Tony Veitch: Wallabies told to put up or shut up

Owen Franks courted controversy during the All Blacks' win over the Wallabies. Photo / Brett Phibbs

I am sorry to bring up the Owen Franks incident again, in a week when rugby has been plagued by major issues, but I was left dumbfounded after learning how the whole non-citing process played out.

It's understood the citing commissioner approached the Wallabies not once but three times to ask if they wanted to lodge an official complaint. On all three occasions, they said no. So while the world cried foul, Brian O'Driscoll let rip on Twitter, Stephen Jones, that great All Blacks fan, claimed foreign players now risked "physical danger" coming to New Zealand, those who should be most incensed aren't. Confused? You bet.

Remember, Australia coach Michael Chieka felt Franks had a case to answer immediately after the test as he launched into the officiating during that match.

It just gets better. From my understanding, Sanzaar have now informed Cheika that if he points the finger publicly, he better be prepared to back it up. Why would he not tell his management team to green light the citing process if he believed Kane Douglas had been eye-gouged?

That is not to say the citing commissioner is without major fault, either. When he decided not to cite Franks, he did so because the broadcast angle was not damning and because the Aussies did not pursue it. But that did not have to be the end of it. He still had ample time and opportunity to revisit the incident once new angles and footage came to light.

It would have been sensible to let a judicial panel deal with the incident. Instead, mud-slinging and accusations the All Blacks get preferential treatment followed.

The moral to this story: the judicial process is flawed and the Wallabies are a confusing bunch. It's little wonder, then, that earlier this week Andrew Hore, the Kiwi in charge of the Waratahs, called for an overhaul of Sanzaar's judicial process. He urges greater transparency to ensure corruption never becomes an issue with the sport. Sounds sensible to me.

The arrogant Kiwi rugby fan

Sometimes you just can't win. Welcome to the world of the New Zealand rugby fan: arrogant, entitled, patronising.

Now come accusations of 'institutionalised hostility' towards any Lions team which dares tour our fine shores. Really? Every man, woman and child is out to get them, according to Andy Robinson, who was part of the Lions management team in 2005.

I toured the country and went to every venue, every town. It was awesome. The Lions fans, apart from when they almost froze to death during the first test in Christchurch, were gold.

If anything, they taught uptight All Blacks fans to relax a little. We learned to sing, and the banter was brilliant. I wish Kiwi fans could be more like that, more often. Animosity, nastiness...I saw none of that.

Sure, we had every right to be happy. The All Blacks owned Clive Woodward's side - Dan Carter did that all by himself in the second test in Wellington.

Yes, there are occasions when Kiwi fans can be accused of becoming high and mighty, but not when it comes to the Lions. This is one of the great sporting occasions for this country and, at a time when we are lamenting the decline of our traditional rugby rivals, the Lions tour can't come soon enough.

I just hope the tour does not descend into a nasty media battle, North v South, about the Brian O'Driscoll tip-tackle or continuing chat that the All Blacks are a privileged bunch when it comes to citing commissioners the world over.

Never too much McCaw

A new term was put to me this week: I'm 'McCawed out'. It's not the greatest English term but the point was this: Chasing Great, the story of his life, was one step too far. The red carpet, the media interviews, the childhood videos of a boy who would become a great . . . too much? No way.

It came as no surprise to see the box office numbers this week. Richie is smashing it. Yeah, I get that some will say Richie is not one of the most engaging talkers of all time, but this is bigger picture stuff.

I was chatting with a parent who took a posse of kids to see the film. In her words, they were spellbound - a Kiwi bloke combining school and sport, and nailing both. What more inspirational message could you give our kids? So while some may have reservations about this biopic, people should take Chasing Great for what it is: an aspirational story Kiwis should be proud of. It may not make your most-loved movies list of all time, but does take viewers inside the rarefied world few of us get to see or experience, the All Blacks inner sanctum. That alone is pretty cool.

The biggest letdown in sport

I used to think that tag was owned entirely by former Fifa president Sepp Blatter, who for years ignored systemic corruption. But now we may have a new contender for sport's biggest loser. His name: Thomas Bach. His title: IOC president.

This is a bloke who came into the role with grand plans to modernise the Olympics and usher in a new era of transparency. Instead, Bach has proven a dismal failure. Here was the man who allowed some Russian athletes to compete in Rio, in stark contrast to the Paralympic Committee and the Court of Arbitration for Sport who could see no way of ignoring Russia's state sponsored doping.

Then Bach, as his parting shot at the close of the Rio Games, said the safety of the Russian whistleblowers who are being targeted and tracked by Russian officials, was not the concern of the IOC.

What a great guy. If that wasn't enough, news came this week that Bach would not be attending the Paralympics. Not one day, one session. The excuse? "Long-standing" commitments. Absolute joke.

We are now left asking serious questions about another global sporting chief. While Rio can feel proud of pulling off a Games it should never have been awarded, there is nothing Thomas Bach should feel proud about.