Rugby’s nonsensical judicial system exposed by South African players who won’t miss any Super Rugby

SUPER Rugby could get wild this weekend — SANZAAR’s nonsensical judicial system has effectively given players free rein to commit crimes without having to do the time on the sidelines.

Fainga'a banned for headbutt Referee Brendon Pickerill shows a red card to Tevita Nabura.

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YOU want brutality? Forget the opening 10 minutes of Origin and tune into round 16 of Super Rugby this weekend.

It could get wild.

Or at least that’s the window of possibility open courtesy of the nonsensical judicial system of SANZAAR that will allow a player do something worth a three-week suspension — and not miss a match.

You can literally do a crime and skip the time.

Indeed, it’s already happened. Three South African players were given their get-out-of-jail free cards by SANZAAR this week.

Stormers pair Raymond Rhule and JJ Engelbrecht, and Sharks lock Ruan Botha, were given suspensions for foul play.

Ruan Botha (C) on the burst against the Rebels.

All were serious offences: Engelbrecht got a week for two yellow cards (lifting tackle and dangerous tackle), Rhule got three weeks (after being red carded for taking out a kicker) and the most serious was Botha — who was also red carded for cleaning out a prone Jaguares player with his forearm. He got four weeks.

And yet none will miss a minute of Super Rugby action.

They’ll serve their bans in the June window, when Super Rugby pauses for a month. Or for five weeks in the case of African franchises, who started their seasons a week earlier.

None of the three are in the Springbok squad for June — or were likely to be — but under the rules, the Stormers and the Sharks successfully argued Engelbrecht, Rhule and Botha all had full dance cards in third-tier rugby in the June break.

JJ Engelbrecht goes high to retrieve a ball.

On every single weekend, in the middle of Super Rugby, they were due to keep slogging away in the Rugby Challenge comp.

Now they’ll serve their “suspension” instead and return fresh as a daisy for the resumption of Super Rugby.

Highlanders winger Tevita Nabura, he of Kung-Fu fame, will also only miss four Super Rugby games inside a ban of six weeks.

He got a couple of club rugby games thrown in as well.

Tevita Nabura was sent off for this kick on the Waratahs' Cam Clark — but will effectively have his ban trimmed by two weeks.

Meanwhile, the only other man red-carded last weekend — Brumbies hooker Folau Faingaa — will miss a Super Rugby game after getting a one-week suspension for a head-butt-tap.

It was soft (and there’s a whole other column in whether a red card given before, say, the 50th minute should count as a week’s suspension given it’ll usually lead to a loss) but Faingaa deserved a ban for stupidity, at the least.

But Botha, Rhule and Englebrecht and their clubs all deserved consequences in Super Rugby, too. For legitimately dangerous play.

And they didn’t get them.

It’s a rort and SANZAAR must know it.

This year they closed the loophole that allowed players to serve part or all of a ban in club rugby during a bye week, and matches must be “meaningful” to count. Brisbane Tens didn’t count for Sekope Kepu at the start of the year but South Africa’s reserve grade provincial comp? In which no Super Rugby players ever go back to in June? All good.

Sekope Kepu wasn’t allowed to count the Brisbane Tens tournament towards his suspension.

SANZAAR say they are observing World Rugby guidelines for when and where suspensions count in Test match windows, but given there is no other major competition in the world that pauses for Test matches, it’s apples and oranges.

And whatever the fruit, it doesn’t stop Super Rugby coaches being pissed off about the inconsistency.

But, in truth, this is also the last year it will be a problem. The June window ceases to exist after this year.

Next year there are no inbound Tests due to the World Cup and in 2020, the inbound tours move to July.

So after this weekend, the jailbreak June loophole will be closed.

Batten down the hatches.

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Originally published as Rugby’s nonsensical judicial system exposed by South African players who won’t miss any Super Rugby