Can early apology save Savea?
Apologising wasn’t a problem for Ardie Savea following his ‘throatslitting’ gesture in Melbourne on Friday night.
The big question, now, is whether the Sanzaar foul play review committee, which will examine the case tonight after the citing commissioner deemed it met the red card threshold for foul play, accepts the Hurricanes skipper is contrite.
If it does it could then screw its commonsense hat on, issue a warning and declare the case closed.
For the matter to be dispensed with Savea must plead guilty and accept the punishment offered by the committee.
The offence carries a low-end ban of four weeks, or matches, and a top-end ban of 12 weeks or more.
Savea, in a moment of madness after he was yellow carded during the Hurricanes’ 39-33 win over the Melbourne Rebels in the Super Rugby Pacific match at AAMI Stadium, traced his thumb across his throat as he traded words with an opponent.
Savea admitted to a TV interviewer that what he did wasn’t acceptable and apologised. Later, in the post-match press conference, he delivered a similar message.
Savea made a goose of himself. He knows that. Silly? No doubt. Worthy of sanction? You would hope not.
Had Savea been unrepentant, the Sanzaar foul play review committee would have reason to exercise the option of expediting the judicial process.
But he’s made it clear he’s sorry, and that he’s got a responsibility to set a good example to the fans. This needs to be kept in perspective.
Until this is sorted, Hurricanes coach Jason Holland and No 8 Savea will be on tenterhooks. The team’s next game is against the Blues in Wellington on Saturday, and losing Savea would be a massive hit to their chances of knocking over last year’s beaten finalist.
The drama involving Savea, who scored two tries, overshadowed a cracking game against the Rebels. Having led 24-7 at halftime, the Hurricanes got a hell of a scare when the Rebels stormed back and trailed by a point with three minutes left.
A try to midfielder Jordie Barrett in the 79th minute secured the result for the Hurricanes, to keep their unbeaten record intact.
Crusaders put the Highlanders to the sword
After being humbled 31-10 by the Chiefs in Christchurch in round one, the Crusaders were always going to tip a bucket of spicy curry paste into their pre-game feed when they headed across the Tasman for the Super Round.
That was bad news for the Highlanders, as the Crusaders marched to a 52-15 win.
Even with coach Scott Robertson forced to return to Christchurch for a family bereavement, the Crusaders, despite conceding six straight penalties from the kick-off, found ways to exploit the porous Highlanders defence.
First five-eighth Richie Mo’unga rebounded from a poor performance the previous week to lead the revival; he scored a try, kicked all seven conversion attempts and a penalty.
Things are looking grim for the Highlanders and head coach Clarke Dermody.
Having conceded 112 points in two games, they must play the Chiefs in Hamilton this weekend. Oh, the horror.
Victory drums beating in Chiefs country
Watching the Chiefs tear apart Moana Pasifika 52-29 was a guilty pleasure.
On the one hand, you had to give the Chiefs kudos for running in eight tries; Shaun Stevenson grabbed three and Rameka Poihipi scored the fastest try in Super Rugby history by dotting down within nine seconds of the game starting.
Was this result good for the competition, or Moana Pasifika? No. It’s early doors, but already there is a division between the best and the battlers.
Not that the Chiefs will be sorry. Their job is to go on seek and destroy missions, and they’re doing a decent job of it right now.
Bumbling Blues beaten
No wonder the exhausted Brumbies players’ reaction was so muted after they beat the Blues 25-20 in Melbourne yesterday.
Because this match was, for spectators, as entertaining as watching a busker try to produce a couple of bangers on a busted guitar. Both sides fumbled their way through a scoreless second half in a match that was littered with penalties, turnovers, miscued passes and dropped balls.