Refs aren't treating Boks fairly - Stick

Springbok assistant coach Mzwandile Stick alleged that referees are not treating the Springboks fairly, especially following two red cards in as many weeks on their November tour.

The cards - both deemed permanent reds by the refereeing teams on the day despite World Rugby’s own protocol that this is reserved for thuggery - have cost the Boks the services of Lood de Jager (against France) and Franco Mostert (against Italy) but did not see them lose the game as a result.

Stick said the team felt they were being unfairly treated, and they were “disappointed” with the way things were being handled by the officials.

“As a team, we are just disappointed with how things are flowing at the moment. We are losing players every week,” Stick said.

“It’s sad because the build-up to the Italy game was good, and the vibe in Turin was excellent. Everyone was looking forward to an entertaining game given the form Italy were in after beating Australia, but early on, the game took an unfortunate turn in the 11th minute when Franco was sent off.”

Stick said that both De Jager and Mostert did things by the book, and especially in Mostert’s case it seemed unfair that he received a permanent red card.

“We are disappointed with the way things are being handled at the moment. If you look at the actions of Franco and Lood the previous week, they did everything by the book.

“With Franco, it was probably just that there was contact to the shoulder, but it moved to the head. I don’t understand how it becomes a permanent red card. For us as coaches, we have to work hard because we are working with these big men.

"They are very tall guys. They’ve tried to do everything by the book, but rugby is a physical game. Sometimes you don’t get it perfect. But for them to say the tackle was never legal was disappointing. I think we are being treated unfairly.”

Stick explained that the rest of the refereeing team definitely influenced the decision of James Doleman in deciding it was a permanent red card and not sending the incident to the bunker for a more nuanced decision.

“We feel for the referee because we understood the communication that was happening between him and his team outside of him. He has to respect the communication from his team. There were about 21 decisions that were supposed to be made in the first half; 20 of them went against us.”

“If you are going to say that Franco deserved a red card, then there were more than five other reds that should have happened. And several more yellow cards, too.

“I don’t want to say things and then also get banned like Rassie in the past. But looking at the Fiji and France game and the cleanouts there - the same with the Ireland-Australia situations, which were even worse than what our guys have been suspended for.

“They are suspended, but other players will play again this week. Surely somewhere, somehow, this is not fair. I don’t think we deserve this as a team.

"Are we treated fairly?

"I don’t think so.”

The Boks name their side for the Ireland clash on Thursday.