Lions 2009 - Botha loses appeal

Eurosport - Thu, 02 Jul 15:23:00 2009

South Africa will be without Bakkies Botha for the final Test with the British and Irish Lions after the lock lost his appeal against a two-week ban.

RUGBY Bakkies Botha, the South Africa lock - 0

Botha (pictured) received the ban for a dangerous tackle on Lions prop Adam Jones in the second Test last weekend that damaged the Welshman's shoulder and ended his tour.

The Springboks have already claimed the series after winning the first two Tests but will likely miss Botha for the showdown at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday.

Botha is respected as one of the most abrasive players in the sport and with Victor Matfield forms the most effective second row in world rugby.

Jones suffered a dislocated shoulder after being cleared out by Botha and has since returned to Wales for further treatment.

The Lions also lost Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll (concussion) and Jones's Wales team-mate and fellow-prop Gethin Jenkins with a fractured jaw.

South Africa will also be without flanker Schalk Burger, who was was banned for eight weeks for eye-gouging Lions wing Luke Fitzgerald in the first minute of the second Test.

Terence O'Rorke / Eurosport

Comment 8 - 27 of 27

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  1. Does cillianjunk realise they slowed down the camera­ for the constant replays??? You ignorant jerk it was­ actually at full speed. I am so heartily sick of the­ whining. Get a life.

    From Lesley, on Tue 7 Jul 12:13PM

  2. I'm welsh and ardent rugby fan, and I cannot see­ why Botha has been banned. As Jaco says, he came­ 'through the gate', stayed on his feet, and­ didnt do anything any half decent forward does every­ week. The ban should have been rescinded on appeal. It­ doesnt however change the feelings about Bureger, who­ got away lightly after his atrocious action. And­ DeVilliers should also be banned for condoning it. As­ for this so called "apology' - that was­ grovelling to the cameras to get himself off the hook­ after embarrassing the sport and SARFU. By the way­ I've met and worked with loads of South Africans­ and can confirm that the Spitting Image song is wrong -­ one of them was nice!

    From gary, on Fri 3 Jul 12:12PM

  3. Donkey:
    Ja, maar net omdat jy vir hulle toegelaat het,­ sies man!

    From bosvark, on Fri 3 Jul 1:32AM

  4. Daai fokkin boere..hulle is n klomp moere,ek het Rugby­ gespeel in die ou WP en hulle hou van jou­ "@#$%" te voel terwyl jy in die stort is.

    From donkey, on Thu 2 Jul 10:43PM

  5. Hey, rugbymad666.
    Ja, can't argue with you­ there.....
    but I'm an excellent @£$%&, boet!

    From bosvark, on Thu 2 Jul 9:41PM

  6. well said bosvark, still doesnt change the fact that­ you're a @£$%& though

    From rugbymad666, on Thu 2 Jul 9:26PM

  7. robertfry657
    .....and I am sure that you have never met­ Nelson Mandela, either. At least take the trouble to­ spell the great man's name correctly.
    So just how­ many South Africans have you actually met "eyeball­ to eyeball"?

    I think the fact that you are quite­ happy to base your political viewpoint directly on a­ Spitting Image spoof speaks volumes about the depth of­ your insight about the people of South Africa.

    If you­ are just trying to be witty, ouch- sorry for you.

    From bosvark, on Thu 2 Jul 8:59PM
  8. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I enjoy rugby and like to see it played hard.What SA­ were doing is not hard or fair the two test have be­ marred by thier constant cheap shots off the ball.They­ ( SA ) pride themselves how hard they are but you will­ not see them fronting up eyeball to eyeball . In the­ words of that well known song " Iv'e never met­ a nice South African" Nelson Mandella the­ exception

    From robertfry657, on Thu 2 Jul 8:36PM

  9. #18 ... Should have been "It is looked bad" ­ ...typo, sorry

    From Girl666, on Thu 2 Jul 5:55PM

  10. @ Gez .... so you think BOD is best centre in rugby­ and talks absolute sense?
    OK you are not Irish and you­ are not biased ..... but BOD being "best centre in­ rugby" ? That's a hugely debatable point but­ I give you that as well.
    But ask BOD how he feels­ about playing together with a club and international­ captain who seems to defend exactly the type of­ behaviour that he finds despicable. I will quote:­ "He is a tough player but he is not that type of­ guy. It is one thing he has not got in his record­ book. If it looked back, I am sure there is nothing in­ it." That, my friend, is O'Connell on­ Quinlan.

    From Girl666, on Thu 2 Jul 5:53PM

  11. Comment 17: Being hyped up on adrenalin is a valid­ excuse for your country's Head Coach to say what he­ said? Come off it. De Villiers' comments were a­ disgrace and he only apologised because of what the­ ramifications would have been had he not done so. I­ didn't hear Mr. McGeechan come out with any­ outrageous comments about your boys - which he could so­ easily and justifiably have done.

    From Gez, on Thu 2 Jul 4:00PM

  12. Comment 16 We have the same view of all our players as­ you have of Jenkins. Schalk was wrong - we don't­ accept gouging - he is punished. Why is everyone­ concentrating on what de Villiers said on Saturday­ night when everyone was hyped up and adrenalin flowing?­ Remember: he apologized on Monday for what he said! He­ was wrong and acknowledged it.

    From suzjosjan, on Thu 2 Jul 3:49PM

  13. Comment 15: Very drole... Were you watching the same­ games as the rest of us? Gethin Jenkins isn't­ dirty; hard, yes, super-fit, yes, 100% committed, yes.­ But I didn't see him gouging anyone or declaring­ that such behaviour is "an acceptable part of the­ game". Ditto BOD - best centre in World rugby and­ talks absolute sense. His comments about De Villiers­ were spot on...(and before I get accused of bias, no, I­ am not Irish).

    From Gez, on Thu 2 Jul 3:34PM

  14. The "good riddance" comment refers - does­ this apply to O'Driscoll and Jenkins returning­ home?

    From suzjosjan, on Thu 2 Jul 3:23PM

  15. List of violent conduct .... and you only blame SA. ­ Probably you were playing hide and seek with you're­ three year old friends. Just to inform you of some­ other incidents:
    1) BOD not using arms in tackle and­ head-butting Rossouw - NO PENALTY
    2) Hitting Andries­ Bekker in the ..... - NO PENALTY or CITING
    3) Two­ players high tackling Habana - NO PENALTY
    Both sides­ played on the edge and put their bodies on the line on­ Saturday. SA supporters does not approve dirty play,­ and what you mention as "this sort of­ behaviour" never goes unpunished. Schalk got his­ suspension, Bakkies are suspended, you're reference­ to "Jonny at Twickers" - Janus Labuschagne­ got an immediate red card and never played­ international rugby again. What happened to the Lions­ .... NOTHING. We know that a test is what is says .. a­ TEST.

    From suzjosjan, on Thu 2 Jul 3:01PM
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Good riddance. Dirty, cheating scum. And De Vile Arse­ should be banned too for bringing the game into­ disrepute via his disgusting eye gouging comments. What­ an example he has managed to set to all the kids taking­ up the sport!

    From Dave, on Thu 2 Jul 2:58PM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    drew h, i agree with you but this sort of behaviour is­ their make up and they've always been like and­ probably always will. Look at this incident,the neil­ back and richard hill injuries at wickers, johnny at­ twickers....list of violent conduct is­ endless.....especially when they are losing....

    From gary, on Thu 2 Jul 2:40PM

  18. don't see how carpet choice in a racist or BNP,­ guess UK is now too PC....perhaps we should all go and­ hug trees and not be honest or say what we think....god­ forbid we upset the PC crew

    From gary, on Thu 2 Jul 2:36PM

  19. its the coach is the problem did anyone hear he said­ the player had his fingers in Luke Fitzgerald eyes by­ accident clearly someone had their fingers in his eyes­ as well as it is plain that it was no accident

    From cccccc, on Thu 2 Jul 2:34PM

  20. carpetchoice101, you must be a BNP supporter with­ rhetoric like that against South Africans

    From durbanoke, on Thu 2 Jul 1:48PM
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