Jon Swift
IN A week of momentous change for world rugby, the=20 opening of the professional gates by the greybeards of=20 the International Rugby Board has been overshadowed by=20 the concussion of Chester Williams in a tackle on James=20 Small, and the subsequent two-step across the stricken=20 winger’s back.
It cost Williams his place in the No 11 jersey against=20 Wales this Saturday and has embroiled Small in yet=20 another controversy in an already stormy career. This=20 is a loss in any language.
But there is one thing that must be made crystal clear=20 in the Small-Williams furore … neither player is=20 chosen for any other reasons than fire, aggression and=20 a determination to get the ball.
Simply put, both Small and Williams are there to fill=20 out a rugby jersey, not wear a dress.
The Western Province-fuelled witch-hunt over Small’s=20 trampling of the helpless and concussed Williams has,=20 one would suspect, been taken out of the context of the=20 play which led to the incident and been blown out of=20 all proportion.
It has to be noted that the Williams tackle on Small,=20 as he went up to take a high kick ahead in the gusty=20 conditions at Durban’s King’s Park, was an illegal one.=20 The man going up for the ball cannot be taken in the=20 air. That Williams collided with the airborne Small’s=20 knee is something not at issue. What is under the=20 microscope, though, are the studs that went into=20 Williams’ back as he lay stunned.
First it must be pointed out that Small was under=20 pressure near the Natal line in an extremely tight and=20 tense match, and held by several Western Province=20 players following Williams up. It was his duty to hold=20 onto the ball and keep it off the ground.
Small explains the incident best. “I almost stumbled=20 over what I believed to be a Western Province player=20 trying to take my legs from under me,” is the way he=20 offers clarification.
“I pumped my legs in order to keep my balance and there=20 was no malice in my intentions. The thought that it may=20 have been Chester never crossed my mind. I didn’t even=20 look down.”
It is a frank and wholly believable summation of the=20 incident. Referee Tappe Henning saw the tramping=20 somewhat differently and penalised Small. It was an on- field decision which saved Small from being cited after=20 the match. If he had felt more strongly, Small would=20 surely have been sent off.
Tragic as the loss of Williams is to the Test side, one=20 cannot but feel that Small does not deserve the type of=20 clamour for sanction against him. Curbing Small’s=20 commitment could only detract from the world-class=20 attributes of the player.