South Africa will be without lock Bakkies Botha for the third Test against the British and Irish Lions here on Saturday after his appeal against a two-week ban for a dangerous charge was rejected.
Botha was cited for the second-half charge on Adam Jones in the second Test last weekend that left the Welsh prop needing corrective surgery to right a dislocated shoulder.
Jones has since left the tour to seek further treatment with his club Ospreys.
The Springbok coaching staff have insisted that they saw nothing untoward in Botha's charge, arguing he had merely been clearing a ruck.
His place for the third Test was taken by Sharks captain Johann Muller with the uncapped Steven Sykes coming onto the bench.
Botha's equally abrasive team-mate Schalk Burger will also miss the Ellis Park game after being banned for eight weeks for eye-gouging Lions winger Luke Fitzgerald in the second Test.
The Springboks decided they were not going to appeal that ban and Burger, the IRB Player of the Year in 2004, left the camp immediately.
The flanker will miss the Springboks' first three games in the Tri-Nations - unlike Botha, who is ruled out until July 11 and so available for South Africa's opener against New Zealand in Bloemfontein on July 25.
Returning to play on August 23, Burger could however feature in the final three games of the round-robin tournament between the Boks, Australia and New Zealand.
Springbok assistant coach Dick Muir was adamant earlier this week that Botha's charge on Jones had not been malicious.
"We don't see any wrong-doing in that challenge," Muir said. "There were lots of other incidents that were possibly tougher and possibly should have been cited.
"But because there were no injuries there was no reaction.
"It's really disappointing for us. There was no reason for him (Botha) to be cited. We're concerned if we're not allowed to clean out properly."
Burger's eye-gouging brought widespread criticism and an IRB statement vowing to crack down on what it dubbed the "particularly heinous" act after Bok head coach Peter de Villiers refused to condemn Burger's actions after Saturday's game.
After then telling the Lions to buy a tutu and take up ballet if they could not cope with the physicality of rugby, De Villiers was forced into issuing a grovelling apology.
But Lions winger Shane Williams said Thursday that the issue was dead and buried as far as his team-mates were concerned and there would be no bad blood going into the Test match.
"I know Schalk personally. He's a hard player but he's not a malicious player," Williams said. "It's all finished. We've got another game to play.
"There's no point bitching about players in the press. It's unfortunate but these things happen in rugby."
Copyright 2009 AFP Global Edition
