With every rugby pundit and keyboard warrior out there having offered up their opinion on Nic White’s moment of theatrics involving Faf de Klerk in the Rugby Championship in Adelaide on Saturday, we take a glance at all three parties responsible.
White
White’s performance after de Klerk’s face swipe was unquestionably embarrassing. The Brumbies man cut a pathetic figure falling back on his haunches and gesturing at referee Paul Williams following the event.
Many online, particularly South Africans, were quick to rebuke the 32-year-old, with John Smit going as far as saying the Aussie had “killed a little piece of rugby’s soul”. While that may be overexaggerating just a tad, the event does set a dangerous precedent for the game. With de Klerk having seen yellow for it, will more players now resort to Neymar-like histrionics to gain advantages from referees?
SuperSport’s Butch James thought White himself should have been the one yellow-carded for bringing the game into disrepute.
🗣️ "It's a disgrace to the game of rugby that a player can behave like that."
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) August 27, 2022
🗣️ "It's stupid enough to have a swinging arm, he opened himself up to it."
Butch James and Nick Mallett on that Faf de Klerk and Nic White incident.. pic.twitter.com/HPUgNnznaG
The ref
According to former Wallaby Test centurion Willy Genia, referee Paul Williams made “an atrocious decision”. He went on:
”A referee like Nigel Owens probably says, ‘ok, I’m giving Australia a penalty because there’s contact with the face. Whitey, I don’t want to see that again. Faf I understand what you’re trying to do, but you have to understand it’s a penalty.’
“That’s how it should have been handled.”
Unfortunately, though, Owens hung up his many moons ago.
Well, that was quick 🤦♂️🤣 #AUSvRSA
— Mike Abel (@abelmike) August 27, 2022
Nic White moment immortalised 🤡 pic.twitter.com/uPBDRKMNLg
Faf
It’s difficult to figure out just what Faf was trying to achieve with the swipe – not even Nick Mallet could wrap his head around it in the SuperSport studio.
De Klerk and White had had a few scuffles leading up to the Springbok’s sin-binning in the 39th-minute, so it may have been a case of the former Sale Shark lashing out recklessly in a moment of frustration. If he’d knocked the ball out of White’s hands, it would have meant 10-minutes in the naughty corner as well, so it’s been tough trying to find some justification for the action.
Breaking: Nic White has made an appearance after barely surviving his vicious attack from a rogue Springbok in Adelaide. https://t.co/LXJ1QqU1rk
— Dylan Jack (@dylmjack) August 28, 2022
