Discussion
hornetrider said:
desolate said:
what's beef with SoB, Hornet?
You seem a bit animated about it and it was hardly crime of the century.
Well, I reckon 1 week off for a cheap shot punch like that off the ball is insufficient for the offense.You seem a bit animated about it and it was hardly crime of the century.
A forward, punching another forward in the torso hardly seems the end of the world.
hornetrider said:
Well, I reckon 1 week off for a cheap shot punch like that off the ball is insufficient for the offense.
For what it's worth I agree with you, however I'll happily ignore that to have him back sooner. The citing panels do need more consistency, the five week ban (which I think has been reduced after the outcry) was ludicrous, shouldn't have been any further action though. Anyway I can't wait for the weekend, already feels too long without a game to watch. Heres to Ireland and Wales playing strongly (sorry Scotland but I can't see you getting close to Australia), then smashing the semis for an all northern hemisphere final.
This is brilliant, and sums everything up as far as I'm concerned.
OPINION: An open letter to the RFU: Dear gentlemen,
Terribly bad luck on your early exit from your own World Cup, old beans. It's a shame. You brought something a bit different to the party with your 1980s style of play and that intoxicating mix of over-confidence and under-performance.
I thought you might like to know where you went wrong and how you can avoid a repeat in Japan in 2019. Indeed, how you can be one of the title favourites. It's quite simple, really.
1. Sack Stuart Lancaster. Immediately. If he hasn't fallen on his sword after a mighty win against the Uruguay Amateur XV overnight, throw him on it. Then jump up and down on him. He has done a sterling job in turning 2011's dwarf-tossers (you can actually delete the "dwarf" part) into polite, well-behaved young men. But they're still ordinary at rugby. And blaming his "inexperienced squad" is ridiculous. He picked the bloody squad! That's like me blaming the smooth road for my speeding ticket (which doesn't work, by the way). Sack Andy Farrell while you're at it. Nepotistic twerp. And Mike Catt. Just for the hell of it.
2. Find a No 7. Any No 7. Find the third-best opensider in New Zealand or Australia, pay him £100,000 a year (which is about $NZ45 million) to play in the UK for the next three years and then select him on residency. Job done. Or change the rules and select overseas-based players such as Steffon Armitage, who can get to at least one ruck before the fulltime whistle. Michael Cheika changed the rules to get Matt Giteau back in, and that's not exactly backfiring on him.
3. Sack your back row. Australia ripped you a new one last weekend because they had two No 7s out there. You had none. Tom Wood, Ben Morgan and Chris Robshaw looked like three arthritic sloths jogging through a knee-deep field of peanut butter. Robshaw made NO turnovers. My mother made as many turnovers as he did against the Wallabies, and she wasn't even in the country. And she's, like, 70-something. Robshaw was as much use as Anne Frank's big-band record collection.
4. Take the captaincy off Robshaw. It makes it so much easier to not select him.
5. Sack anyone who had anything to do with Brad Barritt's selection. A coach putting Barritt in the midfield is not trying to win the game. He's simply trying not to lose it. Which pretty much sums up English rugby at all levels. Ditto Owen Farrell. He kills a game faster than Rob Andrew.
6. Send Sam Burgess back to Bath to learn how to play union. Selecting him in the squad may have sold a few tickets early on but it's not going to help sales in the knockout stages. Because he's watching it on the telly.
7. Stop selecting players with the surname Youngs. It's not working.
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8. Find all the England fans who left Twickenham when there were 10 minutes left in the Australia game and ban them for life.
9. Get rid of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. It's embarrassing. The world is laughing at you. And fans only know the words to the first two lines.
10. Slap Mike Brown. Hard.
11. Get Dylan Hartley and Manu Tuilagi back in ASAP. They've got the discipline and intelligence of a three-year-old with ADHD (or whatever naughty children are being "diagnosed" with these days), but at least they can play rugby at the highest level.
12. Ignore Clive Woodward. On everything. His coaching credentials were emasculated in 2005 when his 500-strong Lions team were smashed by an All Blacks side who didn't have to get out of second gear.
Lastly, hire a foreign coach. Someone who can do the above without getting all emotional and British about it.
Kind regards,
Someone who followed John Hart's All Blacks in 1999 and – until last weekend – didn't think anyone could cock up a World Cup campaign quite so spectacularly.
OPINION: An open letter to the RFU: Dear gentlemen,
Terribly bad luck on your early exit from your own World Cup, old beans. It's a shame. You brought something a bit different to the party with your 1980s style of play and that intoxicating mix of over-confidence and under-performance.
I thought you might like to know where you went wrong and how you can avoid a repeat in Japan in 2019. Indeed, how you can be one of the title favourites. It's quite simple, really.
1. Sack Stuart Lancaster. Immediately. If he hasn't fallen on his sword after a mighty win against the Uruguay Amateur XV overnight, throw him on it. Then jump up and down on him. He has done a sterling job in turning 2011's dwarf-tossers (you can actually delete the "dwarf" part) into polite, well-behaved young men. But they're still ordinary at rugby. And blaming his "inexperienced squad" is ridiculous. He picked the bloody squad! That's like me blaming the smooth road for my speeding ticket (which doesn't work, by the way). Sack Andy Farrell while you're at it. Nepotistic twerp. And Mike Catt. Just for the hell of it.
2. Find a No 7. Any No 7. Find the third-best opensider in New Zealand or Australia, pay him £100,000 a year (which is about $NZ45 million) to play in the UK for the next three years and then select him on residency. Job done. Or change the rules and select overseas-based players such as Steffon Armitage, who can get to at least one ruck before the fulltime whistle. Michael Cheika changed the rules to get Matt Giteau back in, and that's not exactly backfiring on him.
3. Sack your back row. Australia ripped you a new one last weekend because they had two No 7s out there. You had none. Tom Wood, Ben Morgan and Chris Robshaw looked like three arthritic sloths jogging through a knee-deep field of peanut butter. Robshaw made NO turnovers. My mother made as many turnovers as he did against the Wallabies, and she wasn't even in the country. And she's, like, 70-something. Robshaw was as much use as Anne Frank's big-band record collection.
4. Take the captaincy off Robshaw. It makes it so much easier to not select him.
5. Sack anyone who had anything to do with Brad Barritt's selection. A coach putting Barritt in the midfield is not trying to win the game. He's simply trying not to lose it. Which pretty much sums up English rugby at all levels. Ditto Owen Farrell. He kills a game faster than Rob Andrew.
6. Send Sam Burgess back to Bath to learn how to play union. Selecting him in the squad may have sold a few tickets early on but it's not going to help sales in the knockout stages. Because he's watching it on the telly.
7. Stop selecting players with the surname Youngs. It's not working.
Ad Feedback
8. Find all the England fans who left Twickenham when there were 10 minutes left in the Australia game and ban them for life.
9. Get rid of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. It's embarrassing. The world is laughing at you. And fans only know the words to the first two lines.
10. Slap Mike Brown. Hard.
11. Get Dylan Hartley and Manu Tuilagi back in ASAP. They've got the discipline and intelligence of a three-year-old with ADHD (or whatever naughty children are being "diagnosed" with these days), but at least they can play rugby at the highest level.
12. Ignore Clive Woodward. On everything. His coaching credentials were emasculated in 2005 when his 500-strong Lions team were smashed by an All Blacks side who didn't have to get out of second gear.
Lastly, hire a foreign coach. Someone who can do the above without getting all emotional and British about it.
Kind regards,
Someone who followed John Hart's All Blacks in 1999 and – until last weekend – didn't think anyone could cock up a World Cup campaign quite so spectacularly.
Leins said:
So can France win on Saturday if they field Bastareaud? I believe it's time for a rethink, but not sure if PSA is still in charge
I can't understand why they keep selecting the fat b
d, to be honest. Are they really saying there are no other decent 13's in France, the land of Sella?Joey Ramone said:
This is brilliant, and sums everything up as far as I'm concerned.
OPINION: An open letter to the RFU: Dear gentlemen,
<snip>
That's excellent! OPINION: An open letter to the RFU: Dear gentlemen,
<snip>
The SOB decision on the other hand is a disgrace. And what's with this idea of reducing bans based on good behavior at the hearing?? Does anyone really turn up to a hearing and start smearing their own s
t on the walls!?TheGreatSoprendo said:
Joey Ramone said:
This is brilliant, and sums everything up as far as I'm concerned.
OPINION: An open letter to the RFU: Dear gentlemen,
<snip>
That's excellent! OPINION: An open letter to the RFU: Dear gentlemen,
<snip>
The SOB decision on the other hand is a disgrace. And what's with this idea of reducing bans based on good behavior at the hearing?? Does anyone really turn up to a hearing and start smearing their own s
t on the walls!?? vs wearing a suit, being respectful and showing contrition. Would both get the same punishment/fine?I personally think that the reduction in ban is down to good behaviour generally and not in the actual hearing; that is the way I read it anyway....
Slaav said:
TheGreatSoprendo said:
Joey Ramone said:
This is brilliant, and sums everything up as far as I'm concerned.
OPINION: An open letter to the RFU: Dear gentlemen,
<snip>
That's excellent! OPINION: An open letter to the RFU: Dear gentlemen,
<snip>
The SOB decision on the other hand is a disgrace. And what's with this idea of reducing bans based on good behavior at the hearing?? Does anyone really turn up to a hearing and start smearing their own s
t on the walls!?? vs wearing a suit, being respectful and showing contrition. Would both get the same punishment/fine?I personally think that the reduction in ban is down to good behaviour generally and not in the actual hearing; that is the way I read it anyway....
Leins said:
The reduction was for previous good behaviour on the rugby field, as SOB is rarely in trouble. It's fairly obvious to me that Pape was up to no good to provoke that reaction - any talk of revenge for Heaslip in the 6 Nations is nonsense
My point on the reduction for good behavior in the hearing was a general one rather than specific to SOB. I haven't seen the adjudication for this case but I've certainly seen in previous ones that good behavior at the hearing has been a mitigating factor. As for Pape provoking it, is there a single shred of evidence for that? And even if there was, would that make it any less unacceptable?
TheGreatSoprendo said:
As for Pape provoking it, is there a single shred of evidence for that? And even if there was, would that make it any less unacceptable?
I'm still struggling to see what is so unacceptable about it?"forward punches opposition forward" - hold the back page!!!!
surely things like this should just go with the territory and be left on the field?
It's difficult to tell from the videos on the net, but it also looks like Pape goes down like a fairy as well.
Leins said:
The reduction was for previous good behaviour on the rugby field, as SOB is rarely in trouble.
He's lead a charmed life with the authorities. He escaped any sanction for this which would have influenced his 'previous good behaviour BS' in the hearing. I'm surprised, as a Leinster fan, that this one has slipped your mind 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI1M0EeIgdg
Leins said:
It's fairly obvious to me that Pape was up to no good to provoke that reaction
desolate said:
I'm still struggling to see what is so unacceptable about it?
"forward punches opposition forward" - hold the back page!!!!
surely things like this should just go with the territory and be left on the field?
You've said exactly the same about three times now and I could not disagree more. This is a cheap sucker punch off the ball with no provocation. On no planet is that acceptable."forward punches opposition forward" - hold the back page!!!!
surely things like this should just go with the territory and be left on the field?
hornetrider said:
You've said exactly the same about three times now and I could not disagree more. This is a cheap sucker punch off the ball with no provocation. On no planet is that acceptable.
I have to admit I am a bit 1980s in my thoughts about most aspects of Rugby.I watched the video you posted above about SoB and the Toulon player and thought 2 things
1) The crooked feed into the scrum was seriously annoying.
2) the French bloke deserved to get hit for holding him off the ball - penalty to blue, no try.
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