Rugby News from unexpected places

[Strewthcobber]

On the Sth American League.

This is a direct quote taken from another forum from a guy with extensive links to the CBRU (Brazil)

"More infos about the South American League I got after talking to some people involved in Brazilian high performance:

- It will run from February to May/June;
- With this, the Americas Rugby Championship will be in August/September probably;
- Paraguay, Colombia and Mexico might get one team each indeed;
- Argentine players will be all over the other franchises;
- All the teams will have Pacific players too. There will be a minimum of foreign players to rise the level of the teams."

There's also a Chilean group called Pro Rugby Chile who are looking to be the Chilean entrant to the league under the name "Moai Chile".

Twiggy competitor?

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Twiggy competitor?

No. It's a Union driven thing. With private investment. They are more focused on the Americas and eventually linking up with MLR in some kind of Cup capacity.

 

[Strewthcobber]

No. It's a Union driven thing. With private investment. They are more focused on the Americas and eventually linking up with MLR in some kind of Cup capacity.

Sorry - should have been more clear - I meant the competition will be a competitor for players etc for Twiggy's comp. Particularly the Pacific Islander line.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Sorry - should have been more clear - I meant the competition will be a competitor for players etc for Twiggy's comp. Particularly the Pacific Islander line.

Right. Potentially, maybe. Apparently WR (World Rugby) have committed to finding more opportunities for PI players and are said to be a backer of this league. So it's possible. For all the talk from some about not looking after the Islands the truth is there hasn't been more opportunity for players from the region. And it's growing. We have Twiggy's concept, MLR which I know views the region as a source of talent, a mooted third professional tier in France that is set to be established etc.

It's really becoming a small world.

 

[Derpus]

If you were a new league you'd be mad not to look to the Pacific Islands. They produce the best rugby players and the relative wage competition is non-existent.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

If you were a new league you'd be mad not to look to the Pacific Islands. They produce the best rugby players and the relative wage competition is non-existent.

Yep.

 

[stoff]

Romania advancing due to a loss by a team in a match whistled by a Romanian referee isn't a good look. Especially as the penalty count was 18-8 against Spain. Apparently the match is going to be reviewed by some expert officials from WR (World Rugby) to see if the ref was incompetent or biassed.

I do feel for Belgium but a replay with other officials would seem to be the only fair solution.

I don’t see why Belgium or Spain should be disadvantaged. If it is found by the independent refereeing review that the Romanians acted improperly boot them out of the RWC. Referees are representatives of their union after all. That would send a message about what our game will tolerate.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dan54]

I do feel for Belgium but a replay with other officials would seem to be the only fair solution.

I can't even believe anyone thinks this game could or should be replayed, WR (World Rugby) could never allow it and neither they should, the first thing everyone is told in rugby is that the referee is the sole adjudicator of the laws of the game. Spain lost and that's the way it goes, do we have a WC final where some disagree with the ref, so we replay it?

 

[Derpus]

I can't even believe anyone thinks this game could or should be replayed, WR (World Rugby) could never allow it and neither they should, the first thing everyone is told in rugby is that the referee is the sole adjudicator of the laws of the game. Spain lost and that's the way it goes, do we have a WC final where some disagree with the ref, so we replay it?

lol bro, it's clearly beyond 'disagreeing with the ref'. It's was blatant corruption. Constant inexplicable decisions aimed at hampering the progress of a specific team to benefit another specific team. Of course it should be replayed. Screw all this 'the ref is god' shit. On the field, fine they are. Once its over? fuck no, they are not. They should be thoroughly scrutinized.

But sadly i agree, WR (World Rugby) won't do jack and Rugby will cop another PR blow.

 

[Dan54]

Who has actually seen the game? I haven't, and a lot seem to be making comments based on Newspaper reports and some mate who says he watched a bit of it. I agree it shouldn't of happened, but I actually don't really know exactly how many bad penalty decisions etc were made.

 

[Bandar]

Who has actually seen the game? I haven't, and a lot seem to be making comments based on Newspaper reports and some mate who says he watched a bit of it. I agree it shouldn't of happened, but I actually don't really know exactly how many bad penalty decisions etc were made.

Yeah I saw an 8-10 minute package and have to say that Spain played like absolute crap, the refereeing wasn't great but the players were overcome by the pressure of the situation...

 

[Omar Comin']

Who has actually seen the game? I haven't, and a lot seem to be making comments based on Newspaper reports and some mate who says he watched a bit of it. I agree it shouldn't of happened, but I actually don't really know exactly how many bad penalty decisions etc were made.

I saw it live and thought the whole time that Spain were getting screwed by the ref. But I've certainly seen plenty of other rugby games that seemed like that and if it wasn't for the fact I knew the ref was Romanian I don't think I'd have suspected anything potentially dodgy was going on. And maybe there wasn't, maybe the ref was just a bit inconsistent and made several bad calls that just happened to go against Spain. Spain definitely should have dealt with it better, but there's no doubt in my mind it got in their heads. If they had no reason to suspect they might be getting intentionally screwed I think they would have dealt with it a lot better. They'd asked for the ref to be changed weeks before, and with every decision that went against them they lost their minds that little bit more.

It's just a really bad look to let that situation occur in the first place and if there was to be a replay it would have to be on the grounds that the refereeing performance was judged to be especially poor, and that because of the circumstances with the referees the game must be replayed to remove all doubts about integrity and fairness.

Here's a lower level refs analysis of the game btw:

 

[Braveheart81]

But sadly i agree, WR (World Rugby) won't do jack and Rugby will cop another PR blow.

I just don't see what they can do beyond demoting the referee from being involved in test matches in the future and making some harsh statements about Rugby Europe.

I can't see any chance of having the match replayed. It would seem pretty much unparalleled in any sport.

 

[Derpus]

I just don't see what they can do beyond demoting the referee from being involved in test matches in the future and making some harsh statements about Rugby Europe.

I can't see any chance of having the match replayed. It would seem pretty much unparalleled in any sport.

Well, depends. If they find some other evidence of actual wrong-doing (besides being a horrible referee) then it wouldn't be unprecedented.

Plenty of Italian football clubs have been demoted/docked points/fined etc. for sporting corruption. I'm sure there are other examples, but calciopoli is the most famous one i can think of. Compared to those clubs worth hundreds of millions, this is small fry stuff.

Organized crime and corruption in sport is supposedly wide-spread, given the general lack of interest from law enforcement (supposedly they have bigger fish to fry) and the transnational nature of match fixing. I personally would like to see Rugby take a hard line on anything even remotely smelly.

 

[Braveheart81]

Well, depends. If they find some other evidence of actual wrong-doing (besides being a horrible referee) then it wouldn't be unprecedented.

Plenty of Italian football clubs have been demoted/docked points/fined etc. for sporting corruption. I'm sure there are other examples, but calciopoli is the most famous one i can think of. Compared to those clubs worth hundreds of millions, this is small fry stuff.

Organized crime and corruption in sport is supposedly wide-spread, given the general lack of interest from law enforcement (supposedly they have bigger fish to fry) and the transnational nature of match fixing. I personally would like to see Rugby take a hard line on anything even remotely smelly.

If they can connect the referee to the Rugby Europe head who owned the broadcast rights in Romania then sure, people will probably go to jail.

You would think it has to move well beyond World Rugby for that to be a possibility though (i.e. Interpol etc.).

I just can't see it moving with the necessary speed to have an impact on the qualification though.

Samoa is scheduled to play the winner of Spain vs Portugal on 2nd and 16th of June in a home and away playoff for a spot at the RWC.

Prior to that Spain and Portugal have to play off for the right to play that match.

It gives them very little time to be able to do anything that changes those events taking place.

 

[Derpus]

Timetabling issues aside, i see it as similar to a civil versus criminal burden of proof situation. Edit: i think i am being slightly contradictory here.

On the balance of probabilities, there is corruption. Evidence beyond a reasonable doubt? no way. WR (World Rugby) or Rugby Europe can act without meeting the criminal threshold.

Even in our own unions this often occurs. We have our own ethical guidelines that often result in players getting the boot even if they aren't convicted of criminal offences.

 

[Braveheart81]

On the balance of probabilities, there is corruption. Evidence beyond a reasonable doubt? no way. WR (World Rugby) or Rugby Europe can act without meeting the criminal threshold.

I could see them saying that the referee and the head of Rugby Europe have to go, but I don't see how they could extend that to the Romanian team as a whole without a massive investigation that would take a long time.

It's pretty easy to make the connection that the head of Rugby Europe had a vested interest in Romania qualifying, but I think it is hard to extend that to the Romanian team themselves. They have been tainted by everything that has taken place but it is hard to say they are complicit.

 

[Derpus]

True enough.

Here's hoping Spain qualify regardless. Although, beating Samoa is a big ask.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Who has actually seen the game? I haven't, and a lot seem to be making comments based on Newspaper reports and some mate who says he watched a bit of it. I agree it shouldn't of happened, but I actually don't really know exactly how many bad penalty decisions etc were made.

I watched it. Spain were poor in the first half but there were some questionable decisions even then. Spain were penalised for obstruction at one point. But the penalty was only called and then awarded when Spain looked like breaking through. Before that, the ref missed a blatantly late tackle by Belgium. And chose to overlook a shove to the back after the penalty was awarded which in any other scenario in Rugby would have seen the penalty reversed. The offending player actually ran in to push the Spanish wing in the back.

The 2nd half was much worse. Belgium seemed immune from being penalised for offside and high tackles for most of that half.

 

[Rebels3]

28-8 Penalty count, nothing else needs to be said. Plus then the 3 Refs were Romanian, appointed by a Romanian, who knocked back a request to change the ref a month ago from Spain, the same guy who recently purchased the WC rights for Romanian television. That's as funny as it comes.

I'd be leaning towards null and voiding the result, replaying the match it is the only way to fairly play this out