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Rugby League

Kiwis shocked by Burgess let-off

30/10/2007

New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) chairman Andrew Chalmers has said he was left "gobsmacked" by the decision to clear Sam Burgess for the second Test.

The Great Britain prop, 18, was put on report by match referee Tony Archer after an alleged high tackle on Kiwis front row Fuifui Moimoi in the first Test last Saturday, which the Lions won 20-14.

A three-man video panel reviewed the evidence yesterday before deciding Burgess, playing in his first full international, had no case to answer and was free to play in the next match against the touring New Zealanders this weekend.

But Chalmers, who was also angered after Adrian Morley escaped censure for a similar incident in the Northern Union versus New Zealand All Golds centenary match two weeks ago, hit out at the Rugby Football League (RFL) procedures, saying they were operating double standards.

"It's deja vu," he said. "It was an appalling set-up job to let Morley free last week and this one just leaves me gobsmacked.

"Great Britain coach Tony Smith invited us to send someone with some weight to future hearings and we took his advice but we were still carved up faster than a pork roast at a hangi.

"There is absolutely nothing equitable about the system the RFL has in place. They have two sets of rules - one to suit them and one for dealing with us."

The NZRL representative on the panel, board member and former referee Neville Kesha, voted for disciplinary action against Burgess and against Morley when he sat on the panel last week.

But he was out-voted 2-1 and Chalmers said the decision had left him angry at a system that appeared to be working against his team.

"These people show a flagrant disregard for their own rules or they just simply opt to use them or discard them as and when it suits them," he continued.

"With this current system in place the numbers will always be stacked against us Kiwis. They seem intent on treating us like a bunch of natives from the colonies."

The second Test between Great Britain and New Zealand takes place at Hull's KC Stadium on Saturday, and the current dispute is sure to add some extra spice to the already highly-anticipated fixture.