Lions 2009 - O'Driscoll blasts De Villiers

Eurosport - Wed, 01 Jul 23:35:00 2009

Lions centre Brian O'Driscoll and assistant coach Graham Rowntree have expressed outrage over comments by Springbok coach Peter de Villiers on Schalk Burger's ban for eye gouging.

Brian O'Driscoll - Lions 2009 - 0

"To hear the South African coach Peter de Villiers talk about gouging as being part of the game was semi-repulsive," O'Driscoll told Irish state radio.

Rowntree also lashed out: "I can get quite emotional about this so I'd better tread carefully. What De Villiers said was completely out of order, it was crass and pathetic."

Burger was banned for eight weeks on Sunday for gouging the eyes of Lions winger Luke Fitzgerald in the first minute of the second Test in Pretoria the previous day. The victory gave the Springboks the three-match series.

The South African Rugby Union had to issue a statement apologising for comments by de Villiers defending the flanker.

"We are trying to promote the game and yet you hear comments like that. I just find it appalling. I truly find it a disgrace," O'Driscoll said. He was returning home on Wednesday with concussion and will miss the third Test.

"If it's not clamped down, you are going to lose people to the game of rugby and that's essentially the bigger picture."

De Villiers said afterwards, in defence of Burger, that rugby was bound to feature more knocks than ballet.

Rowntree added: "Gouging is indefensible and there is no place for it in the game. For a national coach to almost say it is okay is ridiculous. We're upset by it and he can't get away with it," Rowntree said.

The former Lions prop also called for heavier penalties for gouging.

"There've been a lot of high-profile cases in the last six months so there probably needs to be a greater deterrent put in place," he said.

Rowntree also said that the Lions had plenty of energy and resources left for the final Test on Saturday.

"The Springboks will be trying to whitewash us, they think we're on the ropes and emotionally down. Normally at this stage of a Lions tour injuries have taken their toll and the squad is held together by elastoplast.

"But I can assure them this team is in good nick and there is still plenty of gas in the tank."

Rowntree added that 33-year-old tight-head Phil Vickery, who was savaged by Tendai 'Beast' Mtawarira in the first Test, is back in the frame for selection although he did not complete training on Wednesday due to a throat infection.

Reuters

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  1. Well done, BOD, you managed to put the fear of losing­ into the Boks, and that's good enough for me. Well­ done for a wonderful personal and irish season also, it­ has been a tremendrous pleasure to watch you play, and­ long may you continue.

    The Boks played hard, and sadly­ much too often, unfairly. I totally agree with your­ comments about Peter de Villiers. I feel sure that he­ was instrumental in adopting a win at all costs­ approach to the series, and unfortunately the Lions­ took one or sucker punches over the whole course. Well,­ it has proven to be a hollow victory, with certainly a­ bitter taste in the mouths of the Lions supporters.­ During my fifteen years of playing in the highveld,­ middleveld and lowveld the games were mostly played in­ the spirit of the game, although occasionally there­ would be a win at all costs approach that was usually­ discounted as some form of opportunism to kick the­ backsides of the rooinecks. We never played those­ teames again.

    It didn't surprise me that such an­ attitude could still exist - but at least the Lions­ have learned, and perhaps on a level playing field we­ could show them how good the team really is, despite­ being a pickup side from the 4 nations that had­ recently been tearing each other apart. Injuries­ featured too highly in this tour, and lack of true­ acclimatisation to the differing altitudes was also a­ factor. Even their own Super 14 sides such as the­ Sharks have difficulty playing at nearly 2000m­ altitude.

    From cgeos2, on Tue 30 Jun 11:52PM
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