Just because every speeding driver isn't caught and booked, it doesn't mean you have the right to a free pass when you are caught for speeding.
That is not how the law works, he was caught, he failed the test (was it a punishable offense or not ) and was punished.
It doesn't mean that the fans of Player A from Team 1 that gets suspended can't get angry because Player B from Team 2 does the same illegal stuff but gets away with it.
The better is analogy is speeding driver 1 goes past the police at 100 km/h in an 80 km/h zone and is booked. Speeding driver 2 goes past the police at 100 km/h in an 80 km/h zone and nothing happens.
Is that fair? Yes if you're speeding driver 2. Not if you're speeding driver 1. And yes, it gets to the point that speeding driver 1 went through probably expecting to get off because speeding driver 2 didn't get caught, regardless of the law. That's not how the law works, but it is how people think.
There is a damn fair gripe that Elstadt should be rubbed out for the next couple of weeks - same tackle, but he has priors. Instead, he will be running around for the Stomers in the semi.
Bringing the analogy back to the original problem, I see no reason why Reds fans shouldn't be pissed off at SANZAR because the Stormers get Elstadt yet they lose Quade simply because Walsh pulled out a white card. To top it off, Elstadt didn't even get a yellow.
Personally, I am sick of the stupid citing process and stupid subjective ways of picking how long the suspension is (showing remorse to reduce suspension? come on!). The worst one is when they randomly decide (like with Digby) to add 2 weeks to a suspension so discourage other players because they've had a few problems with similar incidents recently. So I can do the same shit as a player did from the previous week, have the same record, even get told everything is the same as the suspension handed out last week, AND THEN cop additional time on a whim of SANZAR?
The whole system is fucked, and I see no reason why fans can't be pissed. I reckon that blind, syphilitic monkeys could do a better job than the bright sparks at SANZAR.
This is just one of the many ways in that I think that rugby has never gone truly professional, and is still run by a bunch of amateurs.