Is Bakkies the baddest of them all?
Springbok lock Bakkies Botha has been heavily criticised in the wake of his head-butt on New Zealand’s Jimmy Cowan in Tri-Nations action last week. Many believe he is the ultimate thug in world rugby…
Is it harsh? Or are there any other contenders?
Check out rugby365.com’s list of rugby bad boys and feel free to offer your suggestions if we missed anybody out!
JOHAN LE ROUX (SOUTH AFRICA):
In one of the most publicised incidents in Springbok history, prop Johan le Roux did a ‘Mike Tyson’ on Sean Fitzpatrick, taking a chunk out of the All Black legend’s ear.
Fitzpatrick was widely regarded as one of the dirtiest players to play the game, and there was no doubt some provocation on his part, but video footage of Le Roux’s mouthful has entrenched him in rugby history as one of the true thugs of the game… and rightly so.
JUSTIN HARRISON (AUSTRALIA):
Justin Harrison was always a nasty piece of work on the field… but it seems he was a bit rough off of it as well.
Apart form being involved in numerous punch-ups, the Wallaby lock was suspended for three weeks in 2005 after admitting he made a racial slur against South African wing Chumani Booi.
More recently, Harrison gave the term ‘white-line fever’ a whole new meaning after admitting to taking cocaine during his stint with English club Bath.
The 34-Test veteran also admitted to shouting out “Class A, it’s OK, everyone’s doing it” on the microphone of the Bath team bus heading to an end-of-season party in London last year.
CHRIS CRACKNELL (ENGLAND):
Fathers getting fired up on the sidelines of their sons’ matches is nothing new in rugby, but when the fathers of teammates come to blows and the sons themselves get involved it gets a bit ugly.
That is exactly what happened after the Warriors were condemned to relegation from the English Premiership by a 12-10 defeat by Leeds just a few short months ago.
The fathers of Chris Cracknell and James Collins clashed physically in the stands, allegedly over Collins Senior’s critical remarks about the performance of flanker Cracknell – that after Collins Jnr had replaced Cracknell Jnr two minutes from time.
Seeing the row, Cracknell hauled Collins’s dad over an advertising board and on to the pitch before players stepped in to restrain their teammate.
TREVOR BRENNAN (IRELAND):
The former Leinster, Toulouse and Ireland back five forward could forever be remembered as the ‘Cantona of rugby’… but, sadly, not because of his skill on the field.
Brennan was as hard as they come, but in one European Cup match against Ulster in Toulouse he took his physicality too far – all the way into the stands, in fact.
Many of the estimated 1,000 travelling supporters had been drinking in a pub, De Danu, which is part-owned by Brennan and some allegedly chanted “Your pub’s a load of b******s”.
At first Brennan appeared to play along with the banter, but then he lost his temper, climbed over a barrier and charged into the stand, laying a series of punches on a supporter (Check out the picture above! seriously, who punches Father Christmas?) .
He was initially banned for life, but that was reduced to five years on appeal.
BRAD THORN (NEW ZEALAND):
Kiwi hardman Brad Thorn might have been banned for one week only after his act of ‘bad sportsmanship’, but it really was an ugly tackle that he made on John Smit in Wellington in 2008.
Thorn picked the Bok skipper up and in Smit’s words, “Used him as a tent peg” on the way down – in the process ruling Smit out of the rest of the Tri-Nations with a groin injury.
According to a SANZAR judiciary Thorn’s conduct was “an act contrary to good sportsmanship”, rather than an out-and-out spear tackle. Would they have said the same had Bakkies been the culprit?
DAVID ATTOUB (FRANCE):
The Stade Français man copped a particularly big ban for a particularly nasty eye-gouge. A 70-week ban may seem excessive, but if you’ve seen footage of Attoub going to town on Stephen Ferris’s eye, it starts to look a bit lenient.
Despite the ban being reduced to 52 weeks, it remains the second longest in history for a gouging offence – exceeded only by Colomiers prop Richard Nones’s two-year suspension in 1999.
When delivering the original ruling, judicial officer Jeff Blackett said the incident, which occurred during Stade’s 13-23 loss to Ulster at Ravenhill, “was the worst act of contact with the eyes” he had dealt with.
CORNÉ KRIGE (SOUTH AFRICA):
“We have two players concussed. Do you think we concussed ourselves?” was the famous question asked by South African coach Rudolf Straeuli in the wake of criticism for Bok brutality during their humiliating 3-53 demolition at the hands of England at Twickenham in 2002.
The answer to Straeuli’s question was, well, yes.
Springbok skipper Krige attempted to punch England scrumhalf and permanent irritation Matt Dawson (can you blame him, actually?!), but ended up punching his own flyhalf, André Pretorius, flush in the face. Talk about taking one for the team.
Help us out… Are these the real bad boys of rugby union? Did we leave anybody off the list? Leave your comments, or suggestions, below!
By Tim Human
