So the SANZAR judicial committee have rolled their roulette wheel of bans and come up with one week (reduced from two for good behaviour) for Michael Hooper. It is the latest in a long line of bans that are woefully inconsistent in length from the Southern Hemisphere’s governing body.
What sticks in the craw most is not the length of the ban, however (although I firmly believe one week is insufficient for a punch that could easily have knocked Sanchez out). The Argentine committed his own act of foul play (worthy of a penalty, nothing more) so there was provocation, and Hooper’s record is squeaky clean – so I can just about get my head around two weeks reduced to one.
The utterly unbelievable part of this story is that Hooper and the ARU somehow managed to convince the judiciary panel that the flanker would have been taking part in a Shute Shield game for Manly this weekend.
Are you kidding me?
The idea that Australia would risk their vice-captain in a club game – two levels down from Super Rugby – a week away from back-to-back Bledisloe Cup games (not to mention under two months away from the World Cup) utterly defies rational belief.
How anyone with any vague interest or knowledge of rugby – which the chaps sitting on this panel presumably do – bought that line, I don’t know. Even Hooper and Cheika must have found it difficult to hide their joyous disbelief when the verdict was passed down. It’s good to know Hooper has a career waiting for him after rugby as a hypnotist/sorcerer/professional bullsh*t artist.
The ARU were clever in claiming that several bench players had been made available to their clubs for the Shute Shield quarter-finals this weekend, but as of now none of them other than Hooper has been named in any squad. Hooper, as it happens, was only named on the bench for Manly (because presumably they have better options available than the Wallaby vice-captain).
To be clear, this isn’t an indictment of Hooper or the ARU. Hooper saw the red mist and lashed out after being provoked – in the high stakes environment of international rugby, you’d have to be pretty cold-hearted not to forgive him that. And obviously he is going to do anything to try to make himself available again as soon as possible for the Wallabies.
The problem I have is with the insignificant ban and its pointless enforcing this weekend.
For the conspiracy theorists out there, this is the same judge that cleared James Horwill of stamping on Alun Wyn Jones’ face during the 2013 Lions tour – a decision the IRB felt was bad enough that it appealed for the first time ever. Nigel Hampton QC, a kiwi, is perhaps a closet Wallaby fan.
The solution seems obvious. Football, and it’s rare I’ll admit to envying our round-balled cousins, has a simple system – offend in an international match, receive a ban for international matches. Offend in a club match, receive a ban for club matches. Surely it’s time rugby adopted a similar system.
UPDATE
While writing this, it has emerged that SANZAR has actually appealed its own decision. Graeme Mew, the Canadian judge who failed to uphold the IRB’s appeal in the Horwill case, has reviewed the Hooper case and referred it to an appeals committee. Hampton is (to my knowledge) now the only judge to have had a decision appealed twice.
The committee will hear the case via video conference on Sunday, the day after Hooper was due to play for Manly in the Shute Shield. Presumably he is gutted that they won’t meet sooner so he could play in that game.
By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
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Ridiculous system.
Imagine how different Hartleys career might be if that new system you suggest was in place a few years back? He’d be a Lions tour and two WC’s better off for it.
Aside from the enforcing of this; is it not strange that Hooper could have got a 4 week ban for this incident, and yet played in the WC from the start. Hartley however, got a 4 week ban back in May that stops him from playing early parts of the tournament. Doesn’t really feel that fair. SH teams appear to have an advantage for the WC based on their season.
Yes, whilst you may forgive him for the retaliation in the heat of battle, lets be honest, it was a violent lash out that really didn’t match the foul that was being done to him.
The ban in international sees you banned in club games thing/vice versa is fine by me. But the fact that he’s getting away with claiming he’d be in the Manly squad is the biggest joke.
It’s happened in the northern hemisphere where a player has been banned and the ban has been adjusted to take into account the fact the player wouldn’t have been playing during the ban period anyway.
Couple examples: Cian Healy got a ban for stamping for Ireland v England in 2013 (10th February). He got a 3 week ban, which was delayed a week so that he missed (in theory), two Ireland games (v Scotland on the 24th and France on the 9th of March). There was a Leinster Pro12 game on the 16th which Healy wouldn’t have been playing in, UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES. He was promptly released and despite a little ho-ha, was available for Leinster.
This season, Nakarawa was banned for Glasgow, and it was delayed for two weeks due to the end of the 6 Nations and therefore a break in the Pro12. Can’t remember if he did or not, but he was certainly available to play club rugby in Scotland in those two weeks, but missed 3 Glasgow games.
Also, didn’t Dylan Hartley get a ban that was split. He got the ban near the end of the season, and it was split so that he wasn’t serving it during his summer holidays?!
I like your idea of matching the kissball system and think it’s a good idea. However, I wouldn’t have banned Hooper at all for this incident. I’d say it was handbags, triggered by yet another whining Argie who can’t help but cheat. Watching them is infuriating, they fly in the face of everything that rugby is about. If they used half the energy they waste on cheating and whining, they’d be a half decent team. I know the Pro game left our traditional values behind some time ago and they don’t think twice about playing ‘on the line’ – getting away with whatever they can etc. But the Argies are on another level and shirt pulling like that (if you’ve ever had it done to you?) is absolutely infuriating. The height of cowardice by a player/team who realise they’re just not good enough to compete on a level field. Had the ref seen it at the time, I’d like to think he’d either bin both or talk to both and leave them to get on with the game … with MAYBE the Argie learning what you get for cheating.
Handbags is a bit of shoving and pushing, grabbing people by the collar and getting in peoples faces. This was a full blown right cross to the back of the head.
Had the try not been scored, the shirt pulling would have been a penalty only, which would then have been reversed due to the retalliation. That said Sanchez will think twice before grabbing a shirt again.
Yr tone seems to border on the prejudicial & perhaps by yr reckoning Dylan Hartley must have been born in Argentina too then. Didn’t he get off scot-free when similarly pulling Dane Cole’s jersey @ HQ not so long ago?
Personally I found that particular incident of ‘shirt pulling absolutely infuriating’, although ‘The height of cowardice by a player/team who realise they’re just not good enough to compete on a level field’, may have been over egging it a tad.
This whole incident is taking on proportions suggesting that the approaching WC is almost insignificant. Perhaps this because there is so little rugger to comment on @ present.
Hooper should have got a ban ’til after the World Cup ………. nothing to do with me being Welsh !,
Reading the outcome of the hearing the other day was absolutely comical.
Hampton noted “evidence was submitted and confirmed in the hearing that Hooper and other players who needed game time would be made available and scheduled to play on the weekend of 1 August 2015″.
Needed game time!? He’s just played 80 mins vs SA and the second half vs Argentina
PS My above response was to Max, not Leon. Didn’t slot into the appropriate space.