that SA Rugby is guilty of not preventing Siya Kolisi from saying, in answer to a question from the media, that, yes, he felt disrespected by referee Berry.
For this, SA Rugby were fined £20 000, warned, and ordered to apologise. Both Erasmus and SA Rugby will be appealing.
So far, so CCMA.
However, what this flawed, drawn-out process has exposed are the unjust power structures within global rugby.
Most of the 30-odd referee’s decisions that Erasmus queried have subsequently been deemed to be flawed. However, the true issue at play here is the challenge to the global authority of World Rugby.
Also Read: World Rugby missed an opportunity to correct officiating standards in the game
Where power is challenged, the threat to its hegemony cannot be allowed to stand. And Rassie Erasmus has done just that by daring to question the illogical, if not incompetent decisions of a match official.
The deeper issue is not the performance of the referee, but the fact that the sport of rugby is facing a laws crisis. Compared to football, which thrives on its elegant simplicity, rugby is a riven with a plethora of laws governing every aspect of play, often contradictory, and all open to interpretation.
At every breakdown, there is the issue of the tackle, how it is executed, how high, whether the runner is grounded, which heralds a ruck. Is he held? Does the tackler roll away? Does the tackle-assist allow daylight? Is there a steal? Do the arriving players arrive through the gate?
It sounds complicated because it is, and because World Rugby has been unable to simplify it, the sport has become an utter mystery to casual observers, and deeply frustrating to lifelong fans.
However, the sport’s rulers cannot allow anyone, least of all peripheral South Africa, to point out that the emperor wears no clothes, and the sport is becoming impossible.
And so Rassie and SA Rugby have been punished. The punishment is also an exercise in protecting the inbuilt race, class and cultural power relations within the sport.
The fact that Kolisi’s complaint was completely valid, and he WAS disrespected to the point of being ignored by the match official, only brings this unequal power dynamic into even starker relief.
Also Read: WATCH: Siya Kolisi gives Bok fan one-of-a-kind autograph
An injustice was done on the field, and an injustice was done in the disciplinary hearing. This is the opinion of almost all South African rugby fans – black and white.
And so, as we load up on sixpacks for Saturday’s final test of the year against England, we Springbok fans find ourselves more united that we’ve been in a while.
This time, our enemy, besides England, is a system of control that may be more concerned about its own best interests than those of the sport it administers. It may also be a racist system, much as its functionaries wish it wasn’t.
When our guys take the field, they will play the team in front of them, but their play – without their suspended coach and leader – will also make a statement. Saturday’s game will be an expression of sovereignty, of our right to express ourselves through the game we love.
It’s going to be a cracker.
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