Sarries back Venter
20 May 2010
Saracens will appeal the RFU’s 14-week ban on director of rugby Brendan Venter, calling the union a ‘rural prep school’.
In his disciplinary hearing on Tuesday, Venter was cleared of pushing an opposing female supporter in their game against Leicester a fortnight ago. However, he was found guilty of making inappropriate gestures and comments to the Leicester spectators.
The RFU ruling said Venter waved and blew kisses in the direction of Leicester supporters who were calling at him to sit down as he was blocking their view of the action. There were also allegations of swearing.
The former Springbok’s punishment is a 14-week ban from the touchline, which means he will not have direct contact with his players in the English Premiership final against Leicester on Saturday.
In an RFU statement released on Thursday, disciplinary officer Jeff Blackett was critical of Saracens, saying the club should have done more to ensure its staff behaved better.
Saracens chief executive Ed Griffiths reacted in a counter-statement by saying: ‘This kind of public attack on a leading club does the RFU no credit at all. Perhaps it’s time for English rugby to be run like a modern professional sport, and not a rural prep school.’
Griffiths could himself face a misconduct charge for the outburst. RFU chairman Martyn Thomas will speak to the governing body president John Owen and chief executive Francis Baron about the comments on Friday.
‘I’m personally very unhappy at what I’ve read and what I’ve heard,’ Thomas told BBC Radio 5. ‘Nobody is bigger than the game of rugby and we’re becoming increasingly concerned at the erosion of the core principles of the game.’
According to the BBC, the RFU released an 11-page statement on Thursday, in which it observed Venter’s ‘arrogant behaviour’ during the hearing, citing his eating of biscuits and sweets as examples.
Thomas said: ‘You don’t go into the Old Bailey eating a biscuit. You show a degree of respect to the process in the court.’
Griffiths asked why biscuits were provided if they weren’t meant to be eaten.
‘Blackett’s judgement borders on self-parody, citing Venter eating a biscuit as alleged evidence of disdain for the process. Why did the RFU provide biscuits if they were not to be eaten?’
22 Comments
21 May 2010, 08:25 am
fiery venter
21 May 2010, 08:25 am
Hothead Dragons.
21 May 2010, 08:26 am
Damn beat me to it!
21 May 2010, 08:27 am
Sounds like a proper douche this Venter.
21 May 2010, 08:30 am
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-2: More like “stupid dragon!”. “Hothead” is too polite for a grown man…
21 May 2010, 09:06 am
@John Galt(John Galt)-4: Not as big a douche as the old farts in the RFU are.
21 May 2010, 09:10 am
@CharlieBrown(CharlieBrown)-6:
The way I see it, if Venter is going to behave like a rural prep school boy, blowing kisses to the crowd (WTF!!!!??), then he should be treated as such.
Seriously, which coach has ever done this in the history of rugby union.
Pathetic.
21 May 2010, 09:21 am
Nah Venter is a twat all the way back to his playing days.
21 May 2010, 09:25 am
@John Galt(John Galt)-7: And what exactly about blowing kisses to the crowd is that bad that it deserves a 14 week ban? Schalk Burgers eye gouging incident got him less of a ban by half, huh? Old farts they are!
21 May 2010, 09:27 am
@Ig(Ig)-8: Yip, he is a twat and seems to be an arrogant prick too. But, he also is a pretty good coach/manager – and this seems to be more about teaching the upstart expat club about their place in the world than about anything else.
21 May 2010, 09:32 am
@CharlieBrown(CharlieBrown)-9:
Yeah, I think the length of the ban had more to do with the fact that he had been in the dock for a few things previously and were tired of repeat infringements.
He’s still a d i c k though.
21 May 2010, 09:39 am
typical venter behaviour! Boorish lout of note…
21 May 2010, 09:45 am
The ban is only a 1 match ban, it runs out before the start of the new season. Cockerill might also be banned.
21 May 2010, 09:50 am
Dam it grates me when someone stands up in front of me when Im at a game. In this case though hes the coach and the stadium should be designed better so that the reserves and coaching staff can stand as much as they like without blocking the spectators views
21 May 2010, 09:53 am
Oh well, that’ll teach him to eat their biscuits.
21 May 2010, 10:49 am
My dislike of Venter is well documented, but if you read the full report you will see that they bitched about him eating biscuits and throwing a sweet wrapper around during the hearing – which they saw as disrespect, stupid poms. In the full answer Sarries questions why the biscuits were provided if they were not to be eaten… funny stuff.
21 May 2010, 14:12 pm
He may be a ****, but I know what it must have been like for him. I’ve sat in a meeting before, staring at a plate of cookies, wondering if it’s okay to dive in before the client makes a move. Romany Creams. And this was a 2-hour meeting. Who wouldn’t have a nibble?
21 May 2010, 23:04 pm
Message to Mr Griffiths: It’s the ‘HOW’ not the ‘WHY’. Do you understand what I mean? You cannot parachute yourself into the UK and change a culture.
22 May 2010, 08:17 am
Edward Griffiths was educated in the UK and has lived there for much of his life, he has not parachuted himself in
22 May 2010, 08:34 am
Everybody thinks its about the biscuits..kak!! It was about the body language that said ” I am a White SAFFA and cannot be touched because I have one the richest men in the world backing me and my behaviour”
Ok.. at least that bit of BS belief has been kicked into touch
22 May 2010, 08:41 am
@Shaunsagod(Shaunsagod)-20: Quite right. Are you becoming more mellow and talking sense for a change
Its just the “one of the richest men in the world” thats wrong. Maybe in the top 2000…
23 May 2010, 22:20 pm
Screw that- he is as passionate about hi steam as any fan is- and so he should be. So he was standing up and they told him to st down. So he blew them a kiss. WTF? its not like he laid into fans with a stick or anything.
And this deserves 14 WEEKS? It sounds like the judgement was personal, and not based on the facts 9because he was eating bicuits that had been provided for him??WTF?). And for that reason, the hearing official should be ashamed of himself. How very immature of a the hearing official! This is not a school palyground- its peoples live sthat they are making judgement on. How can his actions POSSIBLY be worth 14 weeks?
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