Comments on: 6 things we learned from the weekend’s rugby

By: Dazza

Dazza — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 12:28:38 +0000

I think the ruling starts with contact with the eyes, and then wether it is intentional i.e. gouging etc.

Did he intentionally make contact with his eyes? Not clear from the footage available, looks more like a neck roll which went wrong.

By: Leon

Leon — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 10:15:37 +0000

rubbish
England are the harshest country in the world for banning players close to big tournaments for infringements in the domestic league

By: Jacob

Jacob — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 08:59:03 +0000

That’s exactly my point. I possibly didn’t make that clear. If he had been cited for a high tackle, then you’re looking at 2 to 4 weeks, that would be fair.

I’m not sure how citings work. Can they change the reason for the citing? I.e. say it wasn’t gouging but they’ll ban him for a high tackle. Or, is it simply a decision as to whether it was gouging or not?

By: Prophet Enoch

Prophet Enoch — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 15:53:22 +0000

What about a ban for his understated try celebrations? Or has he grown up a little bit since his book sold so few copies.

If this happened in an English league game he could rely on the usual RFU ‘old school tie network’ and not even have been cited so close to the 6n.

Even then it would have been dismissed at the hearing or on appeal and at most he’d perhaps serve a 40 minute ban on a Wednesday afternoon.

By: Dazza

Dazza — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 15:07:43 +0000

Yes that would be harsh. It was a silly and unnecessary thing to do and he should get a ban, but not up to 12 weeks as been reported for gouging.

By: Jacob

Jacob — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 14:06:01 +0000

Personally I think he deserves a ban for a high tackle, which is very different. Based on the fact he has been cited for “gouging”, I just think it’s really harsh.

By: Dazza

Dazza — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 14:01:44 +0000

Ashton has allegedly made contact with the eyes, so unless he gets very lucky he could be banned for a while. I think it would be harsh as it clearly wasn’t an intentional rake across the eyes, more like his arm slipping up during the tackle etc.
But he shouldn’t have started the tackle so high!! Trying to pull a player off a ruck, or another player, if you grab them high, there’s always a chance something like this will happen.

By: Jacob

Jacob — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 11:38:24 +0000

Wasps loss to Toulon was pretty devastating without seeing there had been a knock on. That being said, I didn’t notice in at all in real time so can’t blame the ref. After a WC where everyone moaned about there being too much TMO influence, it seems daft to flip it on its head after one mistake.

Also think you’ve been very harsh on Ashton. I think he can feel pretty unlucky if he gets a significant ban for that.

By: brighty

brighty — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 11:01:12 +0000

If the Os top this group it will be an incredible achievement given their current struggles and the power of Clermont, financially and physically.

7. The challenge cup is a media irrelevance unless it contains an English team.

I had a Tivo meltdown on Sunday so didn’t record the Cardiff Quins game, watched the Sky highlights prog in the eve. 57 mins in, a 30 sec report on the game showed the halftime score and all the Quins 1st half tries. That was it. I had to resort to Twitter to find out that Cardiff actually scored 4 tries in the 2nd half and made a decent fist of a comeback. No info on the Newport game either, plenty of coverage of the Gloucs game.

It’s time to just stop the Challenge cup – nobody cares, it’s a casualty of the competition reorg. Lots of bs lip service was paid to making it a more vibrant comp but the reverse is true. It’s not a totally unloved runt that just drags the season out a bit.