Set piece magic
John Solomon (38)
I can't be the only one out there that finds it a complete affront to Australian values that the bloke who called Eddie Jones a traitor is speculated to be banned from Wallabies games for five years as reported this afternoon by The Australian. Outrageous, and a disgrace if it goes ahead.
On the actual incident itself, I see far, far more problems with Eddie Jones' conduct than the fans. Eddie says "come over here and say it", in an absolutely hostile voice, in contrast to the fan. Eddie's comments could easily be interpreted as egging the man on to fight him. The fan doesn't swear, and backs away from the situation, calming things down as Eddie goes completely troppo. Yet he faces a ban? What for? I cannot agree that the expression of an opinion constitutes abuse at a football game.
It may upset the cabal of fawning sycophants and good old boys that have nothing but praise for Jones, but for me, I firmly agree with the fan.
The fact is that the RFU, Eddie Jones' employer, has absolutely caused enormous problems for Australian Rugby. They have blocked reforms to the game that would make it more appealing at every step of the way. They have blocked Southern teams getting a fair share of revenue when they tour there. They have a gerrymander on voting, stacking committees and also a gerrymander on the actual votes at the highest level, where all the home nations get two votes each.
At the organisational level we are so anti their influence on the game that we publicly campaigned for Agustin Pichot to topple Bill Beaumont (RFU, and current World Rugby Chairman). It's a damn shame we didn't roll him. Even a casual fan would easily know that Australian Rugby is very, very firmly against the governing actions that have come from the North and in particular the RFU.
This organisation, which is basically the platinum sponsor of driving the game into the dirt here, is Eddie Jones' employer. A question every Australian rugby fan should ask themselves is, why are you employed by the organisation that's crushing the future of this great game here?
Also, aside from the fact the fan was dead right, can we also cover the fact that professional criticism of Jones is not actually abuse. There is a clear line between abusing someone (typically swearing, yelling, going nuts at someone) and criticism. I think Jones' association with the RFU warrants very strong criticism, and think the fan was perfectly justified. Perhaps there are too many executives at Rugby AU on the Randwick BBQ circuit?
On the actual incident itself, I see far, far more problems with Eddie Jones' conduct than the fans. Eddie says "come over here and say it", in an absolutely hostile voice, in contrast to the fan. Eddie's comments could easily be interpreted as egging the man on to fight him. The fan doesn't swear, and backs away from the situation, calming things down as Eddie goes completely troppo. Yet he faces a ban? What for? I cannot agree that the expression of an opinion constitutes abuse at a football game.
It may upset the cabal of fawning sycophants and good old boys that have nothing but praise for Jones, but for me, I firmly agree with the fan.
The fact is that the RFU, Eddie Jones' employer, has absolutely caused enormous problems for Australian Rugby. They have blocked reforms to the game that would make it more appealing at every step of the way. They have blocked Southern teams getting a fair share of revenue when they tour there. They have a gerrymander on voting, stacking committees and also a gerrymander on the actual votes at the highest level, where all the home nations get two votes each.
At the organisational level we are so anti their influence on the game that we publicly campaigned for Agustin Pichot to topple Bill Beaumont (RFU, and current World Rugby Chairman). It's a damn shame we didn't roll him. Even a casual fan would easily know that Australian Rugby is very, very firmly against the governing actions that have come from the North and in particular the RFU.
This organisation, which is basically the platinum sponsor of driving the game into the dirt here, is Eddie Jones' employer. A question every Australian rugby fan should ask themselves is, why are you employed by the organisation that's crushing the future of this great game here?
Also, aside from the fact the fan was dead right, can we also cover the fact that professional criticism of Jones is not actually abuse. There is a clear line between abusing someone (typically swearing, yelling, going nuts at someone) and criticism. I think Jones' association with the RFU warrants very strong criticism, and think the fan was perfectly justified. Perhaps there are too many executives at Rugby AU on the Randwick BBQ circuit?
). He'd have a good chance of winning an unfair dismissal case.
