Bulls refuse to apologise for gouging claims

South Africa's Bulls are refusing to apologize for making allegations of eye-gouging against the Canterbury Crusaders despite a citing commissioner ruling there was no evidence to support the claims. Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder wanted an apology after an investigation by a SANZAR citing commissioner found no video footage existed to support the allegations made by Bulls forwards Cilliboy Ralepelle and Flip van der Merwe. SANZAR chief executive Greg Peters said a study of all footage the review included camera angles not available to television viewers. In a statement today, the Pretoria-based Bulls said they had no intention of offering an apology. "For (the Crusaders) to suggest we must now apologize just because there is no video evidence available would mean we have lied," Bulls high-performance and media manager Ian Schwarz said. "It is ridiculous to suggest that every time there is a citing and there is not enough evidence, the other team should apologize. "It is a pity they have raised the matter through the media, as our doors of communication with them have always been open for a direct approach. We could have followed the official and appropriate channels." Schwarz said the Bulls had acted correctly once its players had reported what they believed were eye-gouging attempts. "The rules are clear and we applied them 100 per cent correctly," he said. "We had the right to raise the matter with the referee and we accept the fact that there was no video evidence. "I just want to say that our players' integrity is just as important to us as the Crusaders' players' integrity is to them. I feel the players will not make unfounded accusations." The allegations after Saturday's match at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria have raised concerns that the so-called "white card" system introduced by SANZAR this season may be subject to abuse. Instead of acting immediately to send a player off, referees who're unsure of what happened in a particular incident have the option of using a white card to indicate it should be scrutinized later by a citing commissioner. Blackadder warned the system could be used by teams to involve opponents in time-consuming and distracting disciplinary cases. In dismissing the Bulls' complaint, SANZAR CEO Peters said "the citing commissioner also found it interesting that the Bulls did not follow through with a complaint within the four hour window after the game."