Wednesday, July 04, 2007
1995 RWC Battle of Boet Erasmus - South Africa vs Canada
The day the lights went out on Boet Erasmus stadium, both literally and figuratively. Prematch, there was a power failure in the stadium which delayed kickoff. This seemed to add to the tension on the field.
By the time the Springboks met Canada on the field in this pool game during the 1995 World Cup, tensions were already flaring. Talk before the game was that the Canadians don't normally stand back for anything.
It was a hard, physical match, which eventually boiled over with this now infamous series of events. The scuffle between Pieter Hendriks and Winston Stanley was under control until Kamakazi fullback Scott Stewart came flying in with a hit to the back of Hendriks' head. James Dalton, who unfortunately had quite a reputation in the past, came to his teamates aid, but seemed to spark things even more. A mass brawl ensued.
In the end, ref Dave McHugh and his assistants decided to send off Dalton, Gareth Rees and Rod Snow. Dalton was judged to have sparked things, even though he later swore that he put his arms up when he ran in to protect himself, nothing more. Gareth Rees was in the middle of the punchup. No idea why Rod Snow was sent off.
Both Pieter Hendriks and James Dalton were banned from the rest of the tournament, subsequently missing the Springboks' historic World Cup Final win against New Zealand.
The good news was that Chester Williams replaced Hendriks, going on to score a then record four tries against the Samoans and becoming a national hero.
Chief instigator Scott Stewart was never cited nor found guilty for his part in it all.
Note: Lookout for Hennie Le Roux's haymakers in the middle of it all. He was also lucky to get away with it.
Posted at 12:36 pm | 60 comments
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Posted in Big Hits & Dirty Play
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Viewing 60 comments
scissors July 04, 2007 3:47 pm
Hmmm... dirty move by Stewart, as well as SA's no. 11.Just kinda turns around and punches the nearest Canadian.
Peter July 04, 2007 8:57 pm
I think the Canadians were slightly confused about what sport they were playing..ice hockey or rugby?!You can even see a couple of Canucks employing the classic "pin one arm by grabbing your opponents shirt and punch with the other" tactic used by many a Hockey Enforcer.
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Ryan July 05, 2007 3:48 am
jeez look at the claret fly! good music for the video too
Ryan July 05, 2007 3:48 am
jeez look at the punches and claret fly! i knew the boks were tough, but who'd have thought the canucks would be willing to mix it up! good music too
Anonymous July 05, 2007 10:53 am
Wasn't that the '95 RWC? Weren't red cards given to referees then?
Anonymous July 06, 2007 9:51 am
must say i do like the SA number 11's cheeky little kick to the guy on the ground funny as!
Anonymous July 16, 2007 8:58 pm
hey peter shut up, i'm canadian and your just mad at the canadains standing up for themselvesincase you didnt notice the SA guy was grabbing the jersey to so dont even talkit was a punch up thats all, if it had of been the US or england there wouldnt have been a comment about hockey or the grabbingand atleast that shows they'll fight, not like the sneaky SA guy with the kick to the down playerand who got busted open? a SA playerand i post anonymously cause i dont have an account, my names chris if you wanna comment back
Anonymous July 19, 2007 11:40 am
Hey Anonymous,fk jo dom poes jul kani rugby speli!!!!! hahahaha
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Dan August 06, 2007 3:31 am
Us Canadians may never beat sa but at least we can keep up with fighting them.
Anonymous August 12, 2007 4:53 am
"Us Canadians may never beat sa but at least we can keep up with fighting them.."???That's the funniest thing I've heard today. What a goal to have. Dude, please don't have children, ok? Promise us you won't breed. Hahah.
Anonymous August 25, 2007 12:02 pm
i love canada. i think we've gottene into a big brawl in pretty much ervery sport we participate in. and even though peter's making fun of us i would challenge anybody to fight a canadian, on ice or off of it, and theyl see that we're tough as nails. We stand on guard for thee!
Anonymous September 04, 2007 2:54 am
wow you can get into a brawl to bad you suck at rugby
Anonymous September 04, 2007 5:18 pm
Well I must admit if SA knew that they were going to fight instead of play rugby that day, they would have probably just included two more fighters to beat the canadians up......Think about it, they wouldnt have just won the game, but most likely the fight as well....:)
Cheyanqu September 05, 2007 7:56 pm
Fighting to defend your mates is something core to Canadian sport.At times, it has cost the Canadians dearly, like in 1987: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ydbATVriqAHowever, I would call this events unfortunate rather than regrettable. Regrettable means that you would have not done the same. Unfortunate means that you'd prefer the incident not to repeat, but if it were, you would still take the same actions.In this case, (like 1987), the Canadians sacrificed the result on the scoreboard in order to protect their mates. It sucks to have to do that, but I admire the hell out of them for their willingness to do so.Unlike the South Africans, and their neighbors across the Great Lakes, Canadians rarely instigate cheap shots. however, they rarely back down from a cheap shot!
Anonymous September 16, 2007 4:26 am
I'm canadian and i'll gladly fight any bok. Obviously canada won't beat the boks their one of the best but we stood up roughing.
Anonymous October 21, 2007 2:03 pm
doesn't matter what you say. rugby or fighting, sa will always be on top
Anonymous November 04, 2007 5:27 pm
get any SA to strap on the skates vs a Canadian... see how they fair then. Lights out SA
Sean November 07, 2007 11:23 pm
Canuck fools. First it takes two of you to take on one little saffer wing (one of you coming from behind)and then like every disadvantaged social group, you scrummage in the ashes hoping to salvage some vindication in the fact that you were 'doing it for your country'. Typical little man syndrome. You will always be little brother to the States because there's a lot more to life than constantly trying to prove you're men... Oh BTW, that was 12 years ago... We have now won two world cups; who are the real men now, losers?
Anonymous November 09, 2007 11:21 pm
again....this is not Canada's sport. Good on ya for winning two world cups; it is your national sport right? Take a look at Canada's Olympic and world title records for thier national sport. No contest... tougher sport also. I encourage you to look at a few hockey hits...ohya and fighting is permitted. I guess thats why SA's player has a mangled face... oops.
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Chris November 23, 2007 1:40 am
all the SA lads are honestly just pissed we canadians stood up to the and took a round out of themno more talk of hockey please, nothing to do with itoh and to the guy who said hockey is harder, it isnt hahabut us canadians may not be the best team in the world, but at the end of the day, rugby is about the game, playing it and having fun, and if shits gonna go down between another player and ur buddy ur gonna stand up for him, it doesnt matter that it was SA it could have been anyone and us canadians would have stood up to them, there was even some little tuffles against the all blacks when canada played them, no big deal, it happensso any SA guys wanna continue this argument my email iswidebear_inc@hotmail.comemail me, we'll keep talking this over...unless ur a chicken?
Anonymous November 30, 2007 1:58 am
I played for Canada at the U21 level for rugby...I also played competitive hockey when i was younger. Toughness level is relatively close trust me. Try running out of bounds on the ice, try taking a stick, or puck to the face coming 100 miles an hour. People who dont agree are either not Canadian and have never played the game, or they are canadian and have never played at a high level. Butya i agree, enough of the hockey... just wanted to clarify how tough hockey actually is.
Anonymous January 06, 2008 12:03 am
South africans are tough i know this because they are the best in the world at the toughest sport so all i can say is good on the canadians for having the balls to mix it up with such a tough team and actually stand their ground. This game was when canada was actually atleast a moderatly tough team now theyre full of small quick players who just cant compare to the other small quick players in world rugby, If this happened recently canada wouldnt stand a chance.
Anonymous January 23, 2008 4:42 am
bahahahaaahahahaU CANADAINS!u have 2 get into a brawl so u guys get popular cuz u cant play rugby or by looks fight either lol
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elliot May 08, 2008 7:51 am
"Just kinda turns around and punches the nearest Canadian.By scissors, at July 04, 2007 5:47 PM"It's something I try to do at least once a day. ; )
Harry Oliver O'Neill May 08, 2008 5:13 pm
CANADA DO GET INTO A FEW SCRAPS. BUT THERE ARE NO DIRTY TEAMS IN RUGBY. OH AND RUGBY WAS MADE IN ENGLAND.
Sharky May 14, 2008 12:24 pm
Some really childish comments here. What's the point in arguing aboutA: who got the better of the other teamB: which is tougher between hockey & rugbyC: who's the tougher country??It's just a clip of an extremely physical match, and an incident that was embarassing for rugby, by BOTH teams. Don't come with this argumentative and patriotic sh*t. Unless you feel you have something to prove, but then that's just sad IMO.
Anonymous May 15, 2008 6:31 pm
No point arguing people, U both suck. Whos heard of a SA or canadian boxer? or any fighting sport for that matter? u two were the failure colonies, us brits wrote the book mate. we were writing books when u were settling wankers
Benson May 15, 2008 6:42 pm
Oh yeah Anon ^^, your boxing champion was a black man, I forgot.
Benson May 18, 2008 9:19 am
Exactly.. a black man with African roots originally if you want to get technical and political.'us brits wrote the book mate' - Well done man. You also invented most sports and have succeeded to be useless at them ever since. No wait, you did well in 1966 and 2003. That's about it. Congrats. (Not having a go at all brits here, just this Anonymous prick who doesn't even have the b*lls to give himself an identity)
Anonymous May 19, 2008 1:22 pm
sa are the world champions at rugby while canada can only claim to be better at fighting. grow up ur country is rubbish and has contributed effectivley nothing to global sport apart from showing us how to use icehockey tactics on a rugby field.
Anonymous May 19, 2008 11:06 pm
im canadian, and i think evryone should just drop the argument.yes both the teams are full of tough people(it's rugby) and obviously the south africans are the better team. now and then. long live rugby. (and hockey)also my uncle is openside(NO.7) for team canada
Anonymous May 26, 2008 1:12 am
this whole thing is stupid. the canadians just went out to fight and not play rugby cos they knew they had no chance of winning. hendrix may have pushed the guy into the advertising boards but this was the only scuffle in the match 'started' by the SA team. those canadians were dirty in those days. love canada love the bokke, guys just need to chill and leave everything on the field like true rugby players.
Anonymous June 26, 2008 6:21 pm
I don't think there is any point in arguing which team won. There is no clear winner. It looked to me like tempers just flaired resulting in an embarassing moment for the sport as well as the two teams.Don't get me wrong, I'm a Canadian; I support the Canadian team. But I don't think this clip is anything to be proud of.Al so to all you people ripping on Canada as a nation, get a life, Being good at one sport or another doesn't make a Country great.
Anonymous August 16, 2008 9:54 am
Hey the Brit that said SA and Canada were failure colonies, hey bru i'm and South African and i got Friends that are Canadians and both of us will moer you brit pieces of trash any day.
Anonymous October 09, 2008 12:35 am
"No point arguing people, U both suck. Whos heard of a SA or canadian boxer? or any fighting sport for that matter? u two were the failure colonies, us brits wrote the book mate. we were writing books when u were settling wankers"Take a look around the net there bud, Lennox Lewis - World Champion Boxer. George St.Pierre - World Champion UFC fighter
John Cabot, British November 14, 2008 6:28 pm
"african roots originally"so which of these are you Benson?First Nations, Inuit and Mtis?If not one of these then you are either of British or French origin so please don't talk to us about peoples original nationality!By the way Ice Hockey is a great game spoilt by idiots who think fighting is tough! Much tougher to take a hit and smile :)
Anonymous November 26, 2008 3:40 am
I don't think anyone can deny in 95' the boks and canucks both had hardass teams
Anonymous December 02, 2008 4:32 pm
""No point arguing people, U both suck. Whos heard of a SA or canadian boxer? or any fighting sport for that matter? u two were the failure colonies, us brits wrote the book mate. we were writing books when u were settling wankers"Take a look around the net there bud, Lennox Lewis - World Champion Boxer. George St.Pierre - World Champion UFC fighter"Another to add is George Chuvalo... never knocked off his feet once and took on muhammad Ali twice once as 12 round fight other a 15 rounderthis whole thing was a disgrace to rugby so no use arguing over whos tougher and whos a better rugby player.... clearly SA is better at rugby (this comming from a canadian) ... but we cant play year round and we're also not funded like other professionals.... i think we do damn well considering our conditions
Haydoh December 08, 2008 4:13 am
I would also like to say that Canada is on a short list of countries to make it to the Quarter-Finals of the world cup (1991 RWC). Considering that rugby is a very small sport in Canada that is a major accomplisement. I think that the world's bigger rugby nations should have more respect for minnows like Canada, because in Hockey we always respect the smaller nations.
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johnfitzgerald-npt June 23, 2009 8:21 pm
pieter hendricks the SA left winger was not even sent off in this game despite using his boot twice against Canadian players. He should have been banned for life.
Canadian Lock June 27, 2009 8:54 am
both Canadians and South Africans need to understand is all you should see is a rugby game that just got shit on by some good players that lost it
but to all the SA people out there that keep holding their awesomeness above our heads "WE GET IT" we are mediocre and your superstars, your replacements could come onto Canada and be a superstar and a starting canadian player might be a Spirngbok's replacement player if they're lucky
so in conclution to the SA's
1) there is such a thing as a sore winner (and guess what some of you are being right now)
2)you're number 2 now thanks to NZ so STFU about being number 1
and to canadians
1)out of 33 million people 21 thousand play rugby so more of canadains need to come out so we can at least beat those European B teams they send over here for the Churchill cup. (which we still lose to pretty badly sometimes)
in fact thats my new goal in life to be apart of the canadian team that either wins the churchill cup or is in the top ten in the world. any other canucks down.
but to all the SA people out there that keep holding their awesomeness above our heads "WE GET IT" we are mediocre and your superstars, your replacements could come onto Canada and be a superstar and a starting canadian player might be a Spirngbok's replacement player if they're lucky
so in conclution to the SA's
1) there is such a thing as a sore winner (and guess what some of you are being right now)
2)you're number 2 now thanks to NZ so STFU about being number 1
and to canadians
1)out of 33 million people 21 thousand play rugby so more of canadains need to come out so we can at least beat those European B teams they send over here for the Churchill cup. (which we still lose to pretty badly sometimes)
in fact thats my new goal in life to be apart of the canadian team that either wins the churchill cup or is in the top ten in the world. any other canucks down.
J Canuck July 17, 2009 7:03 am
Those who are on here arguing are just making themselves look stupid. This is not what the sport of rugby is about. The Springboks are consistently one of the top three rugby sides. Canada is a cold country and we're consistently good at winter sport. If you're on here arguing, you're not good at anything.
Anonymous August 04, 2009 6:41 pm
All this nonesense about whose tougher and comparisons with other sports,makes me question how many of these comments are made by actual rugby players. As this forum is the equivalent of the club house continued hostility off the pitch is not a characteristic of this great game. The punch up itself, was a complete lack of descipline on both sides, which again is the core of good rugby, but yet all true rugby players will know this! Respect to the Bokkes and Canucks.....
Anonymous October 10, 2009 6:11 pm
lol Winston Stanley is my coach haha
STOP PUNCHING MY COACH YOU SOUTH AFRICAN FUCKERS!
nah just playing that basterds running me ragged (I'll thank him for it when i can play a solid 80 minutes)
so like some french rugby player said once "if you can't take a punch go play table tennis" (I dont know where that came from it just felt like it fit into this particular situation)
STOP PUNCHING MY COACH YOU SOUTH AFRICAN FUCKERS!
nah just playing that basterds running me ragged (I'll thank him for it when i can play a solid 80 minutes)
so like some french rugby player said once "if you can't take a punch go play table tennis" (I dont know where that came from it just felt like it fit into this particular situation)
Erik Rolfsen December 11, 2009 9:53 pm
Not sure what Rod Snow did? Take a look at the South Africa No. 5 when it's over. That's what Rod Snow did.
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