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Venter hit by fine for outburst

Brendan Venter has been fined by ERC © Getty Images

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Saracens director of rugby Brendan Venter has been fined €25,000 after being found guilty of misconduct by an ERC disciplinary hearing in Dublin.

Venter was fined for comments made in the wake of Sarries' Henineken Cup loss to Leinster at Wembley, having warned the IRB that the game would be 'killed stone dead' unless referees were made to respect recent changes at the breakdown.

The former Springbok pleaded not guilty to the charge but was found to have been 'inappropriately critical of ERC, the tournament, the match officials and the sport of rugby union'. Nevertheless, €15,000 of the fine has been suspended until June 30, 2012 and will be payable only if Venter is found guilty of further acts of misconduct prior to that date.

Venter's criticism was widely reported and continued a difficult relationship with the sport's governing bodies following his censure by the RFU towards the end of the 2009-10 season and he has now been advised that such points should be raised via the proper channels.

"Before the Heineken Cup began, I asked if we would have a conference so all the officials from abroad were in tune as to the new interpretations of the laws," he said. "Instead, we got some European referees in the Premiership, but there is a real danger that if we don't take action going into a World Cup year, the game of rugby is going to die, be killed stone dead because the public won't come to watch.

"We will end up playing one type of rugby in the league, another in Europe and when you get to the World Cup, wait and see which referee you get. Last season we won 10 games in a row playing a kicking game, a horrible game to watch, but necessary because the breakdown regulations favoured defending teams. I may consider returning to that in Europe because there is no system in place to complain about these problems, and that makes it a flawed competition."

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