New Zealand hooker Kevin Mealamu was banned for just 4 weeks for head-butting Lewis Moody while he was lying face down on the floor. TV coverage clearly shows Mealamu grabbing Moody’s jersey and driving into the back of Moody’s head with his own.
The citing committee said that Mealamu avoided an 8 week ban due to his exemplary record. Short memories. This is the player who, in conjunction with Tana Umunga, cynically spear-tackled Brian O’Driscoll in the first British Lions test in 2005 and ended O’Driscoll’s tour before it had even started.
All Blacks assistant coach Steve Hansen, who formed part of Mealamu’s defence team was sycophantic in his defence. He said:
“Everyone knows it’s not in his nature to do that and everyone knows if Kevvy says he didn’t do it, he didn’t do it. We are defending a guy whose character has been questioned when it shouldn’t be. He is a one-off special person. He hasn’t got a dirty bone in his body.”
In a similar incident to the one on Saturday Bakkies Botha was handed a nine week ban for his head-butt on Jimmy Cowan in the Tri Nations. So why only 4 weeks for Mealamu?.. Another case of ‘one rule for the Kwis, another for everyone else’? Surely not!
An interesting aspect of this incident is the way that the commentators from the two countries had such different reactions. The English commentators naturally expressed what they saw, while there was deathly silence in the New Zealand commentary box!
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