Springboks captain Siya Kolisi has come out to bat for his club and Test teammate Jaden Hendrikse after the scrum-half’s actions in the United Rugby Championship (URC) quarter-final.
Hendrikse stole the spotlight during the penalty shootout between the Sharks and Munster in Durban when he went down with cramp after taking his second shot at goal.
The scrum-half was seen exchanging words with Jack Crowley during the kicking competition and sparked outrage when he winked at the Munster fly-half while receiving treatment.
Many onlookers believe that it was all a gamesmanship ploy to put the Irish international off and accused him of cheating by feigning an injury.
“We stand with Jaden”
If so, it did not work on the playmaker who duly stepped up after the delay to bisect the posts. However, his kick mattered little as Rory Scanell’s earlier missed attempt meant Munster lost the penalty shout out 6-4 with Bradley Davids slotting the winner for the hosts after the two sides were deadlocked at 24-all after extra-time
Leinster boss Jacques Nienaber has since defended Hendrikse’s actions and pointed to Ireland being ‘masters’ of sledging when he was quizzed about the events that unfolded in Durban ahead of his side’s clash against Glasgow Warriors in Dublin this week.
And Kolisi has followed suit and states that the Sharks team are fully behind their scrum-half.
“We stand with Jaden, he is competitive. There has been banter everywhere in the game. We’ve seen it from players from all over the world,” Kolisi told reporters ahead of the Sharks’ semi-final clash with the Bulls.
“There is always a big thing about it but it’s normal. These things happen.
“And people can say what they like. It’s banter between two players, and that’s all it is. And that’s what Jaden is.
“From our side, he knows we’re backing him all the way.”
Commenting on the accusations that Hendrikse faked the cramp after slotting his kick, Kolisi continued: “He cramped, you can see he was definitely cramping.
“I get people saying stuff to me in the game, I don’t moan about it. We just carry on, or you react however you want to react. It is what it is.
“We are supporting him, we stand with Jaden.”
Kolisi’s plea
Seemingly referencing the spat between Johnny Sexton and Rieko Ioane at the Rugby World Cup and/or Brodie Retallick’s sledge to Peter O’Mahony, Kolisi added: “You’ve seen the ones that happened during the World Cup and some guys who were on the field there have also done it to other people.
“Let’s get over it, it’s rugby, it’s entertainment. That’s what people want.
“They are going to go see the next game because they think things like this happen. Guys want to celebrate. Let people be themselves.
“We’ve all got our own ways of dealing with stuff on the field. Come on, we can’t box each other in, and we can’t all be the same, we are not robots, we are human beings.
“We express how we want to express, sometimes you are going to take it, and sometimes you are going to give it.”
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/we-stand-with-jaden-siya-kolisi-breaks-sharks-silence-on-hendrikses-wink-gate
