Comments on: Hooper’s Bledisloe availability is an utter farce

By: Don P

Don P — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 13:20:06 +0000

PS My above response was to Max, not Leon. Didn’t slot into the appropriate space.

By: Don P

Don P — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 13:17:18 +0000

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.

By: bear1810

bear1810 — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 14:29:04 +0000

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

By: Stesco

Stesco — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 10:40:59 +0000

Hooper should have got a ban ’til after the World Cup ………. nothing to do with me being Welsh !,

By: Leon

Leon — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 10:28:59 +0000

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.

By: Max

Max — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 09:50:51 +0000

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.

By: Niall

Niall — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 09:42:05 +0000

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?!

By: Andy O

Andy O — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 09:26:20 +0000

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.

By: Jacob

Jacob — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 09:19:30 +0000

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.