ENGLAND v WALES - Match Thread / Build up - 7/3/2020

[TightHEAD]

First topic message reminder :

England    v Wales    - 07/03/2020 - 16:45pm - the HOME of Rugby.

England XV

Daly; Watson, Tuilagi, Farrell, May; Ford, Youngs; Marler, George, Sinckler, Itoje, Kruis, Lawes, Wilson, Curry

Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Genge, Stuart, Launchbury, Ewels, Earl, Heinz, Slade

Wales XV

Halfpenny; North, Tompkins, Parkes, Williams; Biggar, T Williams; R Evans, Owens, D Lewis, Ball, AW Jones (capt), Moriarty, Navidi, Tipuric.

Replacements: Elias, Carre, L Brown, Shingler, Faletau, Webb, J Evans, McNicholl.


Overall - Played 134 - Eng 63 - Wales 59 - Drawn 12

[TightHEAD]

#BeKind

Joe has been to some dark places. This could be serious for him, most comedians suffer from anxiety and depression. Its all just a mask

That's as maybe - but that does not give him a free pass to behave however he wants. He needs help and guidance, he also needs to be punished when he steps over the line. what he did is completely and utterly unacceptable and should not, nor ever, be excused.

Correct but fining him would make more sense. 10 weeks is a long time.

[lostinwales]

Any length of ban under a few months will most likely be academic at the current rate of closure of sporting events.

[Soul Requiem]

#BeKind

Joe has been to some dark places. This could be serious for him, most comedians suffer from anxiety and depression. Its all just a mask

That's as maybe - but that does not give him a free pass to behave however he wants. He needs help and guidance, he also needs to be punished when he steps over the line. what he did is completely and utterly unacceptable and should not, nor ever, be excused.

10 week ban compared to 3 for punching is still stupid.

[Luckless Pedestrian]

He'd have no ban at all if he hadn't done it.

[TightHEAD]

He'd have no ban at all if he hadn't done it.

How does that logic work with Liam Williams tip tackle & elbow on Curry at a ruck and Parkes attempted tackle?????

[Soul Requiem]

He'd have no ban at all if he hadn't done it.

The ban itself isn't the issue, the lack of consistency is.

[TightHEAD]

Does appear if a player gets up and doesn't moan to the officials it wasn't looked at for this game.

Very strange, maybe Eddie was right after all.

[TightHEAD]

He'd have no ban at all if he hadn't done it.

The ban itself isn't the issue, the lack of consistency is.

[Luckless Pedestrian]

He'd have no ban at all if he hadn't done it.

The ban itself isn't the issue, the lack of consistency is.

Which other player felt up an opponent?

[Soul Requiem]

He'd have no ban at all if he hadn't done it.

The ban itself isn't the issue, the lack of consistency is.

Which other player felt up an opponent?

That's so much worse than the potential for serious injury isn't it

[TightHEAD]

The neck breaker on Curry should have been cited. I think we can all agree on that.

[SecretFly]

He'd have no ban at all if he hadn't done it.

The ban itself isn't the issue, the lack of consistency is.

Which other player felt up an opponent?

Forwards do it all the time.  It's called a scrum.  Maybe that's why forward Marler might have been a little too casual about hands placement around another forward.  Not an excuse but hands in places society might raise an eyebrow about is part of the job for some forwards.

Anyway.... what about towels in showers?  If a player gets a whipped towel on the bum......?  Sexual abuse?

[TightHEAD]

I miss playing

[SecretFly]

[LondonTiger]

He'd have no ban at all if he hadn't done it.

The ban itself isn't the issue, the lack of consistency is.

The bans were consistent with guidelines. Both were deemed entry level offences and got the relevant bans. I may be in a minority of not many, but I feel that in a violent sport the French mans punch was pretty minor, and there was plenty of provocation. I quite like Joe Marler but his actions were completely unacceptable and actually is pretty moronic behaviour. Rather than bleating, Gustard should be looking at what help Marler needs to control his behaviour.

[TightHEAD]

People can be killed with one 'minor' punch to the head.

[Soul Requiem]

He'd have no ban at all if he hadn't done it.

The ban itself isn't the issue, the lack of consistency is.

The bans were consistent with guidelines. Both were deemed entry level offences and got the relevant bans. I may be in a minority of not many, but I feel that in a violent sport the French mans punch was pretty minor, and there was plenty of provocation. I quite like Joe Marler but his actions were completely unacceptable and actually is pretty moronic behaviour. Rather than bleating, Gustard should be looking at what help Marler needs to control his behaviour.

I'm not really interested at all what the guidelines say when the guidelines are garbage.

[mikey_dragon]

He'd have no ban at all if he hadn't done it.

The ban itself isn't the issue, the lack of consistency is.

Which other player felt up an opponent?

That's so much worse than the potential for serious injury isn't it

You don't make those decisions though. Marler should have got 4 years

[TightHEAD]

Is that the going rate for a bit of tickling Mikey?

[formerly known as Sam]

He'd have no ban at all if he hadn't done it.

The ban itself isn't the issue, the lack of consistency is.

The bans were consistent with guidelines. Both were deemed entry level offences and got the relevant bans. I may be in a minority of not many, but I feel that in a violent sport the French mans punch was pretty minor, and there was plenty of provocation. I quite like Joe Marler but his actions were completely unacceptable and actually is pretty moronic behaviour. Rather than bleating, Gustard should be looking at what help Marler needs to control his behaviour.

Marler I think meant it as a joke, he obviously knows AWJ from the Lions. AWJ doesn't seem to have a sense of humour though and on a public stage like that it was ill judged at best and as you say moronic at worst.

The French prop could have done some serious damage but I was astounded that both the provocation and the aftermath (two Ritchie punches) were both completely ignored. The Frenchman got off with only three weeks because of previous good behaviour. Whilst a punch up in rugby used to be pretty standard and we don't want to go to soft (the whole TMO farce is getting close to creating a diving culture as is) we have to protect players and set an example to kids playing the game.

[TightHEAD]

TMOs are clearly not up to the job currently.

Citing officers are poor too.

[formerly known as Sam]

TMOs are clearly not up to the job currently.

Citing officers are poor too.

Agreed. TMOs were appalling last weekend. All you want from officials is consistency.

[Guest]

They missed a double no-arms shoulder charge within the first 10 seconds. The writing was on the wall for the rest of the game

[TightHEAD]

They missed a double no-arms shoulder charge within the first 10 seconds.  The writing was on the wall for the rest of the game

It should have been looked at. Yes.

[lostinwales]

They missed a double no-arms shoulder charge within the first 10 seconds.  The writing was on the wall for the rest of the game

I don't think it was no arms but agree that there should be more checking, and would not object to the TMO looking into it.

Citing in itself should not imply guilt unless the citing is upheld.

[Soul Requiem]

They missed a double no-arms shoulder charge within the first 10 seconds.  The writing was on the wall for the rest of the game

I don't think it was no arms but agree that there should be more checking, and would not object to the TMO looking into it.

Citing in itself should not imply guilt unless the citing is upheld.

Both attempted to wrap their arms, not really anything else to it.

[Guest]

They missed a double no-arms shoulder charge within the first 10 seconds.  The writing was on the wall for the rest of the game

I don't think it was no arms but agree that there should be more checking, and would not object to the TMO looking into it.

Citing in itself should not imply guilt unless the citing is upheld.

True. Also, I’m pretty sure that citing is independent and the nations playing do not cite or refer incidents to the citing officer. Is that correct? I thought the citing officer went through the video and took things forward that were missed by the ref. Yet I see a lot of flak for the teams and players (e.g. WRU, AWJ, etc.) as if they themselves did the citing. Twitter is absolutely awash with hatred for the WRU for bringing about the Marler citing, for example. And I’ve seen it for other nations involved in citing controversies too.

[TightHEAD]

To be fair there is one or two on social media asking why Parkes and Williams were not cited by the independent (Ha!) citing office.

[Guest]

One or two?!

[SecretFly]

Me and'im

[Collapse2005]

He'd have no ban at all if he hadn't done it.

The ban itself isn't the issue, the lack of consistency is.

The bans were consistent with guidelines. Both were deemed entry level offences and got the relevant bans. I may be in a minority of not many, but I feel that in a violent sport the French mans punch was pretty minor, and there was plenty of provocation. I quite like Joe Marler but his actions were completely unacceptable and actually is pretty moronic behaviour. Rather than bleating, Gustard should be looking at what help Marler needs to control his behaviour.

Marler I think meant it as a joke, he obviously knows AWJ from the Lions. AWJ doesn't seem to have a sense of humour though and on a public stage like that it was ill judged at best and as you say moronic at worst.

The French prop could have done some serious damage but I was astounded that both the provocation and the aftermath (two Ritchie punches) were both completely ignored. The Frenchman got off with only three weeks because of previous good behaviour. Whilst a punch up in rugby used to be pretty standard and we don't want to go to soft (the whole TMO farce is getting close to creating a diving culture as is) we have to protect players and set an example to kids playing the game.

You got to love how England fans have managed to convince themselves it was meant as a joke. Terrible warped sense of humour if that is the case. Much more likely he was fishing for a reaction as it was in the middle of a fight.

[RDW]

https://www.606v2.com/t69506-the-covid-19-help-thread

[WELL-PAST-IT]

I see Neil Francis in the Irish Independent is saying Tuilagi should never be allowed to set foot on a rugby pitch again. He says that the tackle was always meant to decapitate North and that the only thing that saved him was Slade's tackle.

Now, I don't know what video he was watching, but North is what 6'4", 6'5" ish, if Slade hadn't made the tackle it would have hit North somewhere between elbow height and shoulder, I believe that is where players are being taught to tackle. That North started dropping once he Tuilagi was committed does not seem to have entered his head, presumably he needs a visit to his local opticians, or he needs to get some publicity as he is becoming just another ex-player soon to be dropped from the paper as he has so few readers. Guscott is similar, he has to say controversial things to keep his name alive, although he was a much better player than Francis

That two of his one countrymen were on the panel and stated clearly that it was a mid range offence and that there were mitigating circumstances (even I would not say MT has a good disciplinary record) seems to have escaped him.

As have all the other incidents that took place in that match and the England Ireland game that went unpunished even they went viral amongst the rugby community and the citing officers could not say they did not see the incidents.

[RiscaGame]

Francis is a very poor writer, to be honest. Guess he needs a new target now Gatland has gone back south.

[king_carlos]

Francis is a WUM. At a rugby charity dinner I attended a few years back there was a former Leinster and Ireland player involved in a Q&A who I'll leave nameless. He was fantastic though to his credit on a cracking night where Doddie MC'd an auction.

The dinner was not long after Francis was in hot water for his moronic comments on homosexuals in sport. The aforementioned Leinster player was asked about it, on an otherwise mild mannered and jovial night he responded:

"At his very best Francis is a awful journalist. At his worst he's a bigot. Somewhere in the middle is the simple truth. He's a f***ing c***."

[TightHEAD]

For anyone interested, the Wales v England game is on Facebook. Warning England fans it's from 2013!

[BigTrevsbigmac]

The neck breaker on Curry should have been cited. I think we can all agree on that.

There wasn’t enough social media & media bleating to make it happen & besides England scored shortly after & I suspect events(wrongly) overtook the need for review.

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