VIDEO: Jake calls for 'soccer dives' to be stamped out
Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White has warned that rugby should avoid going down the same slippery slope as soccer, where players ‘fake injuries’ to get referees to award penalties.
White, speaking ahead of his team’s historic European Cup Round of 16 knock-out game against French giants Stade Toulousain, suggested his team was hard done by in their United Rugby Championship loss (23-32) to Irish province Ulster at the weekend.
Veteran Springbok hooker Bismarck du Plessis was yellow-carded for a seemingly innocuous clean-out on Ulster flyhalf Billy Burns in the 75th minute.
Just six points (29-23) were separating the teams, with the Bulls pushing hard for a match-winning score.
The yellow card and penalty changed the complexion of the game and another penalty denied the Bulls even a losing bonus point.
Burns had ‘dropped’ to the ground and replays of the clean-out were shown repeatedly on the big screen in the stadium – with Ulster roaring their disapproval, resulting in the match officials taking a closer look.
The TMO told the referee that Du Plessis made no attempt to ‘wrap’ and he ‘used the shoulder’ into the back of Burns.
White suggested Burns may have overplayed the impact of the clean-out.
(Article continues below the Jake White interview …)
“There are clean-outs like that all over the game,” the Bulls’ boss said, adding: “I didn’t even think it was a penalty.
“I often wonder if their No.10 hadn’t laid down on the ground, whether that would’ve been looked for.
“Obviously it’s something we have to look at going forward.
“What we don’t want is that every time a player gets cleaned out, he lies down and makes the TMO look and review things.
“It’s something that we have to be careful of.
“I know it happened in football [soccer], and then all of a sudden, they brought in something where if you dive, you get sent off as well.
“So, who knows: maybe in rugby, because it’s such a fine line now between yellow cards, red cards and TMO involvements that we are not going to get players trying to use every opportunity to influence the TMO.”
White said the final scoreline (nine points) is not a true reflection of his team’s effort in the URC game in Belfast.
“It is one of those seasons where we do all the hard work, but just can’t seem to get over the last hurdle,” the Bulls’ boss added.
Speaking of the trip to Le Stadium in Toulouse for a clash with Stade Toulousain, White admitted his team has a huge mountain to climb.
“Obviously confidence is a bit low,” White said of a run of 11 defeats in their last 13 matches in all competitions, adding that there are “some positives” that came out of the Irish leg of their trip to Europe.
“It tests everybody – coaches and players.”
The Bulls slumped to their eighth loss of the season from 16 games in the United Rugby Championship and now sit in seventh position on the standings.
They now face the tough challenge in the form of the powerful Toulouse outfit in the last 16 knock-out clash in the Champions Cup this coming Saturday.
“I coached in France and it doesn’t get any tougher than Toulouse in Toulouse.
“Historically that is one of the strongest home venues in the European game.
“It is going to be a massive task for us and an opportunity for us to measure ourselves against some of the best players in the world,” White said of a side that features Springbok Rynhardt Elstadt in their considerable roster.
They also have French superstars Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack on their books.
“It is a great test of my coaching and I have been coaching for a long time.
“These young guys have done well the last couple of years, but they are in a place where they haven’t been for a while.
“It will be a great learning exercise to see how we can get it right.”
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