Sharks' shameful antics against Munster betrayed the moral code that makes rugby special

Irish Times

2 days ago

That was an unedifying weekend for the
United Rugby Championship
(URC),
most of all in Kings Park, Durban
, where we were reminded that in the entitled world of South African rugby, seemingly pretty much anything goes in the pursuit of victory.
The infamous wink by the prostrate Sharks scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse at Jack Crowley - after the Sharks player had landed his side's fourth penalty in the shootout - followed on from him being treated for 'cramp'. Crowley's ensuing kick was delayed by Hendrikse's antics.
It appears to have been largely applauded in South Africa and derided in Irish rugby and beyond. The Daily Telegraph in England described the Sharks' ploys to delay Crowley's kick as 'shameless gamesmanship'.
Of course, there must be exceptions. Some in South Africa will have been appalled by the Sharks' shenanigans, while there are some in Ireland who admire such devious ploys.
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South African writers have described Hendrikse as 'canny' to suddenly suffer cramp immediately after landing his second penalty of the shootout. His collapse prompted a mini pitch invasion by Sharks physios and backroom staff.
The gamesmanship succeeded in obliging the hapless looking referee, Mike Adamson, into delaying Crowley's kick. The official could not, however, prevent Crowley from eventually bisecting the posts before letting his feelings be known. The
Munster
outhalf's invective seems to have caused more outrage in South Africa where, laughably, it has even been suggested that Hendrikse genuinely suffered cramp.
We've never seen Jack Crowley this angry before.
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie)
In the view of former Springboks head coach Jacques Nienaber, winking is part of the game, the same as banter and 'trying to get under a guy's skin and trying to physically impose yourself on him and try and rub his hair.'
Nienaber, who is now senior coach at Leinster, likened it to Peter O'Mahony sledging Sam Cane and noted that if we listened to the referee's microphone with no commentary, we'd hear much worse than that on a fairly continual basis.
All of which may be true, but there are winks and there are winks. For many watching, Hendrikse's wink is reminiscent of Cristiano Ronaldo doing so toward the Portuguese bench after his Manchester United teammate Wayne Rooney was sent off during Portugal's 2006 World Cup quarter-final win over England.
It's disappointing that a team featuring Siya Kolisi would resort to such underhand tactics
For others, it had strong echoes of Tom Williams' wink during Harlequins' Heineken Cup quarter-final loss to Leinster in 2009, when he was the prime figure in what became known as the Bloodgate affair which left a stain on the sport.
This is because in both instances, the wink appeared to confirm that sly tactics had been employed and unashamedly so.
Furthermore, the Sharks' scrumhalf had clearly said something to Crowley in order to goad the Munster outhalf in between their respective first kicks as well.
Munster's Jack Crowley (right) was enraged by Jaden Hendrikse's antics during the penalty shootout in Durban last Saturday. Photograph: Darren Stewart/Inpho/Steve Haag Sports
Not even the Aston Villa and Argentinian goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez has ever resorted to such 'shithousery'. And it wasn't as if the Sharks didn't have the advantage of playing in front of a hostile full house anyway. The unsportsmanlike behaviour could have caused a riot and was disgusting to behold.
For such a primal sport, which is primarily based on physically beating one's opposition, rugby has also managed to maintain strong values of respect. During those moments in Durban last Saturday, those values of respect were nowhere to be seen. The example set to any young aspiring players watching is that, well, pretty much anything goes in the pursuit of victory. It's disappointing that a team featuring Siya Kolisi would resort to such underhand tactics.
By rights, the URC should charge Hendrikse and the Sharks for bringing the game into disrepute, but of course they won't. They'll probably appoint Adamson to referee the final.
Watching the game in a fairly packed O'Reillys in Sandymount, there was only outrage at Hendrikse's slyness and the compliance of Sharks staff in delaying Crowley's kick. Interestingly, there were many there who had had endured and returned from Leinster's quarter-final win over Scarlets at the Aviva Stadium and – please note, Munster fans - all were cheering for the men in red.
When the Sharks-Munster game initially went to extra time, unaware that coverage of the game was continuing on Premier Sports 2 rather than 1 (which was switching to the Champions League final) bar staff switched to TG4 for the conclusion in Durban on all the screens bar one in the corner. Ultimately, it overlapped with the start of events in Munich but the audience was rapt by the Sharks-Munster denouement.
Munster's Peter O'Mahony (right) and Jean Kleyn after last Saturday's URC quarter-final defeat against Sharks in Durban. Photograph: Darren Stewart/INPHO/Steve Haag Sports
This was a timely reminder that for the next four seasons, TG4 will provide the only free-to-air coverage of some of the province's URC games. The URC and TV rights holders have done Leinster little favours by sticking last Saturday's quarter-final on at 3pm and next Saturday's semi-final at 2.45pm, so as to allow ample time for extra time and a goalkicking shootout before the Munster hurling final throw-in at 6pm.
However, as TG4 will be broadcasting the final on Saturday week at 5pm, whether it's in Croke Park or South Africa, the Leinster-Glasgow semi-final next Saturday will be the last match involving any of the four Irish provinces to be broadcast on RTÉ for the foreseeable future.
This is on foot of the URC agreeing a new four-year broadcasting deal with Premier Sports and TG4. This in turn followed the EPCR (European Professional Club Rugby) initially stalling on TNT's reputed offer of €17.75 million and ultimately agreeing a contract for circa €6 million with Premier Sports, which evidently also included no free-to-air safeguards.
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Last April, the URC announced all of this in the context of TG4 increasing their output, but it is broadly the same as before, whereas Premier Sports have broadly assumed RTÉ's role. RTÉ could have audiences of circa 175,000-200,000 for big games and TG4 can draw audiences of over 100,000, as it did for a recent Munster game, but sources maintain Premier Sports' audience figures are nearer 20,000 to 30,000 - on a good day or night. BBC NI are no longer televising Ulster games either, and ditto BBC Wales of their regions.
No doubt URC will tell us that their new deal with Premier Sports is 'significantly' greater but no figures have been revealed. You also have to wonder how the provinces and their commercial partners feel about their hugely reduced audience and reach to supporters.
Likewise the IRFU who, ironically, are board members of both the URC and EPCR. Is this really what they want for the next four years?
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