The Springboks are hoping to hear the outcome of the appeals against two red cards incurred in successive matches on their end-of-year tour to Europe.
Springbok assistant coach Mzwandile Stick says they want the red cards overturned, and they also need explanations, because something does not add up in the Bok camp.
The Boks maintain that the red cards against both Lood de Jager and Franco Mostert were unfair.
Much has been said about the exploits of the Boks in the last two matches.
Scoring famous wins over France and then Italy despite being a man down for most of the encounters.
It is the stuff of legend, but it also takes its toll on the coaching staff of the Springboks.
Assistant coach Mzwandile Stick still can’t see how Mostert’s effort resulted in a permanent red card.
“We are just disappointed with the way things are being handled because if you look at the actions of Franco and even lood dejager the previous week he has done everything by the book just maybe the only mistake was the contact was here and ended up in the head so I dont understand how that becomes a permanent red card but from our side as coaches we still need to work hard because we are working with these guys we can see they are nice and tall they try to do everything by the book but because rugby is a physical game you dont always get it right but for them to say the tackle was never legal it is disappointing.”
The Boks have taken the weekly setbacks in their stride, but now in Dublin, a stone’s throw from World Rugby headquarters, Stick felt the need to lay out what the procession of red cards means to the team.
Springbok assistant coach says, “If you look at the past four red cards in our players, we had Makazole Mapimpi, who is suspended, who is not on tour. The guy is on 47 test matches, missed out on making it to fifty. Jan Hendrik Wessels, a youngster, also missed out. Suspended Lood de Jager, who I feel like, after this weekend and everything that I have seen in the Fiji and the France games, the clean outs that were there. The Ireland game against Australia situation that were even worse than what those guys have been suspended for. But other players will come back and play this week. So surely somewhere, somehow, this is not fair. I dont think we deserve this as a team we are doing everything in our powers to make sure we send the right message when it comes to how we play the game we play in a good spirit we have never talked bad about other teams we play in a good spirit and hopefully things can just be between the four lines so are we treated fairly, I dont think so.”
The Boks will wait to hear if they are successful in their appeals to the Lood de Jager red card against France and the Franco Mostert red card against Italy.
