No ifs or butts... he should be banned
Hogg stunned as Spring bok nutter Siya gets off the hook for Horne attack
STUART HOGG couldn’t disguise his disgust after Springbok thug Siya Kolisi was let off the hook.
Millions of TV viewers watched the South Africa skipper smash the back of his head into the face of prone Scotland hero Pete Horne in Saturday’s Autumn Test.
The sickening incident happened during the first half of his side’s pulsating 26-20 victory at Murrayfield.
Amazingly it was missed by all the match officials and World Rugby chiefs yesterday confirmed no action had been taken by their citing commissioner.
Now yob Kolisi, who was given a token warning, is free to face Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.
The Springbok captain was lying on top of Horne – illegally holding him down to stop him joining an attack. Then, with a whiplash action, he clattered into his face.
Scotland star Hogg said: “These things happen but you do question what the video ref was doing. He could have had a look at it three times, four times or as many as he wanted.
“Pete is a hard b **** r who just got on with the game. He didn’t whinge about it. We’ve all seen it on TV now and my view is no different to anyone else’s.
“I asked Pete, ‘Was that a legit headbutt?’ and he felt he was headbutted. It has happened and we can’t do anything about it now. We just have to move on.
“Player welfare is a massive issue and World Rugby are trying to ensure we are in the safest possible place.
“I just think there is a severe lack of consistency – at all levels of the game. But they are in charge.”
Scots assistant coach Mike Blair said: “I understand the warning Kolisi got was the equivalent of a yellow card. We leave it in the hands of the citing commissioners to deal with.
“It’s difficult because the game is so fluid. There are going to be different circumstances that make for different situations and all we can do is trust the guys to make the right decisions.
“It’s not the same citing commissioner every time so that makes it difficult because often it’s a subjective opinion on what’s going on.” When asked what his reaction would be if he had been in Horne’s position as victim, Blair said: “I would feel pretty sore.”
Hogg, meanwhile, insisted he will be fit to face Argentina in the final Autumn Test at Murrayfield on Saturday despite being forced off early in the South Africa encounter.
The full-back said: “I just rolled the ankle that had been injured earlier in the season. I got it caught in a tackle.
“It was a little bit achy but nothing I haven’t had before. I tried to hide for a while but then they kicked it straight to me.
“It feels grand now and I’m just ready to crack on with a new week and look forward to Argentina.”
On the challenge of the Pumas he added: “They’ve got some terrific individual players and perform well collectively.
“They’ve had a couple of cracking wins in the Rugby Championship so we are fully aware of the challenges coming our way. It should be another cracking Test match.”