Back in the day, Schalk Burger was a magnet for yellow and red cards, with his long blonde hair usually seen flying into rucks and tackles.
He has long since tidied up his act, and shorn off his locks, although his cleanout at a ruck during this weekend’s Europen Champions Cup match between Saracens and Lyon is a throwback of sorts.
In the 21st minute, Schalk cleaned out Lyon number eight Deon Fourie, and many rugby fans and pundits believe he deserved a red card for his actions.
Via Sport24, here’s one angle:
The commentator is right, and given how readily red cards are handed out for anything resembling a ‘tip tackle’, Schalk can count himself lucky.
Former Fiji Sevens coach Ben Ryan called it a ‘Wild West clearout’:
More Wild West clearouts better suited to WWF then on the rugby field going unpunished again….
Lyon v Saracens pic.twitter.com/ByKSpPwVdh— Ben Ryan (@benjaminryan) January 13, 2019
Then again, if Owen Farrell can get away with no arm shoulder charges whenever he pleases, maybe we should cut Schalk some slack.
Under Ryan’s tweet, someone tried to rope in former Irish rugby player Luke Fitzgerald to back up claims of Schalk playing dirty, but Luke wasn’t having it:
Never change, Schalk.
[source:sport24]
