On social networks, David Reboursière, rugby referee in amateur competitions, reported a fact that went unnoticed last Sunday, the debates having revolved around the tricolor failures and the contentious decisions of the referee. On
Chronologically, it starts from the 45th to the 51st minute of the quarter-final against France. South Africa makes seven changes, therefore keeping only one last resort substitute on its bench. Nothing to report, obviously, at this stage. It’s ten in the 61st minute that the situation gets tough.
Hit by a borderline tackle from Damian Penaud, Pieter-Steph du Toit remains on the ground. A concussion protocol is requested and Duane Vermeulen, who left ten minutes earlier, returns to replace him for the duration of the examination. The regulations have so far been respected to the letter. A regulation which stipulates that the verdict must be established within twelve minutes (in real time, not the match clock regularly stopped by the referee, clearly specifies the regulation) after the player’s exit, at the end of which he can no longer return to the field.
However, if du Toit complies with the concussion protocol, he does not return to play until seventeen minutes later. We then play the 74th minute of this quarter-final and hooker Mbonambi, hit in the shoulder on a maul, is taken out by the South African staff. Which invokes a… concussion protocol. The reason ? This will allow the Boks to finish the match at 15 against 15 because, in the 63rd minute, they made their 8th and final change.
However, here again the regulations are clear: we can bring back a player who has already left the field to compensate for a protocol. On the other hand, if all the substitutes have already entered the game, an exit due to a “simple” injury cannot be compensated by a player who has already taken part in the match.
Additionally, replacement hooker Deon Fourie is already on the field covering the position. The scrums can therefore continue to argue. By invoking a non-existent concussion, the South African staff therefore circumvented the regulations to allow Pieter-Steph du Toit to return to the field, and after the time allowed for his own protocol, and thus avoid ending the match numerically inferior. .
Statements impossible to verify directly by the refereeing team, the health of the players logically prevailing, but a great trick – and a diabolical knowledge of the rules – on the part of Rassie Erasmus to legally circumvent it. As for fair play, however, we will come back. But that has never been a notion taken into account by the Springboks staff in recent years…
