So you think South Africans are rugby's biggest thugs? Well, think again...
As that well-worn maxim goes: There are three kinds of lies – lies, damned lies, and statistics. However, statistics are also a very handy tool to separate fact from fiction and rugby365.com have used numbers to try and identify who rugby’s biggest ‘thugs’ really are.
South Africans have a generally bad reputation (and at times some players are and were rather brutal), but a close look at red and yellow card statistics leaves you realising that perception is perhaps flawed.
Let’s take the legend that is Bakkies Botha. A quick google search for ‘biggest thugs’ will have him listed in the top three with an array of accompanying videos to suggest that he is the dirtiest player ever to set foot on the field. However, that is a classic case of ‘perception’ being flawed.
Botha is truly a giant of the game. However, not once in the 85 Test matches he played was he red-carded. Despite the odd ban – after being cited – his record is far more vestal that most of his peers. In fact, Botha comes nowhere near the top ten of the biggest ‘thugs’ in international rugby.
Then there is the bad rap that another hard man Schalk Burger got for the physical nature of his game. He also has no red cards on his record. He does have six yellow cards – one for eye-gouging. But does that make him the game’s biggest thug? Not even close.
Using a formula where a red card is worth five points and a yellow card worth two points, it can be calculated who the top ten ‘thugs’ in the game are. Based on this formula of red and yellow cards earned in international rugby, retired Georgian back row forward Vito Kolelishvili ranks the worst.
He was red-carded just once in his 50 Tests but yellow-carded eight times, earning him 21 ‘thug’ points. Kolelishvili just edges Argentine bad-boy Tomas Lavanini – two red cards and five yellow cards in 56 Tests – 20 points.
A very close third is Italian hardman Marco Bortolami – one red and seven yellow cards in 112 Tests for 19 points. Surprisingly, the South African placed highest in the top ten is someone you would least expect, legendary wing and record-breaking try-scorer Bryan Habana. He collected seven yellow cards in 124 Tests – mostly for cynical fouls, nothing nasty. His 14 ‘thug’ points place him in joint seventh place.
"The games I remembered best were out in France… the more hostile and physical the more I liked it”
– Julian White takes @OwainJTJones on a rollicking recall of a white-knuckle-ride career that culminated in legendary Leicester and England status ???https://t.co/HNLWX1puac
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 7, 2020
Another interesting name is Wallaby captain Michael Hooper, who sits in joint fifth place with eight yellow cards, 16 points. Burger and ten other players sit joint ninth on this list, all on 12 points.
If you look at some of the domestic competitions, a very different and interesting picture emerges. The English Premiership has some really bad boys at the top of their list. The most red cards in the Premiership belong to England prop Julian White – five in 164 games.
He is beaten into a distant second place at the top of the Premiership ‘thug’ list by David Paice, the hooker collecting three red cards and 18 yellow cards in his 203 matches for 51 thug points. White, with seven yellow cards to go with his five red cards, manages 39 points. England utility forward Gareth Archer comes in third, two reds and 14 yellow for 28 points in 121 points.
Super Rugby also has a runaway winner. All Black Ma’a Nonu is well clear with his two red cards and eight yellow cards in his 89 Super Rugby matches for 26 points. Bismarck du Plessis probably earned most of his bad rap in Super Rugby, sharing second place with fellow South African Deon Stegmann, with one red card and five yellow cards for 15 points.
Jean Deysel and James Horwill are the only Super Rugby players other than Nonu to have earned more than one red card. Both collected two reds and two yellow cards for 14 points.
TEST RUGBY’S MOST CARDED PLAYERS
Vito Kolelishvili (Georgia): 1 red, 8 yellow – 21pts
Tomas Lavanini (Argentina): 2 red, 5 yellow – 20pts
Marco Bortolami (Italy): 1 red, 7 yellow – 19pts
Paul Emerick (USA): 2 red, 3 yellow – 18pts
Mario Cagnani (Uruguay): 2 red, 3 yellow – 16pts
Michael Hooper (Australia): 0 red, 8 yellow – 16pts
Jamie Cudmore (Canada): 0 red, 7 yellow – 14pts
Bryan Habana (South Africa): 0 red, 7 yellow – 14pts
PREMIERSHIP RUGBY’S MOST CARDED PLAYERS
David Paice: 3 red, 18 yellow – 51pts
Julian White: five red, 7 yellow – 39pts
Gareth Archer: 2 red, 14 yellow – 38pts
Chris Hala’ufia: 2 red, 12 yellow – 34pts
Joe Marler: 2 red, 12 yellow – 34pts
SUPER RUGBY’S MOST CARDED PLAYERS
Ma’a Nonu: 2 red, 8 yellow – 26pts
Bismark du Plessis: 1 red, 5 yellow – 26pts
Deon Stegmann: 1 red, five yellow – 15pts
Jean Deysel: 2 red, two yellows – 14pts
James Horwill: 2 red, two yellow – 14pts
Comments on RugbyPass
Did the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
1 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
4 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
16 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
16 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
4 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
3 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
16 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
16 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
39 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to comments