Disgusting – Phillips' verdict on the brutal Boks (From South Wales Argus)

Disgusting – Phillips' verdict on the brutal Boks

6:50am Monday 29th June 2009

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MIKE Phillips has slammed the “punching and gouging” Springboks as the British and Irish Lions painfully licked their wounds following one of Test rugby’s most ferocious matches.

The Lions headed for a two-day safari trek, accompanied by shattered dreams after they suffered Test series heartbreak at Loftus Versfeld.

Five Lions ended up in hospital following a game of savage, unrelenting intensity, while two more players - Springboks forwards Schalk Burger and Bakkies Botha - were summoned to attend disciplinary hearings.

And Phillips was left seething by South Africa’s approach, which took just 32 seconds to surface when flanker Burger eye-gouged Lions wing Luke Fitz-gerald.

The back-row giant ludicrously escaped with just a yellow card, when red was the only realistic choice for French referee Christ-ophe Berdos.

“They (South Africa) seemed to be able to get away with a lot of punching, gouging and what not,” said the Lions scrum-half.

“We are the straight guys, and we came out second-best. It’s not good enough.

“It (Burger incident) was a clear red card, as simple as that.

“You can’t do things like that. It should have been a straight red and it cost us the game, really. There were punches going on off the ball throughout the game.

“All you can do is play by the rules. You can play hard, be a tough man on the pitch, but play within the rules.

“As a professional you work your socks off all week, you come to the pinnacle of your sport and things like that happen.

“You have just got to leave it in the referee’s hands. Referees are paid to do a job and we are paid to try to entertain.

“Lukey (Fitzgerald) said he had to pull his (Burger’s) hand off his eyes. That’s not sport, that’s not the way we play. It is not the gentlemanly thing to do – it’s disgusting.”

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