Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: Jaque Fourie suspended for dangerous tackle on Ma'a Nonu

Monday, September 14, 2009

Jaque Fourie suspended for dangerous tackle on Ma'a Nonu

Springbok centre Jaque Fourie has been handed a 4 week suspension following the 32-29 Tri Nations victory over the All Blacks in Hamilton on the weekend.

Fourie made a tackle on Ma'a Nonu in te 73rd minute of the match that was ignored by the referee and touchjudges, but picked out by citing commisioner Scott Nowland after the match.

Fourie, 26, appeared before a judicial hearing in Hamilton on Sunday. He argued that the tackle was reckless, but not intentional.

After reviewing video evidence and hearing player submissions, Judicial officer Paul Tulley said that the tackle had been "clearly dangerous and placed the player in a vulnerable position when he landed on his neck and shoulder."

Fourie was not intending to play next week, so his suspension will begin on September 26th, and run until October 19th. If his team, the Lions, don't make the Currie Cup final, he won't be playing again any time soon.

Following the controversy with the Bakkies Botha 'Justice 4' incident, questions of consistency when it comes to 'independent' panels are sure to come up again.

Time: 01:06

I am first i am king of the world.... England to win the nxt world cup.

We are gonna be the champs!!!!!!!

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2009 1:11 pm
didnt really see much wrong with it nonu had turned to try and re-capture the ball and made the tackle look worse i think.... im biased anyway, i seem to remember him spearing gordon darcy in lansdowne before so you reap what you sow i guess!!! Nothing malicous or intentional in the tackle just a wee bit dangerous.....Nonu is rubbish at the mo anyway and needs to add more dimension to his game like maybe a step or two or a feign/drop of the shoulder...i dunno!!!!

By Kenny, at September 14, 2009 1:13 pm
A 4 week ban seems very harsh for that. I agree that it was wreckless (although not intentional) and did warrant a citing but 4 weeks? Makes Burger's 8 weeks for an eye gouge seem very lenient.

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2009 1:53 pm
And England will not win the world cup you muppet

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2009 1:53 pm
dangerous tackle, a 4 week ban is very lenient seeing as he could of potentialy ended nonus career if it went bad.

at this rate i'd say the boks to win the world cup

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2009 2:12 pm
burgers 8 week were a joke...

but even as a AB fan i gotta admit 4 weeks for this one is a bit harsh. fourie should have been more careful, but i don't rate him as a guy who would have done this intentionally. still one week should have been the call, as it was clearly dangerous...

By opfazonk, at September 14, 2009 2:12 pm
dangerous, off the ball, spear tackle, a shit. What a shame for a world-classe player like Fourie.

By Swissvinch, at September 14, 2009 2:12 pm
Wonder what Brian O'Driscoll thought of it? Childish as it sounds but in terms of NZ and spear tackles - You started it.

By morgan, at September 14, 2009 2:13 pm
Didn't Brad Thorne do the same thing last Tri Nations to John Smit after the whistle and only got 1 week? Why is Jaque's ban so much more severe?

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2009 2:35 pm
Is it possible that the citing panel wanted to make an example of the Boks after the whole Justice 4 Bakkies incident? Or maybe they wanted to make up for the apparent leniance of the Burger sentance...this just looks clumsy, not malicious. I'm not suggesting this is the case in any way so don't flame me, im just putting that out there as a possible theory.

Bad luck for Fourie, respect him massively as a player, one of the best in the world right now.

By Adam Johnson, at September 14, 2009 2:51 pm
Okay, I guess I can accept the citing, but 4 weeks for that?!?!? And on someone who has an excellent disciplinary record?

Still, the one that really sticks in my craw is the non-citing of Giteau after his smash into du Preez. That, after the Bakkies citing, was the signature farce.

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2009 3:24 pm
four weeks is a bit harsh

By cheis, at September 14, 2009 3:37 pm
Four weeks is too harsh. One week would be about right.

There is also the question of the speed with which this citing went through - almost premeditated.

The whole thing stinks.

By Robert, at September 14, 2009 3:40 pm
What about thug Thorn's slam tackle on Beast..?

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2009 3:41 pm
Thorne always get away with stuff. He's a useless player who get owned by Matfield + Bakkies every time. Nice to see Smit smash him after last year's spear incident.
It seems the Argies have joined the party now. Is this so that Australia have a chance of beating someone :) :)

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2009 4:23 pm
I'm not fan of the Boks but that was clumsy and not malicious, I think. Of course it is difficult to impugn motives to any action. Burger should have received a 4 month ban IMHO though.

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2009 4:31 pm
Whoever said this was off the ball is not thinking. Nonu was juggling the ball. It's not off the ball like when Brad Thorne speared Smit after the whistle by the side of a ruck. Also not off the ball like when O'Driscoll was speared in a similar situation. This was hardly even a spear tackle, if Nonu had the ball Fourie would have turned it in seconds. Maybe one weeks worth.

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2009 4:41 pm
If thats dangerous then what about the tackle on Strettle in th Quins Wasps game?

By Prop, at September 14, 2009 4:47 pm
What the turd is wrong with these citing committees? Nonu landed awkwardly, sure, but Fourie went to the ground with him to make sure Nonu didn't end up on his neck.

As for "off the ball"....that's the silliest remark I've read in a while. By that logic, players who make massive hits during "hospital passes" should be suspended as well.

I thought the whole "justice" bit was a bit pointless, but after this, how else are the citing committees supposed to get an idea of people's disdain at their inconsistent and often completely inaccurate rulings? Surely, they don't visit RD to read the comments section.

By Tappa, at September 14, 2009 4:49 pm
Jerry collins

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2009 5:22 pm
get real, as far as fourie knew, nonu had the ball, it was his fault for not catching. nonu stopped and fourie did what every player in the world would do. maybe a 2 week ban. MAYBE. i thought he sat him down rather gently.
NORTH REPRESENT!

By Unknown, at September 14, 2009 5:24 pm
and TAPPA, i completely agree with you.

By Unknown, at September 14, 2009 5:25 pm
first incident i've seen that actuall y looks worse in real time than in slow motion

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2009 5:38 pm
the knee was unnecessary.

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2009 6:07 pm
wonder if anything would have happened if this was nonu on fourie seeing as it was in nz

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2009 6:11 pm
The shoulder charge on habana? Matt giteau? i'm not complaining about those incidents, rugby is a physical game and sh!t happens. but why o why is the citing so inconsistent? also why does the ban only start after a week? saying that he wasn't planning on playing this week? i think he should go ahead and play this week just for the heck of it

By Rehan Basson, at September 14, 2009 6:16 pm
Burger didn´t eye gouge anyone - there wasnt any contact to the eyes, and he wasnt found guilty of eye gouging. He was found guilty of recklessly having his fingers in the facial area - which is really all it was. In my opinion an 8 week ban was far too harsh... Anyone who knows anything about South Africn rugby knows burger is not that type of player...

By Unknown, at September 14, 2009 6:40 pm
agree with the really short anon comment: its the knee. that semi spear would not have drawn blood, whereas the knee into the eye must have (would need different camera angle to confirm, thou does seem v likely)

the semi spear with the knee prob explains the 4 weeks, as otherwise it prob is a bit harsh.

By mise, at September 14, 2009 6:41 pm
'He was found guilty of recklessly having his fingers in the facial area'

is that the definition of a gouging the eyes?

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2009 6:58 pm
Another pearler by an Anonymous muppet:

"the knee was unnecessary."

How was the knee deliberate?? Damn there's some really stupid people out there. As if the world isn't a scary enough place already.

By FrankyH, at September 14, 2009 7:04 pm
@ Anonymous - no it isn´t

By Unknown, at September 14, 2009 7:26 pm
wow the IRB and citing committee and independant panels are pathetic pathetic pathetic....

4week ban? ...
wot about giteau's tackle on du preez back in cape town?

and ur telling me they are not out to get us?

By Daniel, at September 14, 2009 8:41 pm
Sour grapes from NZ to ask for the review and way too harsh - what about the two shoulder charges on habana in the same game?

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2009 8:50 pm
very harsh,

not coming from a springbok fan aswell

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2009 8:56 pm
The IRB and their citing officers are like a bunch of dingleberrys!!!

By semperfimamba, at September 14, 2009 9:03 pm
He deserved worse for the amount of balls he dropped.

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2009 10:28 pm
This is yet another example of NZ babying it's players. Nonu is NOTORIOUS for dirty late tackles

By Patrick, at September 14, 2009 10:31 pm
No way in the world that deserved 4 weeks. One week at the absolute most. Not much more than a great solid tackle.

By hi ho, at September 15, 2009 12:23 am
Pretty harsh with 4 weeks, Nonu didn't seem to phased by it all. God it was funny watching Thorn pick up the so called "Beast" and dump him like a bitch, PS Bakkies goes missing every game... he is held up by matfield's supreme performances. All that aside, it was a great game toward the end.

By Anonymous, at September 15, 2009 1:13 am
boo hoo hoo

you bunch of whingers

its the game - dont do it and dont get cited/suspended

By jamestheconvict, at September 15, 2009 1:16 am
In the 73rd minute of a Tri Nations match, those types of tackles can occur out of sheer intense play without intention. That said it was dangerous and I'm glad he came out unhurt.

I'm suspicious of the speed at which this review was expedited by the panel, frankly. Some good questions would be why did other reviews take so much time, and why did this one go through so quickly - especially after not having been called during the game.

By Crosser, at September 15, 2009 1:41 am
and you're far too complacent, jamestheconvict. don't do what, exactly?

By slippery pete, at September 15, 2009 1:55 am
Why are we inviting the useless Pumas to the 3N? Everything about Argentina is shit, from Maradonna to that lucky Del Potro c**t

By Anonymous, at September 15, 2009 2:50 am
Steve,

Are you on drugs?

The Boks are easily the dirtiest team on the planet. Their defence is permanently offside. They tackle late and high. They put their hands all over the ruck. They lie all over the ball. They come in from the side whenever possible. They are the masters of the cheap shot.

Schalk put his fingers into the eye sockets of a winger in the first 30 seconds of a match. What was the point of that? And he did it out in the open in full view of the ref and the all the cameras. Seriously dumb as well as dirty. He should have got another 4 weeks for the sheer stupidity of it.

By Anonymous, at September 15, 2009 3:04 am
C'est de la merde!!! 4 weeks ban for a mere tackle!! l'IRB c'est de la bonne merde!! International rugby has become now more of a joke!!! Any single incident now deserves a punishement!!! De la bonne merde!!
And btw france to win the next RWC...! ;-)

By Toulouse16, at September 15, 2009 4:10 am
4 weeks with a tackle that wasn't really a spear just a hard dump in my books and Schalk Burger only gets 8 weeks for eye gouging...someone needs to sort out the governing body of rugby

By Anonymous, at September 15, 2009 4:32 am
Expect nothing less from the Bok.
Bizmark holding mils back by the head for du prees try and burger with his hands all over Sivi's face when he scored. World Champions yes, but still a dirty bunch of fu*ckers.

By Anonymous, at September 15, 2009 5:47 am
ha ha ha so true.

By Anonymous, at September 15, 2009 5:47 am
This is very strange. It's not like Fourie dumped him, and he was actually carrying Nonu whole way through.

By vinniechan, at September 15, 2009 5:58 am
Fuck those "independent" panels
Those pussys are afraid rugby might get a bad name, so theyre banning just about everything that seems dangerous.
That ban was unbelievable. Nonu landed safely on his back, jaque fourie followed through with a tackle.
Shame, the way modern rugby is transforming.

By Anonymous, at September 15, 2009 6:06 am
knee to the head at the end. what a douchebag.

By Spartacus, at September 15, 2009 8:33 am
steve, burger is a gouger. You are making yourself look like a very dumb saffa by defending him.

By Anonymous, at September 15, 2009 9:21 am
haha at steves comment "burger is not that type of player"

keep telling urself that mate.

he tired to squirrle grip g.smith last tri nations too - it was caught on the refs mike, everyone knows he is a dirty player

By chris, syd Aust, at September 15, 2009 9:34 am
@Steve - its very close to being a definition of a gouge and you say that those who know SA rugby know that hes not that sort of player. Well hes been caught on camera for millions to see that yes he is that sort of player. If you want to deny video evidence then thats your perogative

By Anonymous, at September 15, 2009 9:41 am
did nonu himself say anything about the incident ?

By sebastian, at September 15, 2009 10:11 am
ha, what a load of crap - winging about the boks physicality always just comes across to me as sour grapes, 100 % agree with PDV´s comments about this not being ballet... This coming from some people in whose country people use fake blood to come off early...

By Steve, at September 15, 2009 10:11 am
"100 % agree with PDV´s comments"

Now you must be having us on. I'm sure not even PDV himself agrees with comes out of his mouth...no one does. The man says things that don't make sense; that's his MO.

I think it's safe then to regard anything you say simply as a joke to warm us all up.

Cheers for that.

By Walken, at September 15, 2009 10:23 am
Blah blah blah - if anything he pulled the guys cheek a wee bit - My grandmother does that when I visit her... The whole thing was just used as an excuse by winging Brits for losing... Lets get over it now and stop this whole springbok hating thing - its getting old.

By Steve, at September 15, 2009 10:26 am
Youre quite right PDV does sprout a lot of crap but every now and then he has a point...

By Unknown, at September 15, 2009 11:13 am
Thats a laugh - Kenny, Obviously ur one of the pissed off guys whose team always gets a kicking by the boks - so u use every opportunity to slag them off as it makes u feel better for sporting a losing side...

All Im saying is lets stop the anti springbok crusade.. The Boohoo about them play boring rugby, that theyre too physical, they push the rules, they didn´t spend enough time in hamilton, Lions shouldve won because schalk wasnt sent off ...

The fact is the boks are the best team in the world right now and for a reason, there are few players in the rest of the world that are better than their opposite number in the green and gold jersey...

PDV the man is not the typical/traditional rugby coach, he is a poor speaker, and doesn´t have much tact.But who really cares? Why let him grate you? Hes a damn good coach and further strengthened an already great team and for those achievements he should be respected around the rugby supporting community.

Boks will win the 2009 IRB team of the year and Fourie Du Preez will get the player award. If that doesn´t happen it will just seem the IRB is taking the usual anti sa rugby approach...

The team is the no 1 side in the world, current world cup champions, holder of the most recent lions series and tri nations champs. Why not give credit where credit is due...

By Unknown, at September 15, 2009 11:32 am
Kenny - those who play, watch and comment on rugby are supposed to be decent men. If you cannot express your opinion without throwing insults then really you need not pass comment at all. Have a little think to yurself, calm down and have another try later.

By morgan, at September 15, 2009 12:03 pm
actually your right playing with peoples faces and eyes in rugby matches is just like ballet and totally fine

By Kenny, at September 15, 2009 12:15 pm
Keep things clean guys.
Join the forum if you'd like a mature debate rather.

By Greiffel, at September 15, 2009 12:15 pm
in fact im going to find my granny right now and gouge her eyes cause its seems to be ok to do it....and many apologies steve your not a cock i dont know what got into me there...a bit over zealous perhaps....anyway the main thing is im sorry and eye petting/slapping/poking/kissing is in fact all the rage now and if your not with it your a bit silly!!!

By Kenny, at September 15, 2009 12:18 pm
No worries mate, didn´t mean to call u an assnibbler either..

My point is that he didnt stick his fingers into anyones eyes and he wasn´t found guilty of doing that or even trying to do that... This was his statement afterwards:

"...I only have the utmost respect for the traditions of the wonderful game of rugby. Through my life and career I have always approached the game with the intention only of playing it hard and fair. I am not a rugby thug and will never intentionally engage in eye gouging or similar illegal actions."

In my opinion it looked more like cheek pinching than anything and the whole thing has been very overhyped...

By Steve, at September 15, 2009 12:46 pm
anyone agreeing with anything that PdV says is clearly out of his mind

By Anonymous, at September 15, 2009 3:11 pm
'My point is that he didnt stick his fingers into anyones eyes and he wasn´t found guilty of doing that or even trying to do that..'

yes he did and yes he did. if he wasnt found guilty then why did he get banned for 8 weeks? moron

By Anonymous, at September 15, 2009 7:29 pm
What is it with you guys? - can you not debate, put a point across or argue without trading insults at the same time? I've seen more intelligent ramblings put across on my daughters `High School Musical` blog.

By morgan, at September 15, 2009 7:38 pm
All i have to say is that not many countries can play the hard core style the BOK's do, and these countries tend to get away with alot more that the BOK's would always be hung from the nearest cross branch.

Alot of you so called rugby fans can't accept or refuse to give this team its due's...no matter you wont give, they'll take.

As for Burger, the guy has always played at 100mph with total commitment, granted he had a brain fart and got punished, why dont you get over it..it was his first such encounter and thats that.

RD > you have a serious case of the whingers in here.

Fouries tackle didnt merit the punishment but hey let them try and sanction the BOK's out of the #1 spot its the only way other teams will come close.

EOY tour you folks will realize :)

holla.

By semperfimamba, at September 15, 2009 10:42 pm
Love all the people writing off the argies, lets not forget their awesome world cup performance in france. Watching them beat the french twice, at the stade, brought a tear to my eye.

Signed, An Englishman.

By FredD, at September 15, 2009 10:50 pm
can anyone say what is the song playing during the replay????

By Anonymous, at September 16, 2009 12:27 am
look - im not going to go on like a stuck record,you guys throw insults around all you like - but if you want to know what Shalk was actually banned for go and google it. It was not for eye gouging (no matter how similar you think the definitions are)...

By Steve, at September 16, 2009 10:05 am
Haha. Steve you're a mug.

Unless ofcourse you're joking. Very funny to read either way. Bit worrying about your eye gouging views, hope you don't go out on the pitch and pull peoples eyes out. Second thoughts i don't imagine you play judging by your idiot comments.

By Andy, at September 16, 2009 11:19 am
Regardless of all this SA basshing, the only reason you asses do it is because your are JEALOUS of the WORLD CHAMPIONS AND BEST TEAM IN THE WORLD!!!! DEAL WITH IT!! ( sa to retain the RWC, and I aint even a bok fan!)

By Anonymous, at September 16, 2009 12:38 pm
andy ur the mug..

btw people pdv first language isnt english..its afrikaans.just remember that. as for the suspension.wata joke..4 weeks.are they mad.

By big dutchman, at September 16, 2009 2:49 pm
I wasn't bashing the Safa's. They are the best team in the world clearly. Ofcourse i'm jealous, it doesn't make me dislike them. More respect them.

I was bashing Steve's idiotic tunnel vision.

By Andy, at September 16, 2009 3:18 pm
What idiotic tunnel vision was that mate? I would be happy to be enlightened...

By Steve, at September 16, 2009 4:33 pm
There is no problem in saying that S.A have and always been the dirtiest team in modern world rugby, it has no relevance on how good they are. Twickenham 50 point thumping by England anyone? Look back at that and pass comment on all their recent mis-demeanours. By comparison, the current S.A side are angels.
At present, SA are the best team in the world, by at least 10% and that's due to all round consitancy and man for man talent. They are also, as they have always been, a bunch of thugs using the game of rugby to release their medeviel urge to kill people and dissapte the frustrtaion in living in such a isolated and harsh country. This aside, they are magnificent players of our sport and vital in keeping rugby at its highest standard.

By morgan, at September 16, 2009 4:50 pm
harlequins i say! harlequins!

By Unknown, at September 16, 2009 5:50 pm
@ Morgan - Nice to hear some debate without insults. I hear what you´re saying, but I still disagree I think that is unfortunately the impression fans have of us, though we have cleaned up our act a lot in the last six years... Jake White put a lot of effort into teaching the boys about respecting the rules of the game... I believe that if you looked at our matches since 2004 you will find that the boks opposition (perhaps provoked by the boks physicality) usually were more guilty it came it to foul play...

By Unknown, at September 16, 2009 6:04 pm
I don't see how calling south african players thugs is not insulting.

What do we then call a nation who takes part in coke binges and cheating? Do we generalise too, and call the English a bunch of pathetic cheats who are no good hence resort to things like this?

I find it ridiculous that SA has this 'thug' image when all we do is play the game of RUGBY extremely hard and rough.

Is Matt Giteau a thug? Is Alan Quinlan? Neil Best? Is Tana Umaga?? No, they're rugby players, who at times have pushed the limits of the law, and were punished enough that they don't need stereotypical judgement passed on them or their country.

Nobody is innocent. Nobody is free of misdemeanours. As I said, it's rugby, not effin tiddly winks. To label a country based on a few isolated incidents is pathetic.

Take away the Burger 'eye gouging' this year and feel free to prove to me that SA are any worse than any other side when it comes to being 'thugs'. And no, IRB citings dont count.

By Dave, at September 16, 2009 6:37 pm
being a normal RD regular and a rugby player i am noticing a huge trend of pple on the blog becoming OBSESSED by citing decisions. LET IT DROP. eg BOD 2005 LIONS in NZ? PPLE Still on about that!!? i am english and got up v early in the morning to watched that test series so of course i was fuming when i saw the incident but the fact is nz would have won the series even if lions had BOD.

As for the boks...yes they have had several players cited, yes they play on the edge of the rules, yes they are sometimes too physical and yes sometimes the citings seem to be drawn out of a hat, but it doesnt matter.

the fact is they are the best team in the world and their physicality on the pitch in defense and general play is one of the reasons why they have that title.

SO STOP WHINING. think about the flaws in your own country's national team instead.

And come on england the talent is there, NURTURE IT

By Anonymous, at September 16, 2009 10:44 pm
Its pretty awesome to see the english,aussies,kiwis etc. congratulate the boks on their impeccible season.
To those guys....you are genuine rugby fans.!!
Peace !!!

By jp, at September 17, 2009 12:40 am
i don't quite see the dangerousness of this....it looks bad, but...it wasnt high, he didnt turn him in the air and drive him head/shoulder first into the ground...

:s

By Anonymous, at September 17, 2009 3:07 pm
Nonu himself didn't whinge.

Hardnut. Solid lump of Meat I say

By Anonymous, at September 17, 2009 4:28 pm