Do you remember back in 2002 when the Springboks faced England at Twickenham and the game was heavily overshadowed by the reckless and sometimes dirty play of the South African players none more so than the late shoulder charge on Jonny Wilkinson by the South African lock, Jannes Labuchagne. The English brainstrust actually still refer to the then South African captains berserker behaviour as Corne Krige's "five minutes of madness".
The lock was duelly dispatched off the field with a red card in the 15th minute by referee Paddy O'Brien and the rest as they say is history.
The Springboks lost by a record margin and Jonny ended up with a serious shoulder injury that might be linked to this incident.
If we look further back into the situation surrounding the teams, one must remember that the English were very formidable at that stage and were making the southern hemisphere sides look quite ordinary.
The Springboks and their couch were under considerable pressure as they had had a terrible Tri-Nations campaign and the pressure was definitely on, especially on the old school coach that was Rudolf Straeli.
Englands playmaker and points scoring machine that was Jonny Wilkinson was their M.V.P. by a long shot without him they were quite toothless, Woodwards entire gameplan was built around Wilkinson, one can assume that all opposition teams were hoping Jonny would take a long vacation.
Now, it is risky to suggest that in a Springbok team talk prior to the Twickenham test, it might have been suggested that Wilkinson be taken out, it might even have occured in a way similiar to that movie with Jack Nickolson and Tom Cruise, a Few Good Men where it is alledged that a physically inept Marine that is dragging the platoon down results in the squad leader singling him out for some team bullying that is against regulations, but is able to get around it by informing the platoon that this marine in question must not be singled out for any punishment, which then does result in the marine being punished by the squad. This squad treatment was known as a "Code Red".
Considering the whole "kamp staaldraat" saga that even had coverage in Germany a country not exactly teeming with rugby fans, that debacle was orchestrated by Straeli and it would seem that this might not have been beyond him either.
In years to follow, this kind of singling out of star players by opposition teams seemed to have dwindled away as it is definitely not worth losing a player for by receiving a red card in return.
Unfortunatley, this ugly beast might be making a very strong return.
During the British & Irish Lions tour it came to my attention that in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd tests, the Springbok scrumhalf, Fourie Du Preez, many refer to as the best scrumhalf in the world came in for some undue attention.
In the first test Fourie Du Preez was shoulder charged late by Tom Croft from the side after Du Preez had launched another offensive kick. Tom Croft was penalised for this infringement, however no yellow card.
In the second test as to many South Africans delight and corresponding horror to all U.K. fans Ronan O'Gara had his own moment of madness by launching himself at Du Preez who was attempting to collect an up and under in the Lions half of the field. O'Gara made no attempt to claim the ball instead it was a blatant attack on Du Preez, this resulted in a penalty that won the Boks the series in the final minute.
Interestingly enough this was to be repeated in the third test by Simon Shaw stabbing his knees into the back of Du Preez as he was lying in a prone body position on a loose ball. This did result in a yellow card and a ban for Simon Shaw of three weeks.
Three test matches later The Boks faced the Wallabies in Newlands Cape Town and Du Preez was once again singled out for special attention uncharacteristically by Matt Giteau.
Du Preez was once again attempting to claim an up and under and was struck in the face by an airborne Giteau's elbow and following body weight to boot. The ball was not even near Du Preez at the time. This did result in a yellow card however no citing again.
It appears as if the late tackle and the forearm aerial attack seem to be the weapon of choice as it is the most likely way for the aggressor to escape any serious repercussions as I have proved in the results of citations in the tests above.
I am finding this quite astonishing that this pattern of play is not being voiced by the sports media and that the referee's are not putting a stop to this potentionally premeditated "Code Red" behaviour. Who will be the next target, Morne steyn or maybe even Dan Carter.
Should the referee's fail to be brave in the face of this sinister gameplan, in time Rugby could end up being played within an encircled cage whereby all the players needed to do was to knock the living daylights out of each other, while the barbaric crowds bay for blood.
Neil Fleming
Matt Giteau copyright Reuters Images
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