Teams condoning such acts have to receive tangible punishment, like loss of points
I’LL START 2010 where I finished 2009! There has been some very interesting feedback on last year’s “eye-gouging” article. It appears there is a real appetite for this “crime” to be ousted once and for all.
A life ban for players was suggested; a little harsh possibly. But heavy club punishments found unanimous support. Not just monetary but where clubs condone a player’s violent behaviour, such as eye-gouging, they must receive, as a minimum, loss of points.
Although zero tolerance is applied in nearly all sports, predictably this crime isn’t restricted to our game as it also occurs across the water.
Check out the YouTube footage of Florida Gators linebacker Brandon Spikes (number 51) and see how Florida turns a blind eye on eye-gouging.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta0garYRQ_0
Spikes would have got away with it but for YouTube. And University of Florida coach Urban Meyers had no real hunger to stamp it out. “I don’t condone that,” Meyer said. “I understand what goes on . . . but there’s no place for that. We’re going to suspend Brandon for the first half of the Vanderbilt game. I spoke with him. That’s not who he is. That’s not who we are. He got caught up in emotion.”
Spikes received a half-game suspension, presumably because he only tried to rip out half of Georgia Bulldogs’ Washaun Ealey’s eyes.
The player is clearly the transgressor but ownership must rest with the clubs. A balance therefore needs to be found between punishment for the player and the club, pre-empting the potential for violence. For instance, governing bodies could establish a compulsory education programme to be conducted at club level and audited at national level.
Back at home there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics. In a very cold and quiet week in domestic rugby I decided to browse through some of the league tables on offer and spot imbalances. The Magners League table, in particular, tells a little story.
For instance, Irish rugby is represented by four provinces. Leinster, the top-placed Irish province in the Magners League, have a positive points differential of 57 points. Meanwhile, Connacht have a negative 143 points, which has a swing 200 points between the teams.
The 27 tries Connacht have conceded after nine games have done the damage. Leinster have conceded 10 tries. Buccaneers never seemed to struggle to such a degree and managed very reasonable crowds. Food for thought?
Munster continue to stack up bonus points, leading the Magners League on six bonus points. But it is Ulster who need internal balance. I’ve been at their last two matches and have been very impressed, especially at the RDS. Last week with so many first-team Munster players missing I had high expectations at Ravenhill.
For 20 minutes the game ebbed and flowed, with Munster setting real pace in the opening exchanges but Ulster smashed the Munster ball carriers and stopped their momentum. Then the Ulster scrum kicked in.
Their South African World Cup winner BJ Botha was outstanding and could easily share Tom Court’s man-of-the-match award with his loosehead and hooker.
In the past I’ve referred to the scrum and its importance as an attacking platform. The purpose is to dominate but maintain total control on your put-in. Where possible and when field position dictates, destroy the opposition’s put-in. Ulster managed to achieve the latter with ease but were far too dominant on their own ball. Clearly Munster’s frontrow were in the horrors but they can console themselves that they nearly won the match.
Coach Brian McLaughlin suggested, “It’s just a matter of us holding on to the ball and making the best use of any chances we have.”
That is where the balance must come from. They simply didn’t keep the ball in hand for the remaining 60 minutes, electing to kick away possession.
Ulster’s development is obviously hampered by the Friday freeze. Two hard-fought home game wins in the Magners League would have been a nice curtain-raiser for Edinburgh’s visit in the Heineken Cup.
All sides are searching for the ability to play varied tempos and styles. Clearly Paul Warwick and Ronan O’Gara can achieve that.
Ulster outhalf Ian Humphries has real oomph in his game, which affords his team-mates real focus. In these days of packed midfields Simon Danielli’s second try was a gem that should have had Ulster baying for blood and Munster in disarray with the ease of their penetration.
Ulster then lost their way. Niall O’Connor’s arrival brought a massive kicking game. Against Edinburgh Ulster will need Humphries and O’Connor to find the balance in their styles that will maximise the power of their scrum.
With the scrum in mind Munster have obvious difficulties in the frontrow but it is the backrow that will be exercising Tony McGahan’s mind in coming weeks.
It’s always very difficult to assess the quality of performance when so many combinations are changed but James Coughlan will add real choice to the number-eight conundrum facing Munster. He appears to be the old-style footballing eight, very aware of his field position and capable of carrying in open space.
The loss of Denis Leamy at eight combined with Nick Williams affects the backrow balance once more. A potential solution is David Wallace at eight with Niall Ronan at seven.
Brian O’Driscoll has finally won that elusive world award, “Player of the decade”. Regardless of its relativity to the IRB Player of the Year, he still won it. In a decade where England and South Africa dominated the world stage by winning the world cups while Ireland failed to make the quarter-finals, he still won it. New Zealand, Australia, France, Wales and Argentina all shone so it is some honour for an Irishman.
