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Thread: Rugby: Cheika rule violation is buried in silence

  1. #1
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    Rugby: Cheika rule violation is buried in silence

    Sanzar bosses refused to answer questions last night on whether they have covered up an incident that saw Waratahs coach Michael Cheika break the rules by entering the referees room at halftime during the match against the Blues.

    The Herald has been told that the Blues, Waratahs and Sanzar are aware that Cheika, who is also the Wallabies' coach, spoke to match official Jaco Peyper during the break of the week-six clash in Sydney.

    Neither the nature nor the content of that discussion have been disclosed but it is a breach of Sanzar's code of conduct for any coach or player to enter the match officials' room before, during or after the game.

    The Sydney Morning Herald today reported that Cheika has been issued a warning for his behaviour by Super Rugby administrators.

    "As far as the Waratahs are concerned the issue has been dealt with and we've moved on," Waratahs chief executive Greg Harris said.


    "Michael was not even aware of that ruling and would not have approached the match officials' room if he had been aware of it."

    The penalty count at the end of the first half was eight-one in favour of the Blues when the two sides clashed on March 28. The second-half penalty count was nine-one in favour of the Waratahs.

    The Blues are understood to have been suspicious about the massive difference in interpretation and application of the laws they encountered in the second half and shortly after the game they learned of the Cheika incident.

    Blues coach Sir John Kirwan is thought to be conscious that because his side lost in Sydney - their sixth straight defeat - it would be better to stay quiet as he was fearful any public complaint would be construed as excuse-making from the tournament's bottom-placed side.

    But while the Blues have kept the incident in-house, other key figures in the New Zealand game learned of what took place in Sydney and have been dismayed.

    Cheika was last year given a suspended sentence by Sanzar after he was found guilty of verbally abusing a cameraman. The incident took place in Durban on March 29 and the Sanzar release that was issued after the judicial hearing stated: "The judicial officer suspended Mr Cheika from involvement of any kind in all forms of rugby at any level for a period of six months, suspended until August 31, 2015," a ban that would be triggered by a subsequent proven breach of the code of conduct.

    Nigel Hampton, QC, who heard the case last year, also said: "I do not regard Mr Cheika to be a first-time offender and it would be farcical to disregard other matters over the past nine years, including proven misconduct allegations from his time as a professional coach in Europe and a warning from Sanzar during the 2013 Super Rugby season.

    "This matter bears a number of striking similarities with past instances, particularly the use of foul and abusive language towards those charged with running a match ..."

    The Herald made several attempts to talk with Sanzar chief executive Greg Peters and game manager Lyndon Bray, but neither returned calls.



    Tirade led to Umaga ban
    Counties coach Tana Umaga verbally abused match official Glen Jackson in the ITM Cup last year as the two walked down the tunnel. Umaga then pushed into the referee's room and the former All Black captain was suspended for two games.

    England hooker Dylan Hartley was banned for 11 weeks when he was guilty of verbally abusing a referee in a 2013 club game.

    The Stormers were fined $30,000 last year after a handful of players were found guilty of making offensive comments to a match official in New Zealand.

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  2. #2
    Veteran Ecky's Avatar
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    "Michael was not even aware of that ruling and would not have approached the match officials' room if he had been aware of it."

    What a crock! Even coaches at suburban rugby level know that.

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  3. #3
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    You're right Ecky everyone know's that rule. Sounds like porkies are being told along with cover up's and Jaco Peyper should also have to explain his massive turnaround.

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    Wests Scarborough 1st Grade juggernaut has played finals rugby each and every year since its inception and continues this remarkable feat yet again this season and unbelievably it's still rolling on and as an added little circle jerk for the masses Wests actually hold the record for the current longest unbroken finals record.

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    6 month ban would take him right into the world cup...

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    Legend Contributor Alison's Avatar
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    In other walks of life, ignorance of the law cannot be a defence.

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    Proudly Western Australian; Proudly supporting Western Australian rugby

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    Immortal Contributor The InnFORCEr's Avatar
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    Cheika won't go into his shell: Waratahs

    By Darren Walton
    April 10, 2015, 11:03 am


    NSW Waratahs captain Dave Dennis doesn't expect sanctioned coach Michael Cheika to retreat into his shell, despite his latest brush with rugby officialdom.

    Dennis' comments come after SANZAR was labelled a "laughing stock" in New Zealand for not coming down harder on the Waratahs and Wallabies coach for approaching referee Jaco Peyper over a scrum rule during the Super Rugby champions' last-start win over the Blues.

    The governing body has issued Cheika a formal warning, but says "there is no evidence that the referee was influenced by the exchange in his handling of the match, nor in the circumstances has there been a breach of the SANZAR code of conduct".

    However, had SANZAR deemed his actions a breach - instead of a rule breach - it would have triggered a suspended six-month ban, after Cheika verbally abused a cameraman last year during a Waratahs loss to the Sharks in Durban.

    New Zealand Herald columnist Gregor Paul said: "The prevailing view in New Zealand is that using the break to enter the referee's room - regardless of intent or content - is a serious offence and should automatically be considered a breach.

    "SANZAR'S credibility was privately mocked by several leading Super Rugby figures yesterday, who feel the tournament organiser has made itself a laughing stock in the way it has handled the Michael Cheika affair."

    Cheika did not address the media as scheduled on the eve of the Waratahs' hosting of the Stormers, but Dennis said on Friday he didn't think the coach would retreat into his shell.

    "He's fine," Dennis said. "There's been no real mention of it during the week to the team and it's been dealt with by SANZAR.

    "So I can't imagine him hiding away from it."

    Despite the let-off, Cheika is walking a fine line in a World Cup year, with his suspended ban not due to expire until August 31.

    Dennis, though, said no one at the Waratahs really feared having their coach suspended.

    "That's a pretty extreme result if that was to happen," he said.

    Dennis understood Cheika's query to Peyper to be about why the Blues received a short-arm penalty while defending a series of scrums on their line before halftime at Allianz Stadium.

    The coach learnt the Tahs were penalised under the "use it or lose it" law, but they were miffed because they believed their scrum was still going forward.

    "In hindsight, I think Peyper was right in terms of his interpretation," Dennis said. "It was just a question from Cheika, I think."

    Peyper was booed off the field at the break before the Waratahs won the second-half penalties 9-1.

    "I think Cheik was just being passionate about what the law is because we were all bamboozled with what the interpretation was at the time," said Waratahs hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau, who did not play that night.

    The Waratahs say they have put the issue behind them and are ready to "play on" as usual against the Stormers.

    https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sp...hell-waratahs/

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    Immortal Contributor The InnFORCEr's Avatar
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    Conspiracy theories run wild about the referee and Michael Cheika
    Date April 9, 2015 - 8:07PM
    Georgina Robinson
    Chief Rugby Reporter


    Was this the opening salvo in the World Cup year mind games?

    In the grand tradition of Suzie Catering Co, allow us a conspiracy theory.

    A Wallabies coach vulnerable to the merest hint of misconduct is exposed in New Zealand for a supposedly explosive new code of conduct breach.

    Except that it wasn't a code of conduct breach, it was a broken rugby law, and the figure at the heart of the relevant law (6.A.7 stipulates that referees must not talk to anyone other than other match officials during a game) was a referee, not said Wallabies coach.

    SANZAR dealt with the matter sensibly on receipt of the Blues' formal complaint late last week, making inquiries with Michael Cheika and Jaco Peyper and responding with official warnings to both parties on Tuesday and a competition-wide reminder of match protocols. The investigation was wrapped up by Wednesday, although the Blues were not officially notified until Thursday morning.

    SANZAR's biggest mistake - especially in a World Cup year, and especially when the matter involved Cheika - was keeping it quiet. When unnamed New Zealand rugby officials caught wind of the incident, the media were tipped into it and chased the story. Talkback radio across the ditch went crazy.

    Another Cheika outrage! A SANZAR cover up! A bizarre follow-up opinion piece in New Zealand on Thursday even claimed the matter was only investigated after it published the story. Try a week earlier.

    The facts of the matter prove a few things. Cheika should have known better than to approach the referees' room to ask about Peyper's interpretation of scrum laws at half-time, no matter how inexplicable he and others found the preceding six-minute scrum battle. He is a coach with history and is well aware of the suspended six-month ban that still hangs around his neck. Peyper - probably rattled after being booed off the pitch by a hostile Sydney crowd - should have known better than to engage with the Waratahs coach. The Blues were well within their rights to complain to SANZAR about the illegal interaction. And the governing body took the appropriate action.

    Look any deeper into the matter and you'll end up finding the answers to who really gave the All Blacks food poisoning in 1995. You've got it. It was Michael Cheika.

    http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/un...d.html?stb=twt

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  8. #8
    (a.k.a. Mr Pinkbits) Stone Cold's Avatar
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    I thought the crowd were booing the Waratahs. That's what they do.

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    coz Stone Cold says so

  9. #9
    Immortal Contributor jono's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stone Cold View Post
    I thought the crowd were booing the Waratahs. That's what they do.
    Especially @ home games

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