How can you criticize others' spelling when your­ name is Nevyn!! Only joking. They are indeed Laws but,­ to me, it seems a bit pedantic to insist people refrain­ from labeling them as Rules. Just good to have so many­ debating our great game. Agree with Dennis B about de­ Villiers, and BOD. And, clearly, Umaga's (and­ Mealamu's) atrocious spear tackle, taking BOD out­ of the last tour. Again, referee was a quivering­ Frenchie, Joel Jutge, who showed a total lack of­ courage so early in the game (2 minutes in - deja vu),­ not even showing a yellow card. I know it's the­ players who commit the sin, but it doesn't happen­ with strong officials. Pay referees more money and,­ when they make strong decisions like sending a man off­ early in a Test, support them 100%. That is the only­ way to eradicate such foul play from the game at a­ senior level.

Well said Dennis B. South Africa is a wonderful country­ with a wonderful sporting heritage. I lived there for 5­ years and have very little bad to say about the place.­ And I speak with the experience of having Moaner Van­ Heerden and Salty Du Rand hit the living daylights out­ of me in a club game and then buy me a beer afterwards.­
It's not about SA v BIL. It's about two­ individual's stupidity. Burger's actions and De­ Villiers words ! The vast majority of Saffies are fine­ people the trouble is an awful lot of them seem to­ writing on this site (Dennis B excepted).

Lesley­ (that's a girls name isn't it ?) please do not­ make comments on something you clearly do not­ understand or appreciate. There must be an ironing or­ sewing site you can go to.

So Jaco Smit, what you are saying is that if the touch­ judge or the camera man hadn't seen Burgers action­ then it would be acceptable ! It's not all fair in­ love and war. It's despicable and cowardly and has­ no place in a civilised world. Do that on the street­ and it's GBH and 6 months inside having Big Bert­ from Block B giving you rear end enemas.
Your comments­ are worthy of your National Coach's. Ill educated­ and downwright pathetic.

Can none of you spell? Also they are LAWS not rules in­ Rugby Union

There s NO excuse for eye gouging in the game, FULL­ STOP!
BUT, not all South Africans can be judged by what­ our idiot coach says.
We ve a President who has no­ formal education, has been charged with rape (found not­ guilty) and corruption (charges dropped because of­ political interference), quotas in team selection, a­ coach (sic) who inherited Jake Whites World Champion­ XV. If he s still coach (God forbid) when the current­ team moves on, just watch the Bok supporters stay away­ in their thousands!!!
This is a country where the­ cricket team are faliures when they drop out in the­ semis s ... and the football side are hero s when they­ make the semi finals of the Confed Cup!!???

Oh, how we­ wish Nelson Mandela was 20 years younger... we would­ never be in this mess.

Give us a break, we re not­ playing on a level playing field with you guys... Go­ BOKKE

Final thought... we re sorry B O D can't­ play in the third... he truly is the best centre in the­ world (Thats why the New Zealand captain commited that­ awful (unpunished) spear tackle on him some years ago

Not sure why everyone is blaming the Yarpies; they­ played the game the officials allowed them to play! If­ anyone thought we were going to go to SA and not get­ involved in very physical rugby, they don't know­ much about the Lions. Players get worked up and do­ stupid things - why was Croft in SA? Because Quinlan­ got caught, mmm, oh yes - gouging! Even the very best­ players can get riled, over worked-up, and do something­ wreckless - sometimes dangerous - in the heat of the­ moment. That's one of the reasons we have referees­ both in the middle and on the touchline. If the­ referees are weak, or biased, then the top-class player­ will take advantage - that is part of the game. If de­ Villiers were more eloquent, I think that this is what­ he might have said, but he is not and, thus, said some­ very stupid things - and everyone knows they are­ stupid. However, BOD is absolutely correct, the IRB­ should punish de Villiers for bringing the game into­ disrepute. The IRB should also take a long hard look at­ the lack of courage shown by last Saturday's­ officials, and the very obvious bias Dickinson (4th­ Official) shows against northern hemisphere teams. They­ could include Kaplan as well, as that b'stard is as­ straight as the M25!

anything that is against the rules of the game is­ wrong, no one who takes part in the game can make right­ out of a wrong which takes place during a match in­ this area of the rules. Professionals who are paid­ great money are no different than any one who play the­ game at all other levels. Especially coaches­ international or otherwise. who is in charge ??? to­ correct coaches who condone their players doing such­ during a game. Clamp the one who is the culprit where­ it hurts most in the pocket and ban him from playing­ for a period of time for club and country maurice a­ true blue fan of the wonderful game of rugger

anything that is against the rules of the game is­ wrong, no one who takes part in the game can make right­ out of a wrong which takes place during a match in­ this area of the rules. Professionals who are paid­ great money are no different than any one who play the­ game at all other levels. Especially coaches­ international or otherwise. who is in charge ??? to­ correct coaches who condone their players doing such­ during a game. Clamp the one who is the culprit where­ it hurts most in the pocket and ban him from playing­ for a period of time for club and country

If teams had to forfeit the match after such incidents­ players would thing long and hard about doing things­ like this and sport would return to being sport!

As one who has continuing problems from an eye gouging­ incident 14 years ago, I find it sickening that anybody­ can say it's part of the sport.
It's pure,­ contemptable ignorance.

Lesley and others defending the Boks - you are talking­ @#$%. Mind you, what else is your country any good at­ (apart from muggings, murders and political­ corruptness?) Watch the feathers fly now.......

Jeeez. Thanks for some positive comments from genuine­ Boks supporters. This has been one of the best Lions­ series I have watched since I can't remember when. ­ It is just a shame that it might be marred and­ completely clouded by the initial 'gouging'­ episode, and the less-than-savoury responses by de­ Villiers.

SA Rugby fans are the best for good old­ fashioned banter and jocularity before, during and­ after a game. Am looking forward to Saturday, if only­ for the posts on the after-match report.

Go the­ Lions!!!!!

Re Lesley: thanks for showing us your complete­ ignorance, Brian O'Driscoll has nothing to do with­ the UK.

It is a pity that so few of these comments actually­ refer to the article. I am a proud Bok supporter and­ was big fan of Burger, but I cannot agree more with­ what O'Driscoll is saying. There is no place for­ eye gouging in the sport and it cannot be defended­ under any circumstances. All national coaches and­ captains are expected to be ambassadors for the game of­ rugby in addition to their rugby abilities. The­ comments De Villiers made are unacceptable at any level­ of the game, never mind the national coach of the world­ champions. It is despicable and embarasses me and many­ other Bok supporters. Imagine how the Springbok­ players must be cringing listening to this idiot drag­ the reputation of Springbok rugby though the dirt.

Brian you're a legend and it's been a pleasure­ watching you. You didn't take one step backwards­ and you embodie what it is to be a Lion.

what freaks me out is that nearly 90% of the comments­ on any and every match on this tour has not once­ actually been about the quality of RUGBY be you a lions­ or ZA fan.

It seems to be a forum of racist jingoistic­ narrow mined politico's, the lions is made up of­ the perceived best players from the four nations­ involved, there have been lions teams where the bias­ has been for one particular nation but at teh endofteh­ day it is a mixed team.. how the hell is one supposed­ to support a mixed team when so many people are arguing­ within the lions nations about who is better Irish,­ Welsh, English etc. and this is only a bloody GAME and­ in any game there will be cheats and bad attitudes and­ they are not eclusive to just one side. Hey lets just­ watch the GAME and leave the insults to the politicians­ and leave the rugby to the fans.

There is a governing­ body that is supposed to have the games best intentions­ foremost in their minds, however this is also a­ political and money driven issue. so is therefore­ tainted in it position.

Rugby for the Fans, not the­ racists and bigots from all nations, as always rugby­ is why we are here on this site. so keep it on topic­ keep, keep talking about the quality of the boys­ putting it all on the line and making the big hits, and­ pof course mention the ify taclkes etc but keep the­ boggoted comments to a minimum and we can enjoy what is­ th best game in the world.