Brendan Venter, the Saracens director of rugby, has been given a suspended four-week ban from match-day coaching as punishment for comments he made about a referee.
The South African was found guilty of “conduct prejudicial to the interests of the Union” by an RFU disciplinary panel last night and was today handed a ban that is suspended until December 31, 2010.
The RFU said Venter’s comments implied that Rose was improperly influenced at half-time of Saracens’ 22-15 Guinness Premiership defeat by Leicester Tigers at Vicarage Road on January 2. The former international will have to make a public apology to Rose and pay costs of £250.
The RFU decision read: “Brendan Venter was found guilty of an amended charge in relation to his post-match comments after Saracens had lost against Leicester Tigers.
“He, whilst taking part in a BBC interview, implied criticism of the match referee by stating that he believed the referee had been influenced at half-time without any further explanation so that a listener might conclude the influence had been improper.”
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Venter pointed to a heavy turnaround in the number of penalties given to Leicester in the second half as evidence for his claim. “I think the referee was influenced at half-time, and that’s all I can think,” he said during the interview. “All I know is something happened at half-time, the game changed.”
During Premiership games, sides are allowed to submit “Half-Time Referee Communication” cards to the fourth official, which are brought to the attention of the referee.
But the panel’s ruling stated: “David Rose said he was not aware of any such communication from either side at half-time in this match. He said that during half-time the match officials agreed that he needed to be sharper at the breakdown and ensure chasing players were not in front of the kicker.”
However, the RFU “accepted that Venter did not intend to attack the integrity of the referee and he specifically said later in the interview that he did not believe that referees operating in the Premiership were dishonest”.