South Africa produces strange rulings on foul play

As the bickering continues in South Africa after a spiteful opening round of Super 12, a curious part of their rugby judicial system has escaped any great comment.

Springbok and Cats centre Japie Mulder was banned for six weeks after being found guilty of playing fellow Springbok and Stormers midfielder De Wet Barry without the ball, and Sharks prop Brent Moyle received the same suspension for headbutting.

In particular Mulder's actions, which left Barry with a fractured cheekbone, have produced all sorts of emotional reaction and renewed talk of feuds within the Springbok camp.

What is peculiar is that Mulder will miss only two weeks' rugby and Moyle will return after just three weeks on the sidelines.

Judicial committees dealing with the pair decided their bans should include suspended sentences. So Mulder gets four of his six weeks commuted as long as he does not repeat the offence during that time, and Moyle has half his six weeks suspended until the end of Super 12.

It continues the pattern of recent seasons which seems to have South Africa out of kilter on judicial matters with their New Zealand and Australian counterparts.

A ban should be for a finite time and implicit in that suspension, surely, is the warning that a repeat offence will involve looking at the player's disciplinary record. Mulder's ban should have been for a set period.

And how Moyle can play Super 12 again in three weeks' time with three weeks' sentence suspended until the series is over, is as baffling as some of rugby's laws. South Africa has a history of strange judicial rulings.

Last season, Bulls forward Marius Bosman was banned for three weeks for headbutting, and that suspension was delayed for a further six weeks; Cats hooker Leon Boshoff was given a yellow card after a lengthy, delayed telephone-hookup with authorities; and somehow, Hurricanes prop Kevin Yates was cleared after a game in the republic where he repeatedly punched an opponent.

The Mulder-Barry clash points to serious Springbok repercussions, and players are already talking of splits in the camp. Former Springbok assistant and Stormer coach Alan Solomons was incensed about what he called a "pre-meditated and malicious act" by Mulder.

Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett thought Mulder was cited correctly for a "cynical" act but bemoaned the subsequent sledging between the Cats and Stormers. He worried about the implications for new Springbok coach Harry Viljoen.

"Whenever a coach gets a team, he needs it to pull together and it is dangerous for the team to have distrust or animosity," said Mallett.

The squabbles echo the bad old days of 1994 when future Blues comrades, Auckland and North Harbour, hoed into each other in the spiteful NPC final.

One Harbour star from that era, second five-eighths Walter Little, flew out to Japan for a new overseas rugby life this week.

It is perplexing that Little, one of the best second five-eighths in the previous NPC season, failed to get a Super 12 contract this year. Rua Tipoki, Craig Innes, Justin Wilson and Amasio Valence were all deemed to be better value in the Blues midfield.

Little may be 31, but his experience and skills would have been useful in the Blues' opening game against the Highlanders.

Even if the Blues felt they could not use the 50- test stalwart, why did the NZRFU not place Little in another franchise under the Super 12 charter which says the best 130 players shall be employed?