Not being funny but a Frenchman will never do Britain­ & Ireland a honest turn. However the Frenchman in­ question (yes totally out of his depth)was not helped­ out by the Kiwi touch judge who said that it should be­ a yellow card at least!! So of course he (the ref) is­ going to go for the soft option. I feel that alot of­ the Southern Hemisphere sides and officials have a bit­ of an empire chip on their shoulder and feel that they­ have to get one over on us at any cost. Those days have­ long gone so just get on with life
In 2005 those 2­ Kiwis who did over Brain O'Driscoll should have­ been lead off the field in handcuffs. Do that in the­ street and you know what is coming!!! They knew exactly­ what they were doing as did Berger on Saturday. I have­ been gouged, it was a truely horrible experience, so­ those who say it is part of the game are either a)­ stupid or b) it has never happened to them. The bloke­ who gouged me got some very nice treatment from my team­ mates, it was the only way he was going to let go
Yes­ rugby is a mans game and it is very physical but it is­ govered by school children. I suggest that the IRB grow­ some balls act like men and stop hiding in thier ivory­ towers!

I have long held the view that the yellow card should­ be used ONLY for repeated technical infringements.­ Allowing the use of the yellow card for instances of­ foul play
gives weaker referees a soft option. Foul­ play should be punished with either a penalty (eg heat­ of the moment flare-ups or marginal late tackles) or a­ red card.

I am not sure I follow your argument.

Christophe­ Berdos was the French ref (which I believe is in the­ Northern Hemisphere?), appointed at the insistence of­ the Lions management to oversee the 2nd Test. He was­ clearly out of his depth. I am pretty sure that any of­ the top three SA refs (Kaplan, Jonker, Joubert) would­ have red-carded Burger.

The Lions have unfortunately­ made their own bed here. Here's a direct quote from­ the UK newspaper, The Independent, from 5­ Sept:
"The 2009 British Lions have delivered an­ astonishing snub to South African referees by demanding­ neutral officials in every provincial match on their­ tour next year. The fact is that, at present, South­ Africa has four referees on the IRB's A list panel­ - Jonathan Kaplan, Marius Jonker, Mark Lawrence and­ Craig Joubert - which makes this country, by­ performance, the leading refereeing nation in the­ world. No other country can boast such depth in­ top-line refereeing resources.
But the reality is, if­ this Test series was to be refereed by the best­ referees in the world, Jonathan Kaplan, Alain Rolland­ and probably Jutge would take charge. It means once­ again that some of the world's best players must­ accept second best officials."

Stuart Dickinson­ (Aus) is the ref appointed for the 3rd test.
I­ shudder.

Carling was right about those in authority in rugby­ circles,,,,,what a load of w.....s. Southern hemisphere­ referees are as bent as hell. Any perpetrater involved­ in foul play ought to be sent off immediately, no sin­ bin and banned for life. It is a well known fact that­ mid week games on the Lions tours are used to lame our­ boys before the tests. It has been going on for years­ and nothing has been done about it. All the IRB will do­ is give it LIP SERVICE. I have often preached in the­ past that Rugby is a hard game but serious injury­ rarely occurred, but today the professional game is­ demanding it to get results.

DON'T SIT ON YOUR­ @#$% DO SOMETHING AND SET EXAMPLES BEFORE SOMEONE GETS­ REALLY HURT OR KILLED !!!