Man who helped set All Blacks on track to World Cup glory to hear Kagiso Rabada appeal

THE man responsible for resurrecting the All Blacks must now decide at a hearing on Monday whether Australia will once again suffer at the hands of a Lazarus-like sporting revival.

South African pace bowler Kagiso Rabada’s appeal against his two match ban will be held on Monday.

THE man responsible for resurrecting the All Blacks must now decide at a hearing on Monday whether Australia will once again suffer at the hands of a Lazarus-like sporting revival.

New Zealand QC Michael Heron will phone in via video link on Monday to adjudicate over South African spearhead Kagiso Rabada’s all-or-nothing bid to overturn his two-match suspension and play in the pivotal third Test against Australia in Cape Town on Thursday.

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Heron is a heavyweight in the sporting and legal landscape in New Zealand, and in 2007 was commissioned by New Zealand Rugby to conduct a thorough review into the All Blacks’ systemic failure at World Cups.

The All Blacks haven’t looked back following Heron’s recommendations, winning the last two World Cups in a canter.

South African pace bowler Kagiso Rabada’s appeal against his two match ban will be held on Monday.

Heron also appeared as counsel at the Royal Commission into the Christchurch earthquakes and has now been charged with sorting through a drama that has shaken the cricketing world.

Rabada’s fight to downgrade his charge for deliberate and inappropriate contact with Steve Smith during the second Test, is being treated as a case of national importance by South Africans, who regard the world’s best fast bowler as a sporting icon and role model.

Heron is faced with an enormous conundrum.

If he lets Rabada off the hook, he would effectively trash the reputation of countryman Jeff Crowe, the former New Zealand batsman and hugely respected ICC match official who handed down Rabada’s suspension in the first place.

If South Africa’s appeal fails, Rabada will miss the rest of the series against Australia through suspension.

Crowe was strong in his condemnation of Rabada’s physical send-off of Smith in his report and any decision to overturn the ban would also hang the match referee out to dry.

Now since flown home, Crowe will phone into the hearing via video link, as will the umpires who reported Rabada.

South Africa have almost no wiggle room in their case, with Rabada needing to downgrade his charge from three points to one in order to save himself from suspension.

Getting down to two will change nothing because he picked up a separate charge from the second Test which he has accepted, and that point would still push him over the threshold for suspension.

It’s understood South Africa will argue Rabada’s actions weren’t deliberate, and may present an argument that Steve Smith should share the blame.

South Africa are likely to argue Australian captain Steve Smith was at least partially responsible for the confrontation between him and Kagiso Rabada.

What makes South Africa’s defiant appeal all the more bizarre is that Rabada himself has now twice publicly admitted his own guilt.

“I think I take responsibility for what happened. On the video it looks like I got into the guy’s space, so I shouldn’t have done that,” Rabada told South Africa’s Independent Media.

“I’ll say 50-50 it’s my fault. I didn’t feel anything in the moment.”

Heron will have 48 hours after Monday’s hearing to hand down his decision, meaning if he agrees to a downgrade, Rabada will have time to be given the green light in time for Thursday’s third Test.