Berry has been squashed by Erasmus controversy
COLIN BOAG
Watching last weekend's match between Wales and Fiji I was somewhat bemused by referee Nic Berry's performance. I can't recall seeing an international referee being so hesitant, and it was almost as if his confidence was shot, and he needed the reassurance of his assistants and TMO.
Then, however, I read the Rassie Erasmus judgment issued by World Rugby, and things started to become clearer.
Berry didn't have the greatest of games and the biggest issue was that apparent lack of confidence in his own ability, which is hardly surprising after the ordeal he and his family have gone through. He needed an experienced Premiership assistant ref and TMO in Stuart Terheege to bail him out on a couple of occasions: when he inexplicably was going to yellow card Fijian winger Eroni Saue despite the big screen showing his swinging arm to be worthy of a clear red, and when Louis Rees-Zammit tried to keep the ball in play while over the touchline.
However, it is probably stretching it to lay all the blame at Erasmus' door, as on a purely factual level, a number of the decisions highlighted in the now infamous video weren't great ones.
During the week we finally got the result of the disciplinary hearing into Erasmus and South Africa's conduct, no less than four months after it all blew up. First, shame on World Rugby for their dither and delay on this process – sadly it's no more than we've come to expect from them. In the end the SARU got a gentle slap on the wrist and a derisory fine of £20,000. This was no better than a joke.
As for Erasmus, like the SARU he is appealing against his suspensions.
Sadly, this is going to rumble on for many more months. There is a way to solve this instantaneously, which is if the other Tier One nations simply said that they find South Africa's behaviour reprehensible, and have decided not to play any matches against them until they get their house in order.
The SARU's revenue would take a massive hit, and it wouldn't be beyond the wit of the other Unions to rearrange fixtures between themselves to cover their own shortfalls. Of course this won't happen, but it should.
There were a couple of examples last weekend of a malaise that is becoming more widespread in rugby, and which needs stamping out. As if Nic Berry hadn't got enough on his plate, he had Dan Biggar chirping away in his ear at every turn, and at the start of the nonsense he should simply have told the Welsh 10 to button it, and when he next spoke it should have been a free kick, then a penalty, and if the message hadn't got through, maybe ten minutes in the bin would have worked.
I keep hearing it's just Biggar's way, and he's a passionate player: irrelevant, he shouldn't be speaking to the ref at all, never mind in a disrespectful way.
Luke Pearce is one of the best refs around, and he handled the pulsating clash between Ireland and New Zealand typically well, but why did he allow Johnny Sexton and Sam Whitelock so much leeway?
Yes, they were the captains, but Law 9 on Foul Play says that players, captain or not, must respect the authority of the referee, and mustn't dispute the ref 's decisions – the sanction for offending is a penalty.
It's time to start enforcing this law rigorously, as things are heading in the wrong direction. Football has shown that if you let players take an inch, then they'll take a mile.
Players like Biggar, Sexton, and the other prima donnas, act as if they are above the game's laws, and it's time for referees to cut them down to size – less chatting with them as if they are mates, and more penalties please!
