Thursday, November 11, 2010

It's a funny old game

And we're back. We go now to edited highlights of the Herald's coverage of the Mealamu incident.

The duo's contrasting fortunes has irked McCaw, who argued Mealamu and Hartley should have either both faced a hearing - or neither.

McCaw was pinned in a ruck in the 65th minute of the All Blacks 26-16 victory when Hartley - the Rotorua-born [traitor] rake [libertine] with a chequered disciplinary record [loose cannon]- clouted [clouted, I tell you] him with his elbow and forearm, an act that triggered a heated [and entirely justified] response from All Blacks enforcer Brad Thorn.

French [say no more] referee Romain Poite did not take action [cheese-eating surrender monkey] , other than issuing a warning and then penalising [unfairly] Jerome Kaino for an unrelated [but worth mentioning] infringement.

International Rugby Board citing commissioner John West, the former Irish [say no more] referee, charged Mealamu with striking after reviewing footage of the incident but surprised the All Blacks management but taking no action against Hartley, a former schoolmate [guilty by association] of Liam Messam who was banned in 2007 for six months after eye gouging England teammate James Haskell.

...

Mealamu is latest All Black to queue before a northern hemisphere judiciary [they have it in for our lads].

Sione Lauaki was banned for two games at the 2007 World Cup for a dangerous tackle on a Romanian opponent; in 2008 Tony Woodcock was suspended for a week for a punch during the Irish test and last year Daniel Carter was also outed for a game after being found guilty of a supposed [imaginary] high tackle - a verdict that still rankles.

Footage of Mealamu's contact [not a beating, contact] with Moody appears [appears] damning although his defence team will claim [quite reasonably] it was a legitimate clean out at a ruck and the 82-cap veteran [one of the best of men] made contact [quite unintentional] with Moody via the shoulder, not forehead.

Teammates, led by McCaw, launched a spirited [and entirely justified] defence of the 82-test veteran though his captain feared the incident would not be deemed unintentional.

"I think everyone knows what's Keven's like and the type of guy he is [disregard the footage].

"You know he didn't do that intentionally [of course you do] but when you end up in front of the judiciary [inconsistent, biased Europeans] anything can happen, .... history shows not many guys get let off too lightly in this part of the world [kangaroo court]."

See, you don't have to use unhelpful words like "headbutt;" nor do you need to suggest that the All Blacks reaction has anything to do with the forthcoming game against Scotland. In fact, all this is an attack on the man's character.

2 comments:

Peter in Dundee said...

When you are watching the game against Scotland, as you undoubtedly will, look out for me and family and friends as we will be at Murrayfield. I'll be the one wearing black with a Scotland beanie on my head having a seat in both camps.

Rugby being a decent sport, I will not be beaten up for this bipartisanship or arrested as I would be if I tried this in a football (soccer) stadium.

Paul said...

Perhaps we can have a Spot the Gentle Reader competition.

I felt a surge of half-Scottish pride when I read that the All Blacks were terrified of the Scots and would do anything to get a hooker.