Marais faces skipper poser

STRAUSS: FORMER CAPTAIN FIT AND READY TO PLAY

Bulls seething after perceived injustice by disciplinary officials.

Lock RG Snyman definitely won’t be available after his suspension, but Adriaan Strauss has played a full part in training this week and the speed with which he returns to the Bulls’ starting line-up will give a clear indication of whether the beleaguered team is heading in a new direction under Nollis Marais.

The coach installed a new captain in Hanro Liebenberg for last weekend’s game against the Highlanders, which brought an improved performance despite the defeat, and Marais said after the game that the 21-year-old No 8 “will be the captain for a long time, way past when I leave here”.

Hooker Strauss missed the Highlanders game due to a “contusion on his foot with a laceration”, but is fit for selection. But with the captaincy seemingly taken from him, can the veteran beat off Jaco Visagie, who played with impressive intensity last weekend, and the mobile Edgar Marutlulle for selection for this weekend’s local derby against the high-flying Lions at Ellis Park?

Snyman, who was red-carded for illegally charging into a ruck shoulder-first against the Highlanders, received a four-week suspension yesterday.

A Sanzaar media release said Snyman’s offence merited a midrange entry point of six weeks due to the dangerous direct contact he made with an opponent’s head, but he was then given two weeks off for a good judicial record and an early guilty plea.

However, the same foul play review committee gave Highlanders wing Waisake Naholo, who was red-carded for practically the same offence – driving his shoulder into an opponent’s face – just a one-week suspension.

The Sanzaar statement said the committee decided to limit Naholo’s entry point to the low end of the range, ie two weeks, and then he was given a week off for the same reasons as Snyman.

The rank injustice of the differing outcomes for the two players will only increase the sense of frustration at Loftus Versfeld, and is a sure sign that Sanzaar have still not managed to get their disciplinary commissioners to be consistent in their judgments.