No doubt at all now that Burger should've been red­ carded after 30 seconds. I also believe that the­ questionable side line try touch judge really bottled­ over ruling the TV replay because he appeared to know­ that the player WAS in touch and not as was finally­ declared by the tv judge. The camera angles were­ missing an obvious side view and he appeared to be­ trying to gain the refs attention to the fact. Upon­ reflection both sides could easily have others yellow­ carded for poor/dangerous tackles and punches below the­ belt. The real fact remains that O'Gara's­ "car crash" moment when chasing his high kick­ and tackling the player in the air, without question,­ was a stupid penalty to give away. The Boks, having­ "done a job" on the Lions, after they were­ overpowered by the front row for most of the first­ half, had a superior bench which brought some crisper­ moves in the last 20 mins. They were more dangerous­ for most of the second half but if SA had landed their­ kicks earlier they would have been out of sight way­ before that.
Sadly, moral victories don't count for­ much, neither would winning against 14 opponents !!! ­ Come on the Lions this weekend for a win, you fully­ deserve huge credit and massive support this weekend.

well said trouble post 88 they are a vile nation­ absolute scumbags why didn't someone thump that big­ blond wa^ker?

For number 75, am I correct to read you called yourself­ Trouble!?

For those calling South Africans or SA scum, you should­ slightly change what you are saying. It is not SA scum,­ it is Afrikaaner or Boer scum. You see many South­ Africans were actually supporting the Lions. Ex pats,­ and the children of ex pats mostly supported the Lions.­ As did many of the Black population who still see rugby­ as an Afrikaaner sport in SA and associate it with­ Apartheid. It is the descendants of the Dutch and­ Huegenots that you need to call names, the Afrikaaner.­ They truly to this day are still worse then the Nazis,­ and let's not forget that they aligned themselves­ with Hitler during WW2. They still think they are­ superior and still hate blacks with a vengeance

To cooment 81. That blood was from a different injury­ in the 2nd half, idot editing from the likes of news of­ the world tried to link the two. The eye gouge left no­ blood at all. I am a Bok fan, but I am glad Burger got­ teh ban, there is no place for what he did in­ rugby.

What you brits seam to forget is your taking­ out of the man in the air in front of the posts at full­ time lost the game for you....nothing else.

Gouging. Hitting below the belt.
What is it with rugby­ players?

linda s...
sorry but that was Jenkins with a fractured­ cheekbone by his own doing,,,not the gouging­ incident...
please guys if you want to comment make­ sure you know what you are talking about!!!!

Gerwin hits the nail on the head. O'Gara was never­ a good choice but the final incident was unbelievably­ stupid. There is such a thing as rugby thuggery. I­ played club rugby from 1958 to 1980. WE re-fought the­ boer war every saturday as we were a prodominantly­ "English" team. We once ended up with 11­ players against twelve with injuries & players sent­ off...... and in those days many refs turned a blind­ eye to real violence. It was tough, South African­ regional teams often aimed to injure as many touring­ players as they could. Sadly, the Lions don't have­ an enforcer like Martin Johnston or Willie-John­ MacBride..... yes, Burger should have got red and that­ sneering professional thug Bakkies Botha should at­ least have got yellow (cheap shot Botha embodies the­ worst of the Afrikaner rugby-playing mentality. But,­ what a fantastic­ kick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To the muppet who posted comment 48. Rugby is a­ man's game, your right when you say that, but your­ lot aren't men, just a bunch of cheating cowards.

No matter who you support or the outcome of the match,­ gouging is the act of a coward. End of.

i saw a picture of the gouging incident. it looked like­ the payer eye ball had been popped judging by the­ amount of blood on his face . o well i suppose thats­ what people call sport theese days .

dirty @#$%

S.A scum.

Reddog, don't you think you should change your name­ to Hairy Back Spider. Then again, were you in South­ Africa in 1974 when the Lions so destroyed the­ Afrikaaners that the whole nation went into mourning.­ And still they have not got over it. The Afrikaaners­ taking losing to the English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish or­ the lions a whole lost worse they we take losing to the­ Afrikaaner. it is really easy to view it from one side­ only as you have done, but the same applies the other­ way round, only worse. See?

There is playing hard and to win - no problems!! But­ the Afrikaans think that going out to physically­ initimidate or injure people is part of the game - No,­ never. Burger should have had six months, Botha 8 weeks­ and both warned that a lifetime ban would follow if­ they think they can continue to behave in this way. You­ got away lightly my friends.
Yes the Boks deserved to­ win- just, but should not take too much from that­ victory because it came at a major cost to SA. Read­ what Stephen Jones rugby correspondent for the Sunday­ Times said yesterday He seriously questions playing in­ SA under the current conditions and the validity of an­ itinerary involving playing weakened sides.. Especially­ when the Boks keep the majority of their players in­ 'mothballs' and only play Test match rugby. ­ Souyh Africa as a nation will pay the cost eventually,­ especially if they think giving people­ 'facials' on the floor is what rugby is all­ about!

As an ex South African, black, I am really sorry the­ Afrikaaners won this game. Since the end of Apartheid­ at least the SA cricketers have accepted multi-racial­ team. But the rugby team have not. They hate that­ blacks are in the team with them, room with them and­ shower/bath with them. They will never get over it but­ now have to accept it or give up rugby. They are the­ lowest of the human race. But they do not think they­ are part of the human race, they think they are better­ then the rest of the human race, just like the Nazis. I­ suffered under their rule, I'm sorry the British­ Lions did not win. And for you South Africans, get an­ education, stop calling the Lions, English. It just­ shows you are nothing more then hate. Just a couple of­ Englishmen in the team is enough for you to bring out­ your hatred of the English and call the whole team­ English. Get over the Boer War, not even then were they­ English you fought against. They were British.

The frequent comment is that this is rugby and if you­ cannot play it then get out of the kitchen. I agree­ this is the way modern rugby is played, but to me it is­ not rugby. I think of the wonderfully entertaining­ games played a number of years ago, e.g. the famous­ Barbarian games, and I do not compare the modern­ brutal, physical game with those. I was an avid rugby­ fan, played to a high standard, but cannot be bothered­ to watch this extreme physical game, no matter who is­ playing it. It is just that SA are perhaps the most­ extreme exponent of it but not the only one, and I­ don't find it entertaining.