Today’s rugby news has Reds lock Angus Blyth cop a three match ban, Waratah playmaker Will Harrison out for the season after re-injuring his knee, racism “rife” in English rugby and Nigel Owens knocking back a Springboks coaching role to start a family.
Blyth out for three games for high shot on Corey Toole
Rugbypass reports that Queensland Reds lock Angus Blyth will miss three Super Rugby Pacific games for his late, high shot on Corey Toole that left the Brumbies winger bloodied and concussed.test
Blyth launched himself at Toole with a ducked head, collecting the winger on the chin in the ninth minute of his first start of the season. His yellow card was upgraded to red by the review officer. The Reds were without a player for 20 minutes (to the chagrin of Morgan Turinui, who wanted a straight red card and no replacements).
Nathan “Karate Kid” Williamson reports that the SANZAAR Foul Play Review Committee ruled it was a mid-range offence, with Blyth’s early guilty plea reducing the charge from six weeks to three.
“Having conducted a detailed review of all the available evidence, including all camera angles and additional evidence, including submissions from the player and his legal representative, Mark Martin KC, the Foul Play Review Committee upheld the Red Card under Law 9.13,” Foul Play Review Committee Chairman Michael Heron said in a statement. “With respect to sanction the Foul Play Review Committee considered the act of foul play was reckless, direct head contact was made and with high force. The Committee found it was not deliberate and after considering all relevant factors decided the foul play merited a mid-range entry point of 6 weeks. However, taking into account mitigating factors including the Player’s clean judicial record and his acceptance of guilt at the first available opportunity, the Foul Play Review Committee reduced the suspension to 3 weeks.”
Blyth was handed a six game suspension on Tuesday that was downgraded to three. Blyth will miss their trip to Samoa for Friday’s clash with Moana Pasifika along with matches against the Western Force and NSW Waratahs.
The 25 year old had only just returned from an ankle injury, featuring in his first start of 2023.
Will Harrison re-injures knee
Propaganda Minister Williamson reports that Waratahs playmaker Will Harrison has been ruled out for the rest of the season after re-injuring his knee during his comeback with Randwick in the Shute Shield on Friday. The 23 year old was making his return from a toe injury suffered at the start of the season with NSW Waratahs A. It’s Harrison’s second major injury in the space of 12 months, only recently recovering from a multi-ligament knee injury suffered last year against the Chiefs during Super Round.
Centre Lalakai Foketi admitted it was tough to see the popular Harrison go through another major setback, but he had to support of the whole group. “We all feel from him and we’re right behind him. We know when his body is right and he’s able to play some footy he’ll be really damaging. We just can’t wait to see him out there.”
“Best adult film star name” prizewinner, and fellow team rehabber, Harry Johnson-Holmes (ruptured Achilles tendon from Wallabies camp 2022) commented on Harrison’s attitude: “For someone to go back-to-back on major injuries, you’d be pretty concerned about where his head is at but even three or four days out from injuring his knee, he’s got a really good plan. What is most surprising is how excited he is to get the surgery out of the way and get back into work. It’s really admirable but also a tell of how good of a man he is and how much he wants to succeed.”
Soap Dodgers go for lazy stereotypes
The results of independent research compiled at the request of the RFU, Premiership Rugby and RPA paint a damning picture of the discrimination faced within the English professional game according to Sky Sports.
An eight-month investigation was launched after former England international Luther Burrell claimed he saw an alleged racist message in a WhatsApp group involving Premiership players. Burrell, who is of Jamaican descent, claimed racist “banter” had become “normalised” among team-mates, that racism was “rife” in the sport and said he was subjected to comments about slavery, bananas and fried chicken. Interviews with players, staff and parents of academy players found “experiences of racism in every area of elite rugby covered – men’s and women’s game, national team, clubs and academies”.
England lock Maro Itoje is concerned by the picture emerging from around 500 interviews, while touching on moments of racism endured during his own rugby career. “Obviously that’s not a great place to be, that’s not what we want in our sport,” Itoje said. “I guess I’ve had a few experiences where things weren’t exactly what I’d have liked. I’ve never felt my skin colour has held me back in terms of selection, in terms of playing, of how the coaches have perceived me. But I guess there’s been occasions with individuals throughout my time that have been below standard. You challenge the situation. Most people don’t realise what they are saying or doing is racist until you actually explain it to them.”
“Often when you explain to them ‘this is what you said and it means this when you said it me’, once they understand the connotation and context behind it, more often than not they realise and learn from the situation. That’s how I’ve seen it so far. As a society, this is something we wrestle with from time to time. I do think there have been improvements. I do think that if you compare society today to 50 years ago, my experience growing up is a lot different from my father’s experience of the time he spent in London growing up.”
Nigel Owens knocks back Springboks World Cup gig for family reasons
In late February Stuff dot co dot unzid reported that the Springboks were keen to recruit former test referee Nigel Owens to their coaching setup for the Rugby World Cup. Reports in January had South Africa director of rugby (and well-known referee respector) Rassie Erasmus raising the possibility of a leading referee joining the Boks management to help the defending champions negotiate the tricky rules that have words of more than one syllable.
However, according to the latest update, says he has turned down a coaching role with the Springboks because he’s about to start a family. “The main reason why I had to turn down the job is because myself and my partner Barrie have some exciting news to share – we are currently in the final stages of the adoption process and will hopefully be starting our family in the coming months,’’ Owens wrote in a Wales Online column. “There’s not too much I can say at the moment about the process itself, but we are both incredibly excited. It’s something that we’ve spoken about for a few years now and it’s taken a while to get here, but now that it’s happening we can’t wait, although I must admit it’s also a little nerve-wracking.”
“As any parent will tell you, there’s no bigger commitment than raising a child, so that was obviously the main reason why I decided against the South Africa job in the end. I couldn’t, nor would I want to, go away for the next six months with this happening. We can’t have little Richie growing up to learn that one of his dads helped those whining carry-on merchants. We’re a family of New Zealand supporters and that’s the end of it.” Owens didn’t go on to say.
