Fair do's, if Botha was cited for a 'dangerous­ hit' then so should O'Driscoll. But to say­ there was no malice is disengenous. Of course there was­ malice, Bakkies goes on the field with nothing but­ malice in his mind that;'s what makes him a top­ player, not his ball skills for sure. But, it­ wasn't illegal and he shouldn't have been­ cited.
I also notice that SARB has apologised for De­ Villiers comments. Where is De Villiers apology and­ more importantly where is Burger's ? He could have­ blinded Fitzgerald and should stand up like a man and­ publically apologise unreservedly to Fitzgerald, The­ Lions and South African rugby for bringing it into­ great disrepute.

enigmard: fair enough. I agree with you re. Burger. He­ should be called the "Incredibly Stupid­ Schalk". I was surprised he stayed on too. I­ think a stronger linesman would have recommended a red,­ or a stronger ref would have requested more information­ before deciding red vs yellow.
That conceded, do you­ honestly think that Botha's clean out was illegal?
­
I do disagree about the "win at all costs­ attitude", which is a pervasive theme throughout­ most of these blogs. The inference that the Boks are­ out to deliberately take key players out of the game is­ ungenerous. Yes, Bok teams are always big, physical and­ in your face; thats the way we play. The same can be­ said about the All Blacks and pacific island sides who­ play the power game. I think this reflects a different­ intensity in the way the game is played in the Southern­ hemisphere. I see no difference in the physicality of­ the play on the Lions tour vs. any given Saturday at­ the super 14 or the tri-nations.

bosvark, you are obviously a boks fan. How can this be­ the 'worst case so far' ?

Eye gouging is a red­ card offence with a MINIMUM recommended ban of 12­ weeks. The fact that your manager calls it 'part of­ the game or do ballet' does not make the boks look­ good to the rest of the world. (Shame because I think­ that the boks are a very good team - apart from the­ 'win at any cost' attitude)

Enough said.

Having watched the match again, I have to agree.­
It's unfortunate that Jones was injured, but there­ was no malice involved here. Botha entered through the­ gate and bound onto Jones for the cleanout as­ stipulated by the law of "joining the ruck".­ What more could he have done? This is a terrible­ decision for the game.

There has been lots of talk­ about inconsistent reffing on this tour, and this is­ the worst case so far. This ruling effectively­ disallows an effective cleanout, making it is­ impossible to secure good fast ball at the ruck.
I­ guess we can say goodbye to the fast flowing game.