Gary Gold has been sanctioned by the Super Rugby governing body for two counts of misconduct after this morning’s hearing.
The full verdict is below.
A SANZAAR Judicial Hearing conducted by Nigel Hampton QC (New Zealand) has found the Sharks Head Coach, Gary Gold, guilty of Misconduct under the SANZAAR Code of Conduct following the Sharks v Crusaders match on 26 March 2016.
Mr Gold admitted a charge of Misconduct, which also involved two breaches of the Super Rugby Competition Rules, by engaging with the Television Match Official (TMO) during the second half of the match.
In his finding Mr Hampton QC concluded that, by his own admission, Mr Gold had approached the TMO on two separate occasions (65th and 71st minutes) and had used crude and insulting language toward the Match Official.
It was found that, by his actions, Mr Gold had clearly breached Super Rugby Competition Rule 3.8 (7) “That no person may engage, or attempt to engage with a TMO during a Match in relation to the TMOs officiating in the Match.”
Mr Hampton also found that Mr Gold’s actions had breached the SANZAAR Code of Conduct Section 8.3 (l) which states: “All persons shall not use crude, insulting or abusive language towards Match Officials.”
Mr Hampton confirmed that Mr Gold should be fined A$5000 for each of the two breaches of Rule 3.8 (7) as permitted under competition rules (a total of A$10,000) and a further A$5000 for the SANZAAR Code of Conduct breach, of which A$2500 is to be suspended for a 12 month period.
Mr Gold was formally reprimanded, issued with a warning as to the likely consequences of further unacceptable behavior, and told that any further Code of Conduct breach within 12 months would result in the suspended A$2500 becoming immediately payable. He was also ordered to pay SANZAAR’s costs of A$1000.
Mr Gold has unreservedly apologised for his behavior to the TMO, Mr Johan Greeff, and agreed that this type of behaviour has no place in the game.
The Judicial Officer directed that, save for the SANZAAR Chief Executive Officer responding to the media in terms consistent with this media release, no person involved in the proceedings will make any further comment in respect of this matter.

Im starting to like this guy..
pretty costly with current exchange
What does it say about HIS character. ….
I’m sure all of us have wanted to give Greeff an earful before. Still not very professional from Gold, though.
From the archives, Greef, van Heerden and The Sharks http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/Super15/Greeff-back-in-TMO-booth-for-Bulls-20150304
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 5) : and one more http://www.sarugbymag.co.za/blog/details/greeff-to-tmo-bloem-clash
@#^% 0
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 4) : watch this and see if you still blame Gold
http://m.sarugbymag.co.za/?postslug=/blog/details/jesse-kriels-pass-to-francois-hougaard#/jesse-kriels-pass-to-francois-hougaard
Geez a bit expensive words!!! Quickly calculated at OZ$1-R11.30 it calculates to R152 550.00!!!
In 2015 he looked for and found a reason to award. Last week he looked for and found a reason to disallow. It must be extremely frustrating for a coach when you know a corrupt official is just waiting to nail you
Probably good reason for the coach to keep his emotions in check.
At R11.00 to the Oz $, this sure isn’t the “cuss jar”. Am I correct in understanding that he has to pay $8500.00 ($7500 + $1000 sanzaaaaaar fees)?
Nearly R90K 😯
@FireTheLooser (Comment 10) : Correction: A$8500 = R96230.71….eina
@FireTheLooser (Comment 10) : nope OZ$5000 x 2 (twice entered TMO booth) + OZ$2500 (use of crude language with another OZ$2500 suspended for 12 months) + OZ$1000 (legal fees).
About R150 000-00.
@West Indies Cricket Board (Comment 9) : It would have been funny if it didn’t happen to our team…that pass from Kriel,apparently there was not enough evidence to rule the pass forward,but with willie he was more than haply to judge him clearly in front of the kicker…maybe my tv just isn’t hd enough to spot whvlat Greeff can so clearly see!
@West Indies Cricket Board (Comment 9) : would not use corrupt would rather call them inept or useless!
@HeinF (Comment 13) : maybe it’s in his glasses!!!
My gut reaction? It was worth every cent…
If I wasn’t trying really hard to stick to the rules of this site I would have a few things to say about Match Official Greeff…good greeff!!
@JD (Comment 12) : You’re right….that’s really stiff.
Now Gold knows, if you want to vloek the tmo, wait till after the game….or better yet, just klap him in the parking lot….SA judicial system will be far less harsh than sanzaaaaaaajaajaaapnar.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 18) :
@FireTheLooser (Comment 18) :
Just ask Kyle to go and thank the TMO on behalf of the Sharks team and management.
@JD (Comment 15) : You think he would appreciate the humour if we send him a lense cleaning kit?
@pastorshark (Comment 16) : I also like the fact Gold did this. I know it is a bit unprofessional, but at least I now get an idea how much the sharks winning means to Gold. Not that I though he didn’t care, but this shows how personally he takes it when he feels that the team was robbed by some “questionable” reffing!
@HeinF (Comment 21) : must agree with the passion part as for idiot don’t think he will get the hint!!
@FireTheLooser (Comment 18) : if I can get a sponsor to pay the fines I’m also willing to tell the TMO what we think of his calls!
GO GARY! Using expletives to refer to the TMO’s dull witted nature is not insulting if it’s true. Then it’s merely a statement of fact. If anything Gary should be accused of belabouring the obvious.
@YamYam (Comment 3) : That it’s awesome and getting better by the minute!
@nortie (Comment 20) : Sheesh, forgot about his story…so much action at KP the past week. (Yeah KP, reminds me of another fellar known for making waves….coincidence? I think not :))
@FireTheLooser (Comment 26) :
😆
I don’t believe in coincidences, and if you reverse KP you get PK, which fits in quite well with what goes down in the Bluff in the wee hours of the morning.
@West Indies Cricket Board (Comment 7) : I know exactly who the plonker is, hence the first part of my comment. People like Greeff should be banned from officiating in ANY sport, because he seems incapable of learning from his previous bugger ups.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 26) : is his initials by any chance LvB? If it is I hope he does not follow to closely in his footsteps!
@JD (Comment 29) : no, he’s referring to Kevin Pietersen 🙂
But ha, old Lukas was something else.
Why the hell was the impi docked 12 points?
@Dragnipur (Comment 31) : Read on another report Impi “ineligible player throughout the competition”. No mention on who it was or the situation but I hope more of this comes to light. Gutted for Impi.
@Dragnipur (Comment 31) : @Hulk (Comment 32) : Benedict wrote a pretty insightful article on how it went down: http://www.ruggaworld.com/2016/04/06/ukzn-varsity-cup-chance-vanishes-fair-or-foul/
The whole affair (especially in terms of timing) seems suspect.
Seen this happen before with Cheeka and what happened he won the super rugby title
@vanmartin (Comment 33) : Can’t imagine uwc posing much threat to UCT…especially after 1 week of believing their season is over -binge eating and binge drinking to celebrate the season being over.
@Hulk (Comment 32) : @vanmartin (Comment 33) : I know the eligibility rules can be a bit tricky but this is really unacceptable from UKZN. They deserve their Varsity Shield status now…no excuses
@HeinF (Comment 21) : was thinking the exact same thing as well. At least he is starting to show that he takes this job seriously.
@SheldonK (Comment 36) : A few things worth thinking about though:
1. KPMG signed off on the eligibility
2. It seems someone went digging for an excuse
3. I reckon if you go digging for a reason to find issues with a team, you’d probably find something on all teams.
4. The timing really smells
That’s not meant to convince you of anything, just food for thought. Maybe UKZN are still to blame in the end.
@vanmartin (Comment 38) : Definitely food for thought. The KPMG sign off seems a bit dodgey as if they signed off their shouldnt be any recourse. The again were they given accurate information by UKZN?
@SheldonK (Comment 39) : If KPMG only relied on info supplied to them by UKZN or it’s players they should give up and rethink their path as a company. At that point they’re not really auditing but merely rubber-stamping.
That said though, I wouldn’t put it past any of the big auditing firms to try and only do the bare minimum so maybe you do have a point.
@vanmartin (Comment 40) : This all sounds a bit dodgey to be honest. If KPMG did in fact sign it off then there shouldnt be any chance that UKZN points deducted as the comps independent auditors have signed it off. So if it was done incorrectly then UKZN should sue KPMG.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 35) :
Dude, you just described an average week down in Bellville South, well, maybe not so much binge eating
For those that have the pleasure of listening to 947 Highveld, The breakfast team had a good laugh speculating what Gold spent R150k saying to the TMO.
Most agreed that Gold at the very least had to insult his Mom in one of the following ways:
Your mom is like a library, always open to the public.
Your mom is so ugly, even Bill Cosby would decline.
Your mom is so dirty, she brings the crabs to the beach.
I must say, I had a good chuckle..
@robdylan (Comment 30) : OK did not pick it up but now it make sense! Great player but no people skills!
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 43) : hahaha ja think we all would like to know that costly words!!!
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 43) : i reckon Gold had a go at the TMO because he was watching a series on the tv instead of the game…
@SheldonK (Comment 46) : maybe Sharks can sponsor a PVR then he can record the game to watch later! ;-P
@JD (Comment 47) : Or at least a DSTV walka so he can watch both 🙂
@SheldonK (Comment 48) : that would require him to multitask and I’m not sure he will be able to handle the pressure! ;-P
@JD (Comment 49) : That is a very good point…