Bulls set to put up big defence for red-carded Gumede

The Vodacom Bulls are likely to put up a stern defence of their No 8 Celimpilo Gumede when he faces a Vodacom United Rugby Championship disciplinary tribunal this week after his red card in the side’s win over Connacht in Galway on Saturday night.

Gumede was red carded for making contact “in the eye area”, according to referee Mike Adamson, who overruled his own TMO, after Connacht scrumhalf Caolin Blade alleged he had been eye gouged during play.

Replays showed Blade illegally lifting the leg of Gumede, who reacted by pushing Blade in the face, but despite the TMO saying that it wasn’t eye gouging, Adamson overruled him and said it was a red because it was “in the eye area”, leaving Bulls players gobsmacked.

This will be the third time the Bulls have tried to overturn a red card in this season’s URC, and they were successful with the last two after disciplinary committees felt that refs were overzealous in flashing the ultimate punishment on the field.

The first came when Irish referee Eoghan Cross gave David Kriel a red card against Ospreys for “leading with the elbow.” A few days later the disciplinary committee dismissed this and allowed Kriel to be free to play the following weekend. The Bulls still won the game despite the card

Then Italian referee Federico Vedovelli gave Springbok hooker Johan Grobbelaar his marching orders for an innocuous tackle in the side’s 23-22 loss against Scarlets. Grobbelaar’s red was downgraded to a yellow afterwards but the Bulls lost the game and White was incensed.

In this incident, White agreed with the TMO that a red wasn’t warranted and hinted the Bulls would sternly oppose it at the disciplinary committee hearing.

“I will say on record that I heard the TMO say there was no complete evidence that it’s in the eyes, that it’s just to the face,” White said after the game with reference to the Gumede incident.

“I think that will probably be what will come out because it’s irrelevant. He was held behind the ruck, and the TMO’s voice was that it should’ve been a penalty for lifting his leg and holding him behind the ruck.

“I must say I thought the red card was a bit harsh, to be fair, but we’ve got to adapt.

“If the communique comes out during the November tests that this is what they’re looking for, we’ve got to be clever enough to understand that there will always be a focus on that kind of incident. And it will always be in favour of making sure the players’ welfare comes first.”

The Bulls, however, will be happy with the win, their second away win in a row and one that leaves them sitting pretty in third even though they have only had one home game this season. They also have a game in hand over the two teams above them - Glasgow Warriors and leaders Leinster.

“We had a lot of opportunities in the first half, and that was into a wind that was very, very strong,” White said.

“We won the toss and wanted to play with the wind in the second half. So to have all that territory, possession and opportunities that we had in the first half, and the way we managed the game, makes me very happy. It sets us up nicely for the next couple of weeks.”

White did acknowledge the side got a little sloppy in the second half when they allowed Connacht to score two later tries.

“I’m very happy, especially the first half; we had 12 lineouts and lost one, and that’s considering we’ve got no Reinhardt Ludwig and Ruan Nortje,” he said.

“Got a bit sloppy in the end but I guess that’s what happens, a little bit of fatigue and a little bit of experience to understand that we needed to change things up a bit.

“A guy like JF van Heerden is relatively young still in terms of calling lineouts; he’ll have to learn from that performance.”

The Bulls' focus now moves to their opening Investec Champions’ Cup encounter this weekend against English side Saracens.