Ireland whinge, Boks 'ridiculed' Tuesday, December 01, 2009 (06:18:28) The tense relationship between the Ireland and South African rugby teams were dealt another blow last night with Ireland complaining about the citing claim that was laid against number eight Jamie Heaslip. The Irish Independent also claimed that 'South African rugby's international reputation was further ridiculed' following a statement from the IRFU last night. The Springboks reported a claim of eye-gouging against Irish No 8 Jamie Heaslip for putting his fingers in the eye of flanker Heinrich Brussow to citing commissioner Douglas Hunter. The citing commissioner could not find any video evidence of the incident and decided to throw out the report along with a number of reports allegedly made by the Springboks. This didn't stop the IRU from having a parting shot at the Springboks for publicly questioning Heaslip. "The Ireland management is very disappointed that the name of an Ireland player was subsequently associated with eye-gouging in the media as a result of one of these unsubstantiated referrals," said an IRFU statement. "The Ireland management fully support and believe in the integrity of the citing process in place but believe that any referrals in this process should be made only when they are material and substantial. The Ireland management will be making no further comment and consider the matter closed." The Irish media, once again, jumped on the bandwagon claiming that the IRFU had not stooped to such levels by not reporting JP Pietersen (high tackle) and Andries Bekker (striking with the knee). The statement is the latest chapter in the ongoing saga between the two sides and is strange considering that Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll and Heaslip himself were outspoken on the Schalk Burger incident while the citing panel were making their decisions during the British & Irish Lions tour. Content received from: SARugby.com, http://www.sarugby.com/news