Kolisi and Stick join call for fair refereeing

SIYA Kolisi has backed up SA Rugby director of rugby Rassie Erasmus’s claims that the Springbok captain was disrespected by the match officials during the opening Test against the British & Irish Lions at Cape Town Stadium.

On Thursday morning, a video of Erasmus highlighting a string of officiating inconsistencies went viral. He also shared how he felt the match officials showed the South Africans a lack of respect and didn’t treat them the same as the Lions leadership.

During the captain’s press conference yesterday, Kolisi said: “I didn’t feel respected at all, I didn’t feel I was given a fair opportunity. But I’m looking forward to a new game and a new referee.

“I think Ben (O’Keeffe) will give a fair opportunity for both captains, and that’s all we’re asking.”

When asked to give specific examples of him being disrespected by referee Nic Berry, Kolisi said: “Did you watch the video? Watch that and then we can chat afterwards.

“I don’t really want to get into it to be honest. I don’t want to get involved in that, I just didn’t feel I was given the same access to the referee.

“If you watch the game again you’ll definitely be able to see.

“But it’s already happened, I don’t want to speak too much about it, it’s not going to change anything.”

Bok assistant coach Mzwandile Stick also weighed in, saying that Lions coach Warren Gatland started the war of words when he questioned TMO Marius Jonker’s appointment and his neutrality. “Let’s go on the build-up where firstly the integrity of World Rugby was challenged by another human being when Marius Jonker was appointed TMO,” said Stick.

“And then Gatland on the other side went crazy, and was asking World Rugby and challenging them about the decision they had made.

“Everyone knows we are living in challenging times, living during Covid, and the other gentleman couldn’t travel to South Africa because of Covid protocols.

“The appointment was publicly challenged by another coach on the other side, and still to this day I haven’t seen any statement from that side apologising for it. And I haven’t had any statement from World Rugby either.

“We’re not asking for any favours, we just want equal grounds.”

Stick added that he doesn’t want to see the series tainted by officiating issues and talks.

“I wouldn’t like the whole series to be about decisions taken by the officials, or about the coaches off the field.

“Even if things are being said in social media or a traditional media conference, it’s still the media. All coaches want to get their messages across.

“He (Erasmus) wanted to state his own personal view, it had nothing to do with us as a team.

“So if Rassie got into trouble because of what he said on social media, I think the gentleman that challenged the integrity of the game when the TMO was appointed, I think that is something that really destroyed the dignity of the series and also challenges the integrity of World Rugby.”