Former Ireland captain Rory Best hits out at Bundee Aki following ban
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Not impressed.
Former Ireland captain Rory Best has weighed in on Bundee Aki’s suspension, and he is not impressed with his former teammate.
Aki was handed a four-game ban for abusing a match official following Connacht’s defeat to rivals Leinster at the official opening of the Dexcom stadium last weekend.
In confirming the sanction, the disciplinary panel said it recognised Aki’s “full regret for his actions and was grateful for the approach he took towards the proceedings.”
“However, given the player’s previous disciplinary record (including incidents of a similar nature) and his lack of a plea in this case, the Independent Committee could not apply mitigation to the sanction.”
Best has criticised Aki for his actions and has called for more respect to be shown to match officials.
“You can’t do that [disrespect a referee],” Best told the BBC.
“I’m a big fan of Bundee as a player and a person, but when you’re talking about refereeing, they’re definitely a lot more under the spotlight because it’s not just how they control the game now, it’s how fast the game flows.
“If the game doesn’t last 90 minutes-ish, it’s the referee’s fault; if they go to the TMO too often, it’s their fault. Things are happening in a split-second, so there’s a lot of spotlight on them.”
“Part of the values of the game and what makes rugby stand out above all other sports is that respect to the referee so if we’re going to let that go, that’s one part of our game, our history and future, that’s broken away and then we can’t stand on the soapbox that we love to stand on and go ‘well, that wouldn’t happen in a rugby match’.
“If we’re going to let it happen, it will. I get as frustrated as anyone with refereeing decisions, but they’re humans trying to make the best decisions they can, and there’s so much spotlight, it’s a really tricky position.
“The bottom line is from the values of the game, we need to protect them, but without them you can’t have the game either.”
