0
![Not allowed!](images/buttons/up_dis.png)
The hair pull is not the issue. The double-hand strike to Swain's face, which 4 blind men missed is. Deserves a higher sanction than a very low force "headbutt" that would probably see Swain run out of Liverpool as an imposter. Rennie said they'll likely appeal. I hope they do.
"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David
Oh for sure I can see that Swain was baited into the action and hill certainly has some questions to answer. The difficulty is that, by getting red carded, Swain is guaranteed a trip to the judiciary and I don't see much in the way of a defense as he clearly leads with the head.Hill will escape Scot free unless the citing commissioner decides that there was something to see.Forgive my cynicism, but the citing process has been a lucky dip at best this year.
C'mon the![]()
![]()
The problem with the hair pull is that the law is written to say striking, that's where Swain is in trouble, the law also indicates that foul play isn't limited to the listed offences, but that then means it's a game of interpretation.Jargan and Shasta are both on the right track when pointing out the direct strike to the head earlier in the match.That one can easily be argued to meet the red card threshold, the hair pull imho only serves to mitigate swains actions in headbutting hill and therefore the sanction should be at the low range.I don't know whether that can be reduced with an apology and early plea.
C'mon the![]()
![]()
mitigating factor should be that the ref failed to protect Swain when he was the victim of targeted and repeated offenses. An appropriate punishment for the first offense could have prevented the second offense and in turn the headbutt.
Officials should grow a pair and admit they got it wrong and allowed the situation to escalate. More or less allowed the strike to face and then missed the hair pull all together
Laughable.England second row Jonny Hill has escaped a citing for shoving an Australian opponent in the face in Saturday’s first Test defeat.
Hill forcefully struck Darcy Swain with the palms of both hands early in the match as part of an on-field feud with the Wallabies lock that reached boiling point in the 34th minute.
They clashed in the maul, with Hill pulling Swain’s hair, and when they continued their tussle off the ball the Australian lost his cool by headbutting his rival.
Swain was sent off while Hill was shown a yellow card and head coach Eddie Jones later denied that England had deliberately set out out to provoke the Wallabies forward.
The citing officer has declined to trigger disciplinary proceedings against Hill after deciding his shove to the head was not a red-card offence.
Swain, meanwhile, faces a hearing on Tuesday to determined what sanction he receives.
Jones has also evaded any investigation into his comments that referee James Doleman “evened up” the contest as a result of showing Swain a red card.
I guess the citing officer also decided Hill's elbow to Swain's face in the preceding maul was OK too. Or the second one in the same maul. I guess he didn't want to throw the officials under the bus for the clear lack of consistency and judgement.
FWIW I have no problem with the red card, Swain lacked discipline and deliberate contact to the head is clearly outside the spirit and laws of the game.
One little whinge I need to get off my chest relates to ARU/RA and the way they treated the Kala/Wanneroo kids that did the skills session pre-warm up and also the Guard of Honour for Saturday's game. My boy was in one of the teams (U9 & U10s) that were invited to do the pre-game activities, now while it was an awesome day for the kids, one I'm sure they'll remember for a while and they were very lucky to be selected the promises made by RA reps & the treatment of the kids leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
The 2 RA representatives assured us that while the kids were stuck in a room waiting for their opportunity to hit the pitch that they would have snacks & bottled water for them, so we parents didn't give them any food/drinks. When they made it back to our seats 2 hours later (including 30mins running drills on the pitch) we were informed by our coach that the kids had to do a few mins of mediation to get either a snake or sour lolly (only 1 each) which was the only snack/food offered and the coach had to ask for water for the kids. The tap water was fine but the fact we had to ask was poor.
My other gripe is that after ensuring the kids wore the club kit to the game we were informed they would get a hoodie and had to wear it the entire time, even if they got hot..the kicker being that the rep said if the kids made noise while going past the Stan commentators or took off said jumper they would be taken off the pitch straight away. So it was a straight out advertising pitch for Rugby Au. Showing rugby juniors in their clubs colours should be the priority.
That being said the experience was brilliant for the kids (they were the ones behind the wallabies bench screaming out the count down to the Mexican wave they tried to incite!) and the free ticket for a parent was great too..but the food/drink issue bugs me. It really sucks not seeing any western force players in the wobblies but nice seeing a few of us in the crowd in WF shirts!
Bring on 2023 WF & super rugby
#FU ARU
"May I assure you I have just begun to fight mate" Twiggy Forrest, 05/09/17
https://www.rugby.com.au/news/wallab...eadbutt-202275Swain suspended for two weeks, but I find this statement interesting"The committee further determined that given the above off-field mitigating factors and that a three-week sanction would be wholly disproportionate given the level and nature of the offence, the sanction was further reduced by an extra week, resulting in a sanction to weeks*I'm really only concerned that the provocation was used to determine the initial level of sanction (6 weeks) then used as a mitigating factor in reducing the sanction by 50%, but then it appears that the panel had further discretion to apply it again to justify reducing the sanction by a further week, conveniently rubbing him out for the remainder of the England series and making him available for the first test of the rugby championship.I'm a bit confused why world rugby has a widely publicised series of sanctions if they can allow that to be applied (fairly reasonably imho) and then completely ignored if the panel think it's too harsh.It smacks of rugby's perennial self-interest problem. Either an England supportive panel have decided 2 weeks because they just wanted rid of him or an Aus supported panel knows they can't get him back for this series but want him for RC.It's likely not that, but the inexplicable reasoning behind the extra week leaves acres of room for accusations
Exile
Port Macquarie
"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now if you know what you’re worth then go out and get what you’re worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You’re better than that!" - Rocky Balboa
And the formatting was pretty shit as well!
Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon
Full World Rugby decision here:
https://www.world.rugby/news/730020/...wain-australia
"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David