SEEING RED: Second Bulls card overturned in as many weeks

It may sound ludicrous in the modern game but for the second week in a row the Vodacom Bulls have had a red card overturned by a Vodacom United Rugby Championship disciplinary on their overseas tour.

The result will please Bulls fans who felt aggrieved when Italian referee Federico Vedovelli gave Springbok hooker Johan Grobbelaar his marching orders for what looked like a fairly innocuous tackle in the team’s 23-22 loss to the Scarlets in Wales on Friday night.

However, it does raise significant questions about the state of refereeing in the URC. For two week in a row the Bulls received the harshest disciplinary punishment possible on the field and for two weeks in a row the referees get it horribly wrong.

The Bulls were first frustrated when David Kriel was red carded for leading with the forearm by Irish referee Eoghan Cross in an incident that hardly warranted any sort of sanction.

Cross first ignored the incident, proclaiming it was fine, but after several replays at the ground in Swansea, and a baying crowd, chose to review it and gave Kriel the first red card of his career.

That card was rescinded a few days later as Kriel was cleared to play, a decision that must weigh heavily on the officials.

And then this past Friday night, referee Vedovelli first ignored a shoulder charge to lock Cobus Wiese, which sent him sprawling to the floor, as well as head high shots on Zak Burger in the first half (only a penalty) and Boeta Chamberlain (play on).

But when Scarlets hooker Marnus van der Merwe went down clutching his head, Vedovelli wanted to review the tackle and gave Grobbelaar an instant red. 

While the tackle seemed passive and more than enough mitigating evidence were evident, Vedovelli didn’t hesitate and gave Grobbelaar his marching orders. 

Van der Merwe was instantly up on his feet and played on, which looked suspiciously like he was milking the incident for the penalty.

With 14 men on the field, the Bulls couldn’t hold out and Scarlets won the game, which leaves the question how frustrated the Bulls must be that this has happened twice in a row in crucial games in their URC tour.

URC have not put out the disciplinary report, which is expected on Tuesday, but it has been confirmed with two Bulls officials that Grobbelaar is free to play this weekend.

Still, it does raise some serious questions about the officiating in the league, especially after the Stormers claimed they were on the wrong side of calls in their two tour games, something that was later confirmed by the URC.

'NOT A RED'

White was adamant after the game that it wasn’t a red card, and will feel vindicated for a second week in a row, although the frustration of having to fight unjust cards in two consecutive games will definitely be high on his agenda in communicating this to the governing body.

“ I mean, the bottom line is I don't think that was a red card. I think there were circumstances which I'm obviously not going to share with you,” White said after the game.

“And I said it before. I think when there's someone that is malicious and it's off the ball and it's genuinely a red card, then we must never take that away from rugby. I mean, there's no place in rugby for that.

“But there are things that happen in rugby that aren't necessary. I mean, the red card was put there for that exact reason. It was because it's dirty and because it's malicious and because it's premeditated and because it's a red card. It wasn't ever put in place for rugby incidents to take place.

“I mean, that's why I said if we start with a thing, is it a rugby incident? Yes. Well, then it becomes very different to the outcome. If you start as a foul play, which is the way that it's done, well, then you're going to get a different outcome.

“So I said it this week. Someone asked me about the red card for 20 minutes. You know, now what will happen is you'll get an orange card because the orange is closer to red and it's not yellow.

“So then what we could do is go yellow, 10, orange is 15 and red is 20. And I don't think that makes it easier for a referee. But I think it makes it more difficult. A red card is simple. It's red. You were out of line. It looks unnatural. It's something that stands out. And there's no reason for you to keep that guy on the field.”

The Bulls will name their team on Thursday for their third match of the tour, this weekend in Treviso against Benetton.