Newcastle v Quins

It was reported that Newcastle overstepped the mark with a stamp in the face, a punch in the face and short-arm tackles, anyone watch it?

I saw Marler get punched & Vickers get a yellow for it. Marley did well not to react to it.

Didn't see the whole game so can't comment on the others

Yea surprised it was only a yellow. Didn't see a stamp but there were late tackles and trips going round. Pretty Poopie game of rugby honestly.

TJ said it was a slap - it wasn't and Vickers should have been sent off.

Marler was sadly being his usual self however. He is so desperate to prove he is a big, tough forward that he is consistently doing stuff off the ball. Marler did however put in a good shift against Falcons TH - shame Murray pulled out before kick-off - but it was impressive scrummaging. More so than his sideburns . Oddly his performance in open play was porr - butchering one overlap by passing to the wingers feet (Williams?) when the line was at Quins mercy. As first andf foremost I want my props to be able to scrummage - that was OK for me.

Falcons 6 was on (and over) the edge the whole time he was on the pitch. On thundering challenge on nick Evans when he was the decoy runner was a sight to behold. By the laws it should have been a penalty - personally i feel that decoy runners who have the ball passed behind them should expect to be tackled.

At HT Lowe pushed and shoved the Falcons 6 - and then JTH rushed in and punched him in the back of the head. Easter calmed it all down quite well. Lip-reading looked like he told JTH to stop behaving like a "stupid f***ing f***er".

First yellow card was a tad unlucky for Falcons. JTH was running a "blocking" line to stop the defence getting to Monye. At first it is legal, even when he looks at the Falcons SH and cahnges his line it is probably ok. but then he effectively hands off the 9 at which point he is tackled without the ball. while a penalty offence by falcons, shoving a man away from tackling your team mate by pushing him in the face is also a penalty surely?

Gopperth and Evans were shocking when kicking at goal.

Oh and the trip by Monye on Gopperth probably prevented a try and should have been a YC on two counts perhaps.

Neither team were well behaved.

No stamping as far as I know.

It wasn't much of a stamp. Browne was on the floor and a maul pushed passed him. One of the Falcons pushed his foot against Browne's neck. Not really a stamp but way off the ball and didn't look accidental.

Vickers tried to clear out a Quins' ruck. Marler stopped him and pulled his scrum cap off (nothing in it). Vickers punched Marler once to the face, Marler stood up and looked at the AR who put the flag out and recommended a yellow (he said it was a slap).

Tu'ifua put in a few dodgy hits (and some great legal ones). He smashed Evans off the ball (it looked like Evans was going to take it but he left it for another Quins player). He hit Evans a couple of times a little late but only one I would have said was 'late'. He also put a shoulders in. One on Wallace was high but he was going down so not 'high'. I understand what O'Shea was talking about but pretty much all of it was in the first half (except Vickers' punch).

Fitzpatrick put in loads of monster hits and I think they were all legal. Great defensive performance and ran hard. Lot's of Newcastle's possession was kicked so he didn't have much.

And Monye clearly tripped Gopperth. Vickery got a 2 week ban for a missed trip in the 2007 world cup. We'll see if anything happens

HammerofThunor wrote:It wasn't much of a stamp. Browne was on the floor and a maul pushed passed him. One of the Falcons pushed his foot against Browne's neck. Not really a stamp but way off the ball and didn't look accidental.

Vickers tried to clear out a Quins' ruck. Marler stopped him and pulled his scrum cap off (nothing in it). Vickers punched Marler once to the face, Marler stood up and looked at the AR who put the flag out and recommended a yellow (he said it was a slap).

Tu'ifua put in a few dodgy hits (and some great legal ones). He smashed Evans off the ball (it looked like Evans was going to take it but he left it for another Quins player). He hit Evans a couple of times a little late but only one I would have said was 'late'. He also put a shoulders in. One on Wallace was high but he was going down so not 'high'. I understand what O'Shea was talking about but pretty much all of it was in the first half (except Vickers' punch).

Fitzpatrick put in loads of monster hits and I think they were all legal. Great defensive performance and ran hard. Lot's of Newcastle's possession was kicked so he didn't have much.

And Monye clearly tripped Gopperth. Vickery got a 2 week ban for a missed trip in the 2007 world cup. We'll see if anything happens

Same old story...Fitzy is an absolute beast.....but all Gopperth can do is kick. Im surprised you didnt hear the groans when he signed a new 3 year deal. Young Hodgson is by FAR a more creative 10...we just need to get some pies in to him!

Vickers tried to clear out a Quins' ruck. Marler stopped him and pulled his scrum cap off (nothing in it).

Sounds similar to the Ayerza incident where Ayerza commented that the pulling of the scrum cap caused the strap to pull into his throat. Yanking on the scrum cap is nearly as bad as hair pulling and should be punished in a similar light.

I thought Gopperth ran the ball more than I have seen him before in recent games - ie vs Tigers and Quins.

I think it's a bit academic because with Wasps win over Irish they are 8 points clear. It is getting to the point where it is a too big of an ask.

I think discipline was over the top and Vickers probably should have seen red. But Marler needs to wind his neck in because he's going to get a proper smack off someone at some point if he carries on.

I am biased, but I also think some Quins fans have been a bit precious about the game. I argued with one who said that he hoped we go broke because of it! Never great to take the moral high ground on sportsmanship, whilst wishing misfortune on others.

Cumbrian, I can only assume that's really a fans anger at how dire we were being projected at you boys. I certainly don't agree with it.

Although I wasn't impressed with some of the goings on we still should have moved on from it and actually got a win. A draw just sticks in the throat, especially after all the prematch talk about laying down a marker.

Yes it was a scrappy match but we should have expected that and overcome it. We couldn't take control of a game against Newcastle so how are we going to win against Saracens, Saints or Tigers?

Quins will alomst certainly top the table. Whether they can then win the title is open for debate. Their style of play (when on song) means that they can beat any team out there - but since 2012 started they have struggled with sides who have played a physical game.
From memory Saracens, Connacht. Saints and tigers (in LV) have beaten them playing a very physical game, while Exeter, Worcester and Falcons have come damn close. Evans (and Clegg) have struggled with goal kicking at important times.

The hope for Quins is that conditions come May will be more conducive to a high tempo game.

The risk is that two huge games against two huge teams could be too many.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

Vickers tried to clear out a Quins' ruck. Marler stopped him and pulled his scrum cap off (nothing in it).

Sounds similar to the Ayerza incident where Ayerza commented that the pulling of the scrum cap caused the strap to pull into his throat. Yanking on the scrum cap is nearly as bad as hair pulling and should be punished in a similar light.

The scrum cap slipped straight off his head. Ayerza made excusses for punching someone and getting a red card? That surprises me.

I think its safe to say we are down....but it will be very interesting to see what Deano can do with the squad next season....and who he keeps and who leaves...

GeordieFalcon wrote:I think its safe to say we are down....but it will be very interesting to see what Deano can do with the squad next season....and who he keeps and who leaves...

Despite the scandal, what he did with us shows he can make you stronger than ever before. If you do go down, best of luck, Quins supporters should empathise

The scrum cap slipped straight off his head. Ayerza made excusses for punching someone and getting a red card? That surprises me

I've not seen the incident so didn't know it slipped straight off. Ayerza did get a red as he head butted Marler straight after the scrum cap drag, twice. Marler threw some punches in retaliation and both went. If someone grabbed my head I wouldn't be best pleased. There's better ways to handle it than swinging straight away though.

Quins always seem to struggle with the Falcons! Dont know why, but we never seem to click against them.

Easter looked pretty good. It was a shame he got pinged for chatting to the ref. but from what I thought I heard he was just asking the ref to look out for funny business (think it was the way he said it though).

Guest was dissapointing - fairly annonymous
Evans had a mixed display with kicking but nailed the ones that really counted.
Ugo had a good game (very strong) which was needed afte previous quite showings.
I thought that Robson was really missed.

Quins always seem to struggle with the Falcons! Dont know why, but we never seem to click against them

Quins forwards aren't the most physical bunch going and Ben Kay often says Newcastle on a cold wet night was the worst game of the season for him as a forward. That's a lock who liked the tight stuff and the set piece, I'd imagine it's a miserable game for those who want to run the ball and avoid being pulled into the tight exchanges.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

Quins always seem to struggle with the Falcons! Dont know why, but we never seem to click against them

Quins forwards aren't the most physical bunch going and Ben Kay often says Newcastle on a cold wet night was the worst game of the season for him as a forward. That's a lock who liked the tight stuff and the set piece, I'd imagine it's a miserable game for those who want to run the ball and avoid being pulled into the tight exchanges.

Think you're right about that Sam. We need one of Mauri or Robshaw back soon to help in these kinds of matches where there's so much more focus on boshing people.

How much longer is Mauri out for?

propdavid_london wrote:How much longer is Mauri out for?

April I think

Regarding Easter's backchat. If I remember correctly he was asking the ref to look out for the off-the-ball/late stuff. The ref said he'll deal with it. Then Easter responded with soemthing like "Well you've GOT to deal with it". Can't remember exactly but it did come across as him telling the ref what to do. Slightly overstepped the mark and a fair penalty (if you want to take a zero tolerance attitude).

Hammer - yes, it was a fair penalty. Dont talk back to the ref! It never ends well.

Could get worse for Newcastle if the lose the three players who have been sited after the game.

http://www.espnscrum.com/premiership-2011-12/rugby/story/160730.html?CMP=RSS2

"James Hall, Tai Tu'ifua and Rob Vickers will all face Rugby Football Union (RFU) disciplinary chiefs in Durham on March 19.

Hall has been reported for kicking an opponent, Tu'ifua for a dangerous tackle and Vickers for striking an opponent, for which he was shown one of the Falcons' two yellow cards. "

Tbh i'll expect all three to get bans from this but with the LV on over the next weekends it may not effect them.

yappysnap wrote:Could get worse for Newcastle if the lose the three players who have been sited after the game.

http://www.espnscrum.com/premiership-2011-12/rugby/story/160730.html?CMP=RSS2

"James Hall, Tai Tu'ifua and Rob Vickers will all face Rugby Football Union (RFU) disciplinary chiefs in Durham on March 19.

Hall has been reported for kicking an opponent, Tu'ifua for a dangerous tackle and Vickers for striking an opponent, for which he was shown one of the Falcons' two yellow cards. "

Tbh i'll expect all three to get bans from this but with the LV on over the next weekends it may not effect them.

Well the meeting is on 19th March & the Falcons next Amlin games are 23 & 30th March so I guess it may well do.

Well we have cover for Hall, Mark Wilson has been one of our best players recently so can replace Tu'ifua, and Connor will have to replace Vickers.

I really wish we could produce a monster nasty hooker...one thing we are really missing....

Vickers is awful I'm afraid. His darts are all over he probably cost us a game we should have won.

Tu'ifua was immense, he just played the game hard and Quins couldn't deal with it. Very surprised he was cited tbh.

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Vickers is awful I'm afraid. His darts are all over he probably cost us a game we should have won.

Tu'ifua was immense, he just played the game hard and Quins couldn't deal with it. Very surprised he was cited tbh.

I wouldn't say that. He tackled late (when not committed). Tackled a player off the ball. And had limited use of the arms in tackles. Although I'm not sure what exactly he's been cited for, I'd have to look at it again once the report comes out. It may well be because there were several bad tackles throughout. Not sure if that would get a ban though as it would have to be legally justified.

Even the commentators on BBC Radio Newcastle, or Tyne or whatever it was called, were saying his tackles were shoulder charges

Isnt that normal tackling in Polynesia..

controversial

GeordieFalcon wrote:Isnt that normal tackling in Polynesia..

Well, yes. And I think the rules on shoulder charging are inconsistent especially as League players do it without killing each other. But there were some dodgy tackles. But Monye should have been cited too

I'm not saying that the Falcons trio should not have been cited - however there was al lot of stuff going on and it's baffling that no Quins players were pulled up.

I don't think there's a conspiracy going on but it seems we are getting the sh1tty end of the stick.

TrailApe wrote:I'm not saying that the Falcons trio should not have been cited - however there was al lot of stuff going on and it's baffling that no Quins players were pulled up.

I don't think there's a conspiracy going on but it seems we are getting the sh1tty end of the stick.

The struggling team is more likely to get called up on things unfortunately because of a bias where if a renowned player/team does something illegally the referee is likely to attribute it to skill (see: McCaw) but if a struggling player/team does it they won't so they are more likely to attribute it to cheating. It is unfair but that's life

ChequeredJersey wrote:

GeordieFalcon wrote:Isnt that normal tackling in Polynesia..

Well, yes. And I think the rules on shoulder charging are inconsistent especially as League players do it without killing each other. But there were some dodgy tackles. But Monye should have been cited too

Monye should have definately been cited for the trip. Vickery got 2 weeks for something similar against Emmerick (USA) in WC 2007.

The judgements are out

Rob Vickers - 1 match
James Hall - 1 match
Tai Tui'fua - no charge


Makes you wonder how much the accusations were made by O'Shea gobbing off in the media.

HammerofThunor wrote:

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Vickers is awful I'm afraid. His darts are all over he probably cost us a game we should have won.

Tu'ifua was immense, he just played the game hard and Quins couldn't deal with it. Very surprised he was cited tbh.

I wouldn't say that. He tackled late (when not committed). Tackled a player off the ball. And had limited use of the arms in tackles. Although I'm not sure what exactly he's been cited for, I'd have to look at it again once the report comes out. It may well be because there were several bad tackles throughout. Not sure if that would get a ban though as it would have to be legally justified.

Seems Tu'ifua was just playing hard then