Wallabies scrumhalf Nic White. Photo: AFP

Wallabies scrumhalf Nic White. Photo: AFP

Wallabies legend slams refereeing of De Klerk-White incident

Legendary ex-Wallabies scrumhalf Will Genia has slammed the way referee Paul Williams handled the incident involving Faf de Klerk.

Wallabies scrumhalf Nic White. Photo: AFP

Wallabies scrumhalf Nic White. Photo: AFP

White has copped plenty of stick on social media after he milked a yellow card, stopping in the middle of play during Saturday’s game against the Wallabies as he overdramatised an accidental slap to the face from Faf de Klerk.

De Klerk’s hand had barely connected with Nic White’s face, but Williams saw enough to send the blonde No 9 to the sin-bin for 10 minutes.

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In a column by iconic former Wallabies superstar Will Genia, who was renowned for his cheeky scrumhalf antics, he admitted the whole incident had been poorly handled.

Faf’s tried to tap the ball out of Whitey’s hand and he’s got it wrong and slapped his face.

The referees have to be able to make a decision based on being out there –  seeing and understanding the circumstances. What are we playing? Are we playing touch?

Yes, it was penalty. But there’s no malice, no bad intention. It’s not a high degree of force and he’s just trying to make a normal rugby play. Penalty, go back 10. To go through that whole process and it’s a yellow card? That’s an atrocious decision. I hate that that’s the way the game is going.

A referee like Nigel Owens probably says, ‘ok, I’m giving Australia a penalty because there’s contact with the face. Whitey, I don’t want to see that again. Faf I understand what you’re trying to do, but you have to understand it’s a penalty.’  That’s how it should have been handled.

It had a huge impact on the game because losing a halfback is significant. It’s like losing two players, because not only are you missing the link between forwards and backs, you lose the person who has to come in to play that role. South Africa sent their wingers in at halfback, robbing them of the width and making them much easier to defend.

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In a quite comical video shared to social media, hecklers at an airport can be heard throwing chirps his way, sarcastically questioning why he wasn’t in the ICU.

You can watch the incident involving De Klerk below:

Former Springbok flyhalf Butch James also slammed White for his gamesmanship during Saturday’s Rugby Championship match in Adelaide.

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At half-time, Butch James, in-studio for SuperSport, was quick to slam White, suggesting that HE deserved a yellow card.

However, Nick Mallett – also on SuperSport duty – disagreed in part with his fellow commentator, saying: “What is Faf trying to do though? You can’t knock the ball out of a scrumhalf’s hands, you’re not allowed to. He’s not tackling the guy so what on earth is he doing. I mean it’s stupid enough to have a swinging arm, and he opened himself up to that.”

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Rugby Championship Standings (played, won, drawn, lost, points scored, points conceded, bonus points, total)

Argentina      3 2 0 1 99 76 1 9

Australia      3 2 0 1 83 91 1 9

New Zealand    3 1 0 2 63 74 1 5

South Africa   3 1 0 2 66 70 0 4

Points allocation

4: win

2: draw

1: scoring at least three tries more than opponents; losing by fewer than eight points

0: loss without any bonus points

RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS TO DATE

1st round

South Africa 26 New Zealand 10

Argentina 26 Australia 41

2nd round

South Africa 23 New Zealand 35

Argentina 48 Australia 17

Leading scorers

Points

54: Boffelli (ARG)

32: Pollard (RSA)

25: Mo’unga (NZL)

Tries

3: Gonzalez (ARG), McReight (AUS)

2: Gallo (ARG), Ikitua (AUS), Smith (RSA), Taukei’aho (NZL)

Rugby Championship fixtures

Next round: Saturday, 3 September

In Hamilton, New Zealand

New Zealand v Argentina – 09:35 (SA time)

In Sydney, Australia

Australia v South Africa – 11:35 (SA time)