PRETORIA, South Africa, April 7 (Reuters) – Canterbury
Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder backed his team against charges
of eye-gouging against the Northern Bulls during their 32-30
SuperRugby loss on Saturday, saying he was concerned the new
white card system could be manipulated.
South African referee Jaco Peyper issued two white cards
against the Crusaders after Bulls hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle and
captain Pierre Spies, on behalf of lock Flip van der Merwe, made
allegations of eye-gouging at rucks.
Sanzar, SuperRugby’s ruling body, introduced the use of
white cards this season in cases where referees suspect foul
play but have not seen the incident or are unsure of the
culprit.
The card alerts the citing commissioner to view television
replays and check whether action is required.
Blackadder told a news conference: “Personally, I’m bemused.
If the allegations made are shown to be false then I expect an
apology because they’re pretty serious allegations. Otherwise
anyone can make allegations and we’ll have white cards all over
the place. I’m not sure the system is designed for that.
“There’s a process in place, but I would be very
disappointed if the allegations are shown to be true. I know my
players well, they’re guys of character and there’s no way they
would do that. I’ll be interested in the outcome.”
Bulls coach Frans Ludeke said eye-gouging had no place in
the game and he would be upset if the allegations were proven.
“There’s no place for foul play and silly incidents like
that,” he told reporters. “There will be a review and there may
be nothing, but it’s not part of the game. No-one wants to see
that sort of thing.
“It’s tough to say what happened, but we’ll leave it for the
judicial officers, they specialise in that.”
(Editing by Dave Thompson; To comment on this story email
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