Your Favourite Dark Thread in The Fabric of the Rich Tapestry

[anotherworldofpain]

First topic message reminder :

So! Fellow fans of the oval ball game.

The history of sport is awash with a rich variety of dastardly acts, Drugs cheats, physical attacks to disable ice-skaters, under-arm bowling, Here are but a few examples from rugby:
.
Blood-gate: Needing some small points to win and with Nick Evans off the field, Bath RFU fake a blood injury by cutting the player with a razor so they can bloodbin back on the 3-point drop goal prospect.

Meads-gate: Facing the prospect of unsavoury loss to Wales, the legendary Kiwi dives out of the lineout and pretends he get pushed!
Ali Williams quick throw in: Chasing the game late, All Blacks lock Ali Williams runs up the touch line with a ball up his jumper, the touch finding kick from the opposition sails overhead and he pull out the ball and throw to himself.

Suzie-gate: SA seek political victory at any cost and poison the opponents! (NZ view), NZ very bad losers on important day for SA (World view).

Switch-gate: Frustrated at inability to live up to expectation, legendary English goal kicker Jonny Wilkinson conspires with back-room staff to strategically and illegally switch balls before kicks!

Haka-gate: Unwilling to comply about Welsh desires on protocol about the 100 year anniversary game, NZ chose to deny the adoring Welsh public the sight of the pre-match Haka, instead doing it to themselves in private to get ready for the game.

Cobra-gate: Malaysian rugby controversy when the winning semi-finalist forced to play to the losing semi-finalist under complicated situation where...oh you are still reading?

Walsh-gate: Infamous refereeing legend and renowned tee-totalling anti-alcohol activist Steve Walsh is appointed to referee a crucial ENG game, representing Australia as a referee after the RFU spend good money getting him barred from refereeing under the NZ flag. Result? ENG "loose" by "getting on the wrong side of the score-board" despite being the best team in the world.

Tip-Tackle-Gate: Wales are denied an inaugural rugby world cup, when notorious frankophile and referee with a French name Alain Rolland sends off the worlds best rugby player, the world class Lions representative Warburton for an innocuous and perfectly executed tackle.

Clone-Gate: England turn up for the RWC wearing New Zealand's best pajamas.

Barnes-Gate (part 1): English referee Wayne Barnes fails to spot a forward pass, and 27 French infringements, but yet is certain Luke McAllistair deserves a yellow card.

Barnes-Gate (part 2): Wayne Barnes fails to spot James Hook's kick going over the posts, despite it going over the posts. Wales are denied deserved victory over the notorious carnivorous brainless rugby neanderthals South Africa.

Barnes-Gate (part 3): This time co-star Dave Pearson and Barnes manage to fail to send off Bradley Davies for the worst spear-tackle in history whilst accidentally sin-binning Stephen Ferris, costing Ireland the win.

Streetshoes-gate: NZ are denied victory hundreds of years ago because typically an unfit, ill-clothed cheating northern hemisphere referee who was blind and nowhere near the ball rule out a perfectly good try by Bob Deans. Typical. No wonder Robbie Deans his great descendent felt so much pride in his 3-0 drubbing of 6N champions Wales in revenge this year!

PDV-Gate: SA make a political selection for the coach and spend 4 years getting drubbed by NZ.

Murdoch-Gate: Keith Murdoch is wrongly framed for punching someone he didn't and who deserved it anyway. He is sent home to NZ in disgrace and instead disappears forever. Prompting the nation to wonder why SCW was never just accused of punching someone when they had the chance.

BOD-Gate: BOD try his best to be culturally appropriate by responding to the Haka by doing the fingers at Kevin Mealamu's girlfriend in the upper tier of the stands. Umaga and Mealamu sort him out at the first opportunity.

Lions-Gate: SCW bring half the registered rugby population of ENG, run up a £13 billion deficit at RFU HQ on consultants, fails to pick Gavin Henson (destroying his career) and then loses 4-0 to NZ in abject humiliation seeing his book "winning" send to his publishers pulp house.

BUT!!!! Is not my opinion so important. What is your favourite rugby controversy? Or which one shape the modern game most?

[Knowsit17]

I honestly don't mind how many friends I make as a result of continuing to touch of the subject of Rolland-gate. Nor am I losing any sleep over it, it's in the past as you say.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I have the same opinion of it now as I did when it happened. While we're on the topic of controversy which this thread provides I saw fit to bring it up as I still find it to be very controversial, so did a lot of other people at the time. Simple as. Ugly fact about debate: some of it is controversial and sensitive and some people don't like bringing it up. No reason to taboo it for the benefit of those who disagree with you.

I'm not still basking in self-pity over that fateful game if that's what you mean, I'm simply challenging those with a contrary view to my own to back it up

Yeah, sorry about that Knowsit. I'd been to the pub all arvo and must have thought I was full of wisdom when I was really just full of grog.

No worries buddy, I post worse nuggets of "wisdom" sometimes when I haven't even got the excuse of being plastered

[Morgannwg]

Huw was dirty and got red carded fairynuff.
The knock out was just a bonus.

Poor All Blacks are lacking their hard men these days, (unless you count the ameteur boxer that fights overweight pub doormen). Their last tough guy was an Aussie Rugby League player (a legend now retired from test rugby).

[kiakahaaotearoa]

I wouldn't call Richie soft Morgan or the rest of the pack lightweight. But it's true Kaino and Thorn have left a physical gap. That is why Romano and Messam are starting tomorrow to try to make up for that lack of physical presence.

[Morgannwg]

True. Andy Powell once tried to take Richie's head off, but Richie survived! I remember the look on his face afterwards though, he was not happy to say the least. Thorn was one of the toughest guys around, I'm not sure that gap can be filled.

[kiakahaaotearoa]

No he was a legend alright. Such meticulous preparation and injury free for an older player. He wasn't as bad in the lineout as you'd think but his grunt he added in the scrum and around the park, together with his power on defence and his ability to link the ball to players around him to get the ball wide out to space just can't be underestimated. One of the greatest players in the professional era. He wasn't a player to feature in the World XV teams because he was unconventional but I wouldn't have given him up for even a player as great as Matfield in his prime. Not saying Matfield wasn't as good but that Thorn was indeed that good. Kaino had even more competition for the world's best 6 but he was another I would never have wanted to see replaced (if it were possible).

[Notch]

The Trevor Brennan thing was at the home ground of Toulouse, not Belfast.

There's a lot of bitterness amongst Ulster fans about the incident even now. It's still a touchy subject due to Brennan and Gareth Thomas making all sorts of allegations and exaggerations about the provocation Brennan endured- in fact, some people 'close' to Brennan implied that he was abused on sectarian grounds on RTE Radio.

This was proven untrue in a court of law when the victim successfully sued for defamation, but what rankles is that the names of some innocent* Ulster fans were dragged through the mud.

(*There certainly were disrespectful comments made to Brennan, and that kind of thing does cross the line, so not all the Ulster fans were innocent. I'm not trying to claim that. But there were fans there who had nothing to do with it that were tarred with the same brush.)

On a lighter note, Trevor Brennan jumped into the stand to dish out some summary justice... and managed to find a lawyer to use as a punchbag! Some people have all the luck. Yer man did very well out of it in the end;

http://www.wilson-nesbitt.com/news-updates/Professional-Negligence/4701/NI-rugby-fan-wins-libel-damages

[anotherworldofpain]

Justce-for-bakkies-gate. Now there was a low point.

[Biltong]

For whom AWOP.

The inconsistent judicial system?

[kiakahaaotearoa]

Not for whom, but for what. Those poor black armbands didn't want to be there.

[Biltong]

Hmmm...maybe they should have been a different colour

[kiakahaaotearoa]

Let's not get into colour quotas for armbands mate...

[Biltong]

You brought it up.

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