Ricky Januarie - Drink, drive and play professional rugby

Sounds like a plan to me. I am unbelievably disappointed with the officials involved in this.

Springbok scrumhalf Ricky Januarie was arrested on Sunday morning in Durbanville, Cape Town, for drunk driving.

This article was written on September 15th at IOL. Guess what? Ricky Januarie is playing rugby on Saturday for Western Province.What is wrong with society that sports people (celebrities) are allowed to go free in spite of an arrest? Surely Januarie should be suspended until his court hearing? Surely the Western Province board doesn't care that much about winning? Surely it is more important to create a sense of responsibility among the idols of SA rugby?I am going to say it again, I am exceptionally disappointed with the situation and believe that Januarie should be indefinitely removed from professional rugby. This is not his first offense either and that should be even more cause for concern. No, not in our rugby ranks. Here drunk driving is an acceptable crime. Placing other people in danger on the road is seen to be an acceptable way of existing in society. Well I think not. What if Januarie had killed someone? What if he had rammed his car in to someones wall, car, child, mother or grandmother? What then?

It seems that Ricky Januarie will be able to play the rest of the year since his driving under the influence of alcohol case has been postponed to 29 January 2009.“Januarie, who was arrested by police in the early hours of Sunday morning in Durbanville near Cape Town, has been named to play for Western Province in a Currie Cup match against Griquas at Newlands on Friday. WP coach Allister Coetzee confirmed this week that he will continue to select the player, despite the scrumhalf’s off-field troubles.” - source

But instead January walks free and gets to earn more money and play more rugby all the while, leaving a great trail for the youth to follow. Well done Januarie, well done.