You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Marler's just making a reverse charges call to Panama as we write.
Nah, he's a posh **** - he will get his "man" to arrange the transfer
Lee get for passing it off as excusable banter?
Nice to see you blame the victim! What about The Hask for saying therecwas nothing in it?
AA, so the SOH still hasn't arrived
Lighten up, in the words of your illustrious coach, "its only banter" 😉
so the SOH still hasn't arrived
?
So I wonder what the last paragraph will lead to?
Joe Marler has been suspended for two matches and fined £20,000 to be paid to a suitable equality charity in the UK after an independent judicial committee upheld a misconduct charge against the player at a hearing in London today.
A misconduct charge was brought by World Rugby against Marler in relation to a breach of Regulation 20 and the code of conduct, for comments made towards Samson Lee during the England versus Wales RBS 6 Nations match at Twickenham on 12 March.
Regulation 20 and the code of conduct both cover statements that are unsporting and/or insulting and/or discriminatory by reason of race or ethnic origin, which bring or have the potential to bring the game into disrepute.
The charge was admitted in its entirety by Marler and upheld by the independent judicial panel comprising Terry Willis (chair, Australia), Jean-Noël Couraud (France) and Alan Hudson (Canada).
Following a full review of all the evidence, including a detailed analysis of the broadcast feed, referee microphone, statements and submissions on behalf of Marler by his representative Mark Milliken-Smith QC, and World Rugby, the committee found:
1) That Marler had used unsporting and discriminatory language towards Lee
2) That by his actions, Marler had breached World Rugby Regulation 20 and the code of conduct and brought the game into disrepute
3) That Marler was proactive in apologising to Lee at half-time during the match and that he subsequently issued a public and unreserved apology for his comments
4) That Marler is a person of good character and had no similar misconduct charges
In respect of the sanction, pursuant to Regulation 20.10.1 (c), the committee determined the breach was serious and imposed a two-match suspension, and pursuant to Regulation 20.10.1 (b) that Marler pay a fine in the form of a donation of £20,000 to a suitable equality charity in the UK.
Marler is therefore free to resume playing on 18 April and he has a right of appeal within seven days of notification of the full written decision.
Unlike in cases involving foul play, decisions of misconduct cases are ordinarily reserved until the full written judgement is available given their nature and complexity.
However, the committee has taken the proactive step of issuing its short-form, oral decision to provide certainty to all the parties in the interim, given that the publication of the detailed full judgement can typically take a number of weeks.
World Rugby is unable to make further comment during this window.
World Rugby exercised its right to take appropriate action before an independent judicial committee in the absence of such a process by Six Nations Rugby in accordance with the regulations.
@aa change of 6N process to make sure WR cannot interfere again
Henson would have got a 4 week ban from Strictly. Goode would have got 1 week no pudding and that is really harsh
They can't,all refs are affiliated to WR first and allocated to 6N by the panel that answers to WR. They also control the WC/international 7's etc and you have to be an affiliate to enter any of those. Add in the fact that Beamont is on the committee and it will be sucked up.
Argentina to play Australia at Twickenham on October 8th as the last game of the RC. Counts as a "home" fixture for the Pumas.
Nice little earner I suspect.
Nice little earner I suspect.
I hope it is for the argentinian union.
Seeing as most of their players are European based it should save them a fortune in plane tickets!
Judging by the tweets of ex pros it appears £20k is roughly one match fee so although figure seems high (to me at least) it isn't too much of a hit for Marler. There was me thinking they earn an honest living when all along these pros are indeed a bunch of posh .... 🙂
So Lee is the only one talking sense after all (allegedly) 😉
Seeing as most of their players are European based it should save them a fortune in plane tickets!
Are you not aware of the Jaguares? Things have changed!
So Lee is the only one talking sense after all
He let himself down by claiming to be the first international rugby player with a traveller background 😉
Wrecker - no I hadn't. If their domestic rugby is getting stronger that's good news.
Edit - now a SR team?? Well, at least their defence will get worse 😈
@DanW - pre tax maybe ? When you think about it £100k for an international contract isn't that much and they play 4-6 matches ?
I'm not over the moon with this signing, I wasn't sad to hear that Morgan was off.
He's a fantastic rugby player but unlikely to flourish IF Brizzle are playing premiership rugby next season. He had a great JRWC but the Scarlets have been struggling for a 10 and were insistent that was Williams position when in reality he's more of a 15 (or winger at a push). Fine at in the Principality but even at Pro 12 level he was exposed at 10 and fell massively out of favour with the Scarlets as a result. The other things that seems to crop up is people mentioning his lack of application and needing to knuckle down but hopefully his time away with the 7's and a change of scenery turns things around for him. I think the other Welsh regions will feel they are missing out on some potential (Dragons perhaps which isn't a huge compliment!) but I can see why Brizzle fans aren't going to be massively excited
His try against Harlequins sums up what he is about
... and what could have been
Wrecker - no I hadn't. If their domestic rugby is getting stronger that's good news.Edit - now a SR team?? Well, at least their defence will get worse
Yep, it's pretty much the puma's team bu all accounts. Apparently their discipline needs work which is hardly surprising. Brilliant for Argentina and for world rugby and they have the nicest shirt of any team IMHO (very enduro 😉 ).
[img]
[/img]Similar for the sunwolves, who can claim to have the best (scariest) mascot of all.
[img]
[/img]😯
@DanW - pre tax maybe ? When you think about it £100k for an international contract isn't that much and they play 4-6 matches ?
I've no idea how the contracts work but if £20k is a "match fee" then that isn't bad going when you add in club salary, other contracted payments, sponsorship, event appearances, number of international matches these guys play nowadays, etc. £20k to turn up for [s]80[/s] 60 minutes is alright and will no doubt go a long way to a charity anyway
I spend a bit of time in Buenos Aires, so might have to try to catch a Jaguares game.
DanW RF is spunking £500k pa I believe on Rob Andrew 😯
Rugby players have a 10 year career so £300k (?) for an International level player isnt that much in the years they are playing for national team. I think JW went for 750€ to Toulon before taking a cut in his last season to help the club out and Carter is on a lot more.
I spend a bit of time in Buenos Aires, so might have to try to catch a Jaguares game.
I am more than a little jealous!
Rugby players have a 10 year career so £300k (?) for an International level player isnt that much in the years they are playing for national team.
It is all speculation how much these guys get paid but Mas was reportedly on £384,000 in 2013 with Montpellier so £300,000 as a club salary for Marler probably isn't a million miles off. A guesstimate £100k for a 6N tournament of match fees is quite a healthy bonus by comparison.
Anyway, it would appear Marler has a 2 week ban and loses the games pay so some punishment, but not super harsh
Anyway, it would appear Marler has a 2 week ban and loses the games pay so some punishment, but not super harsh
If a customer in my work complained that I had behaved the same way as Marler then I'd lose a little more than a days wages. Maybe we should all try it and then report back on how our employers deal with it? 😆
so some punishment, but not super harsh
Which, I reckon most reasonable people wanted in the first place.
Probably a common sense outcome given the way things played out but I don't fancy Idlejohn's chances of keeping his job 😆
There are people with even fewer brain cells than Marler playing rugby and I'm not talking about Chris Ashton or Delon Armitage...
Tian, who hails from the Ivory Coast, had been penalised for an infringement on the floor, resulting in a yellow card after his team's persistent offending.But Tian took his frustration out on referee Romain Poite and delivered an expletive tirade which gave Poite no option but to issue a red card.
Tian initially received his marching orders for shouting to Poite "Piss off!" (fais chier!) before apparently telling Poite "I'll get you after [the match], son of a bitch" (je vais te choper après, fils de pute).
True to his word Tian, still livid, stuck around at the end of the match and even tried to confront Poite as the referee walked down the tunnel. Tian was held back aggressively by his own team staff before eventually breaking free.
That is nuts! One question...what is PL gone mad?
Probably a common sense outcome given the way things played out but I don't fancy Idlejohn's chances of keeping his job
Still here. What do I have to do to get sacked around here?? 😆
Wilson and Kruis...let off. Willson clearly makes contact with eye area......farce
Warriors just announced they are installing an artificial pitch at Sixways this summer. Cool.
You will read today that Warriors have received approval from Premiership Rugby to install a new artificial grass pitch at Sixways Stadium this summer, becoming the third Aviva Premiership Club to go to an artificial surface alongside champions Saracens and Newcastle Falcons.
I wanted to share this news with you personally before we announce to the media the rationale behind this development.
Our stadium pitch is the single most underutilised asset at the Club as it is currently used for fewer than 100 hours per season.
The condition of our existing clay-based grass playing surface means that we have to allocate eight to ten weeks every summer to refurbish it, thus removing the possibility of summertime playing usage or commercial activity.
Moving to an artificial grass pitch, we will not only see a commercial benefit, but we will be able to offer our players a consistently high-quality playing surface at all times of the year and through all weather conditions on which to train and play as we continue to strive to become an established Premiership Club.
The new pitch will meet World Rugby regulation 22 standards and will be the first in the UK to feature an organic infill rather than the more widely used rubber crumb made from dissected car tyres.
Artificial pitches are essentially carpets of blades of plastic grass with an infill to create a playing surface.
Our pitch, manufactured by leading Italian firm Limonta Sport, uses organic infill rather than rubber crumb and offers significant advantages in terms of cut and abrasion management. Warriors will be the first club in the UK to install such a pitch, which sits at the leading edge of artificial grass pitch technology.
Limonta Sport have developed similar pitches for Italian and French Rugby Clubs and have installed a total of 650 full-size pitches across a number of sports worldwide. They also sit on the RFU framework of approved suppliers of artificial grass pitches.
The pitch, which sits on a rugby-specific shock pad, consists of two elements - grass and infill. The grass is a product called MAX S turf 65mm and the infill is a product called Geo XTRE 60.
The artificial grass fibres are low slide resistant, negating burns when an athlete slides on the surface. The S shaped individual blades return to the upright position automatically.
The organic infill is a natural brown colour and consists of organic mix including shredded coconut fibres and gives the impression of being 100 per cent natural as players get muddy rather than suffering friction burns. It is hypoallergenic and natural in odour. Crucially for rugby, it provides perfect foot stability - enhancing safety for players.
If a customer in my work complained that I had behaved the same way as Marler then I'd lose a little more than a days wages.
@Idle do you get called a posh English C**t a lot by clients ?
@Stoner and others - are artificial pitches any good for rugby ? Never seen a game on one. Played plenty of hockey on them.
Astroburns!
Fair play to wuss, but I prefer the hybrids.
So that's three pitches certain players won't play on - how long before clubs start saying "we're paying your wages son, you play when we tell you" ?
I heard a piece on the radio where a parent is convinced his son got cancer from playing on a artificial pitch with tyre crumb. Said it got in his eyes, swallowed some etc etc.
Twickenham is a hybrid (mixture of artificial and real grass), the rugby pitches are completely different to hockey pitches as they have bladed "grass", which is why you use bigger studs on them.
@Idle do you get called a posh English C**t a lot by clients ?
Does Marler, there's no wvidence to suggest he was spoken to like this apart from second hand comments from his club coach. But facts eh, who needs them?
Well GB Sevens look to be on course for the Olympics.
The Team GB Sevens training squad will compete at the Sevens and the City festival at Allianz Park on Saturday 2 July.In a condensed GB programme the event, along with tournaments on the Rugby Europe Sevens Series, will form part of the squad’s preparations for the Rio Olympics.
Team GB Head Coach Simon Amor said: “The GB training programme begins in May and Sevens and the City plays an important role as we make step progressions through the summer.
No mention of any squad names yet, just a brief mention of "various XVs players" looking to get involved. Never mind that everyone else has been integrating their XVs players for months already and fine tuning their existing squads. The GB squad can't play in any HSBC World 7s events so will be in the European events only. Who came up with that? Surely a deal could have been done to get them into the HSBC series in Olympic year. It's not like nobody knew the Olympics were coming up........
More good stuff from the Chiefs this morning. They're really setting the standard at the moment:
Watching Fiji v S Korea in the lounge at HKG. One way traffic, unsurprisingly.
But, when did Ben Ryan become head coach of the Fijian Sevens squad? Good for him!
when did Ben Ryan become head coach of the Fijian Sevens squad?
Since 2013 IIRC.
Wasps v Chiefs, best game I have seen this year. Find it and watch it!
Dragons beat Glos, so through to semis. (V Montpellier.) Glos didn't look very good - are they normally like that?
Saracens v Northampton - why do I dislike both of these teams so much? It's very difficult to get involved in a match when I want both to lose. 🙂
If anyone has a spare 80, here is the chiefs/wasps game. Very much recommended. As duckman says, it was an absolute cracker!
[img] 
[/img]
going to be a good 'un
Starting to feel like a Toulon home game, God bless the TGV 🙂
Nous sommes la, nous somes la, nous sommes la les Toulonais
Good interview with Lancaster on Sportsweek this morning (Radio 5), he really does come across as a superb human being.
@mefty yes read a few quotes looking forward to hearing whole thing, time will tell but imo he was not strong enough to stand up to Farrell snr
10-10 🙂
Hard to think Racing will win away, windy day made it hard for kickers and not a lot a lot to chose between the sides with neither looking really sharp. My money is on an all English final Saracens v Leicester
Without wanting to upset A-A, who has Coach's kid at Wasps declared for? Looks like a good un! Mind you Waldron has scored most tries in the prem this year,hasn't he? Deadly from 6 feet,but they all count.
Played for wales U-20s so I think he's locked in?
Now, for some time, I've thought we could speed up conversions. One idea of mine was that if the try was within x-yards of the posts, it should be a drop kick attempt.
Watching the HK7s highlights at the moment and in 7s it's all drop kick conversions. Loads of them going over from near the touchline. So....
All conversions to be dropped kicks?
Discuss. Or not. I mean, it's totally up to you.
Completely agree CFH, but I'd add an option to gain an extra point too. Conversions should be worth 1 point with an added 2 points on offer for style. As an example... Anyone does the Biggarena, before dropping the ball sweetly through the middle and hitting Chris Ashton square in between the eyes can score the full 3. Will it catch on ?
Would degrade value of tries in the corner and make central penalties nearly as valuable as a try. Thats assuming its still 3 vs 5 + 2. Alternatively tries are a straight 6 or 7 and pens 3 with no conversions
Alternatively tries are a straight 6 or 7 and pens 3 with no conversions
That takes the game even further from its roots, which were to ground the ball so that you could score more points by kicking, I seem to remember. 🙂
Talking about dropgoals, I do think that missed DGs should be treated like any other kick, in that if they go dead a scrum will be awarded to the opposing side from where the DG attempt was made. I hate speculative DGs!
That takes the game even further from its roots, which were to ground the ball so that you could score [s]more [/s]points by kicking, I seem to remember.
You only scored if you kicked the conversion, hence the terminology try.
The back-from-the-point-of-scoring conversion is something I wish was transferred to NFL touchdown conversions, which are all taken from behind the post.
Id like to see penalties reduced to 1 or 2 pts, but with more use of sin-bins for cynical infringements.
As said above, a "touchdown" didn't score any points, it awarded the team "a try at goal".
The beauty of the penalty at 3 points is it keeps team honest in their own half. Nearly all international kickers have a range within half of the pitch. By reducing the points it would encourage foul play everywhere.
A drop goal isn't the same as a kick gone dead, because the ball touches the ground before it is kicked its treated the same as a grubber kick. 22 dropout.
Certainly speed up conversions, give the kicker 30 seconds rather than 60. Stops all of the ritual jigging and grass throwing.
The back-from-the-point-of-scoring conversion is something I wish was transferred to NFL touchdown conversions, which are all taken from behind the post.
In the original game of Rugby Football, tries were scored between the posts so the goal attempt was always taken in front.
Indeed. And AFAIK, in American Football rulebooks, a touchdown is still referred to as a try...I [i]think[/i]...as it also allowed a team a kick at goal...need to check up on that...it has changed a lot since.
How about rugby borrows from NFL and offers an extra point conversion for running the ball over the line instead of the kick? 😀
Indeed. And AFAIK, in American Football rulebooks, a touchdown is still referred to as a try...I think
The ancient St Helens scoreboard still shows Trys and Goals - converted trys.
You have a minute for a conversion,what's that; one re-set Scrum? The climax of the Wasps game has left me a fan. As said, cast your mind back a few years,opo team were going through phases and making ground, somebody would fall over and kill the ball once they were inside the 22. Despite the shoe'ing all it would cost is 3 points. Now it is three and 10 mins,so it has improved the game as you are less likely to do it.
Rugby's gradual decline to chavball gains pace with Watsons 2 weeks for verbal abuse of the 4th official...still at least he will be available for England this summer!!
My pet hate these days is players whinging to the ref for penalties all the time. Biggar does it a lot.
http://www.rugbyonslaught.com/2016/04/nigel-owens-telling-off-parisse-not.html?m=1
. ...agree a_a, and ^Parisse has got plenty of previous too.....
I think that something needs to done about a) the amount of times at penalties/conversions and b) reset scrums
For a) I would just like the rules to apply. You have one minute from the time of the whistle to the time that it must be taken. If the clock is stopped (injury, TMO review) then the whole set up should be done while time has stopped and you have 10 seconds to take it after time has restarted.
For b) apply the rules. Scrums should not push until the ball has gone in and binding must not be on the arm. These are the rules, just apply them. Any prop boring in should get a yellow card. Problem will stop overnight.
And for any player appealing for a penalty. Give one - against them for referee abuse! It would stop immediately.
Watson should have had a longer ban - once you have a card (rightly or wrongly) just leave the pitch. The ref is right - you may or may not agree with the decision but for this match they are never wrong.
sadmadalan + 1
love the nige clip
And for any player appealing for a penalty. Give one - against them for referee abuse! It would stop immediately.
When was the last time you saw another 10 meters given on a penalty too
and for b) Id add straight put in and hook for it.
Anyway, getting all geared up to take Jr to Warriors vs Wasps on Saturday.
Probably last time we get to sixways this season.
Im expecting to get a shoeing, but you never know....
Back watching 7s in the lounge at HKG again! Just seen France hammer NZ. To nil.
A question - is the ball at the 7s tournaments a different shape to 15s? Looks rounder to me (Could just be the strength of the excellent Bloody Marys the barman has been mixing this morning though! 😳 )
- once you have a card (rightly or wrongly) just leave the pitch. The ref is right - you may or may not agree with the decision but for this match they are never wrong.
Larry Dayglo deserves credit here. I forget the game, but remember him being sent off rather harshly. He jogged off, and the only reaction was an almost Roger Moore-esque eyebrow raise as if you say, 'dafuq?'
Take the decision. Get off the pitch.
As the great Nige said, this is not soccer.
Guess the decision in the joke12 this week.
https://streamable.com/uk34
oof. Mind you, as he says, at least he only got hit by a 14. Got right back up again 🙂
Stoner Jr took a bet with Granddad last night on Chiefs destroying Glos by >10. Oh dear. At a £ a point on the spread, that's going to put a big dent in his Lego fund....
What do the STW armchair refs think of young Maxwell-Keys?
[img] 
[/img]
http://www.premiershiprugby.com/premiership/referees/maxwell_keys.php#Yty3hWqJzZFpcvOv.97
He didnt do much wrong in the game last night, it was a pretty rubbish one anyway. Can't help but feel that the matches under him fail to flow though.
Obviously you are all struggling with the McFadden tackle so for reference here is a similar effort of his from Feb...got a yellow.....best thing the **** ever did was get put on his arse by North!
Surely it should be M[s]cF[/s]adden with all those shoulder pads?
Nasty cheap shot tackling there. Not that it's tackling, really.
Anyway the incident from last night was only deemed worthy of a pen...if he was Samoan it would have been a ( quite rightly) a red.