Waratahs v Crusaders, round 15, Saturday 23 May @ Homebush

[The_Brown_Hornet]

In light of some other penalties dished out this season those suspensions are probably fair enough.

 

[cyclopath]

Both of their sentences were originally reduced from entry point of 4 weeks because of their record....

Latu copped an extra 2 as SANZAR are trying to stamp this out of the game and he was the main offender.....

The findings seem pretty straightforward in this case.

Curious. Are they applying these sort of riders to people kicking players in the face, or other such things they surely want to stamp out of the game? It seems odd, and somewhat superfluous to state that an act of foul play is something they are trying to get rid of.
Also the need for Whitelock's medical officer to be there. I thought the penalty was based on the act, not the secondary effect of the act? If you punch someone / kick then / shoulder charge them / tip them the difference between a serious injury or none is often just luck - where a fist or foot connects / at what angle does a player hit the ground / has their shoulder been injured before and so on. Does that make the intent or nature of the offence better or worse? I wouldn't think so.
I have no issue with Latu being banned - it was late, dangerous and stupid, but as ever, these rulings seem somewhat convoluted.

 

[qwerty51]

I am really concerned about judiciaries using medical information as part of the sentence..

 

[Hugh Jarse]

The logic used by the judicial commissioner to determine punishment seems about right.

In the deep dark recesses of my mind, I seem to recall another occasion where there were two players involved in a lifting tackle (6N game I think). The bloke on the bottom got carded (and faced judiciary). The one on top (the Skelton equivalent) got off scot free.

I thought it was a little unusual that one got away with no sanction while his mate got nailed, particularly when both seemed to be equally culpable.

Good to see that this time that the judiciary considered both parties to the tackle equally.

 

[Pfitzy]

What the actual fuck does "youthfulness" have to do with jack fucking shit?

 

[Oldschool]

@pfitzy, couldn't of summed it up better myself. I thought being in your 20s your in your prime on a footy field.

 

[Pfitzy]

Point is: PROFESSIONAL RUGBY PLAYER. All are on the field, old or young, and should be held to the same standards.

That it is even mentioned shows how far behind anything approaching professionalism the judiciary is.

 

[HighPlainsDrifter]

I think I'll go back to my copy of "To kill a Mockingbird" or maybe the "Shawshank Redemption" ...easier reads than the Sanzar processes and minutes . Tah's should probably not appeal and just get on with it ... we may see the group further galvanise as a result (Rugby wasn't meant to be easy - George Bernard Shaw or Malcolm Fraser ..take your pick !) ......

 

[ACT Crusader]

I've got zero issue with Skelton running into McCaw. As others have said, if you're standing between a guy and a legitimate opportunity to tackle someone you should expect to get flattened once in a while. Even the shoulder in that tackle later on was maybe borderline, but most of the time isn't penalised. The lifting on the hand hand he was lucky to get away with.

Where was this legitimate opportunity to tackle? McCaw was several metres away from the player that received the ball and where he wound up to kick.

It was rightly sanctioned as a penalty offence.

I just hope Skelton plays for the Wallabies if he so easily rattled to make several poor decisions.

 

[I like to watch]

I also hope he plays for the Wallabies.
And if he encounters the same situation with Ritchie,I hope he hits him harder.
A lot harder.

 

[teach]

I also hope he plays for the Wallabies.
.

So do I . I don't think he will cope well with the pace of an international game.

 

[Dan54]

Not sure if it a misquote, but was reading Cheika saying because of his height it hard for Skelton to tackle around legs?? Hope this is misquote or something . Anyway I can't really argue with sentence when reading the laws, as I said earlier in thread I didn't have huge problems with Skelton's play, but though perhaps he may get punished by a ref who isn't as lenient in a big game. Probably a good lesson on one way as I think as a young fella, on ways to show you are not soft.

 

[Grant NZ]

I also hope he plays for the Wallabies.
And if he encounters the same situation with Ritchie,I hope he hits him harder.
A lot harder.

So do I, cause the AB's aren't gonna get outscored when they're playing 14 men.

 

[Gagger]

I guess what we're all agreeing is that it should have been Dan Carter who got penalised for using McCaw as an obstruction.

Anyway, haven't seen this many Kiwis at full indignant whinge for a while - which is nice. Just waiting for someone to say Skelton "will get his beans".

Separate note - going into RWC 11 I thought McCaw and Carter were perhaps physically past it. They both physically blew up and NZ squeaked through on a frozen Joubert.

This time round there are a bunch of them in the Crusaders that don't seem up to top flight Super Rugby.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

^^^^^^^^^^ I look forward to Retallick or Kaino smashing Hooper or Pocock out've the way & G&GR's en masse going "ain't no big deal"

Been saying this for a while now but IMO when Richie took his sabbatical it should've been used to install Read as captain, allowing McCaw to drop to the bench (probably too late in the day for him to transition to 6 a la Michael Jones) & sit the occasional one out altogether. Having stuck with him as captain, Shag has kinda painted himself into a corner unless he's planning to do a Dingo & change his captain 2-3 months out from a RWC.

Carter shows glimpses of the player he once was but they're few & increasingly far between. I'd still have him around, just not in my 31, if Cruden were fit but with AC gone he does become our next-best 10. No way he should start the key matches, though.

 

[fatprop]

^^^^^^^^^^ I look forward to Retallick or Kaino smashing Hooper or Pocock out've the way & G&GR's en masse going "ain't no big deal"

Actually if Hooper or Pocock are blocking a chaser's line they deserve it, you will see no complaint from me

Been saying this for a while now but IMO when Richie took his sabbatical it should've been used to install Read as captain, allowing McCaw to drop to the bench (probably too late in the day for him to transition to 6 a la Michael Jones) & sit the occasional one out altogether. Having stuck with him as captain, Shag has kinda painted himself into a corner unless he's planning to do a Dingo & change his captain 2-3 months out from a RWC.

Carter shows glimpses of the player he once was but they're few & increasingly far between. I'd still have him around, just not in my 31, if Cruden were fit but with AC gone he does become our next-best 10. No way he should start the key matches, though.

It is the challenge for every winning RWC team, units get selected (and hang around) that maybe shouldn't on current form, but on past heroics.

I actually think Barrett is a better 10 than Cruden

 

[Gagger]

Those scum who block lines get sorted out at international level

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Actually if Hooper or Pocock are blocking a chaser's line they deserve it, you will see no complaint from me

Bookmarked. And I WILL be checking.......

 

[fatprop]

Bookmarked. And I WILL be checking...

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

[rugbysmartarse]

I watched the match again last night (after only seeing it live). I think the ref handled himself really well. I think skelton should have been carded for the shoulder to McCaw - I think McCaw was relatively still in his line. I think the yellow to latu only was right, and am surprised Skelton has been punished for his involvement, which I figured was benign (without latu lifting whitelock's legs)