More inconsistency

Rassie Erasmus is to face a misconduct hearing, due to his releasing of the now infamous video, and we all knew it was coming... it was just a matter of what time.... what date.

I don't like the fact that Rassie did what he did....  but I do fully understand why he did what he did.

No clear response or feedback to his queries from the ref.

No clear response or feedback to his queries from world rugby themselves.

No notification that new changes had been made on meeting times and dates from world rugby, and that they now only meet on Tuesdays for feedback sessions... as per the six nations policy, which we do not participate in, so we could never have known......... lots of different issues which clearly built up and frustrated a coach who is in charge of a Lions series, which only happens after every 3rd rugby world cup competition..... just think about that for a second.

Take that with all those ref errors and it does not look good, any way you dissect it, or look at it.  If there is one thing for me that comes out of this entire fiasco, it's that I have enormous levels of respect for these refs..... it is an incredible job that they do, to try and officiate the game and still catch all these minor or major transgressions.... I honestly have a new found respect for what they do as a profession.... incredible work indeed, and it should be appreciated more.... but at the same time, the refs need to be held accountable for outright blunders.... it's the only way anyone learns, and the game will be better for it.

Kolisi was treated differently, no doubt in my mind.... especially when the ref laughed at him about the knock on....but in my opinion, it was his own fault in some ways, he should have spoken up more and been more assertive with the ref on the field.... but he will learn from it.

The reason for this post, is that I am actually more concerned with this latest act by world rugby, with this hearing for Rassie….. which he fully deserves....let me be extremely clear on that.... but he also deserves the full opportunity to state his case.... but more importantly...... again, it is not a fair or consistent act from world rugby.... in fact, very far from it.

Why is Rassie being singled out here, when Gatland was the first one to criticize the TMO and world rugby, long before Rassie's video came out.

Why has nobody at all from the Lions team or Gatland himself, been warned, chastised or summonsed to attend a hearing for anything yet?

Let's recap:

Warren Gatland was quite upset about the Faf incident in the SA A game, and questioned in the press why Marius Jonker did not give Faf a red card instead of a yellow card.... Gatland's exact words about that incident were... “Someone was watching a different picture to me” …...“There was definitely head-on-head contact.”

Nothing at all happened to Gatland, not a warning..... not a mention from world rugby.

Then the Lions, who were extremely upset about the TMO being a South African, and accusing world rugby of …exact words..... "a lack of thorough planning"...….. "lack of foresight"..... "There was not a Plan B put in place"..... because world rugby continued to allow Marius Jonker to officiate as TMO, which in my opinion is just downright stupid, no matter what sport you play, anywhere in the world.... it is best to always rather just remove any obvious possibility of bias or favoritism, by not having a local representative making any tough calls which could decide the outcome of any event.

The Lions basically called world rugby's decision making process and Marius Jonker's integrity into question, because as most would or should know, Marius Jonker's son, also plays rugby, and he plays with Kolisi for the Sharks..... and this was again possibly a reason for Gatland's open criticism in the media, of Jonker's yellow card for Faf……. Gatland got away with that one, with not even a smack on the wrist.....

It's the next incident which actually astounds me.

The Lions then insisted to the media that they only found out about the local TMO being appointed on the Wednesday before the game, but world rugby have vehemently denied and refuted this, and there are many articles showing this, including this quote below directly from Reuters.

But World Rugby said that they did go through various contingencies with the teams prior to the tour, and it was decided a local official was the best way forward.

“In the case of this test series, local appointments were identified prior to the tour as contingency in the event that a member of the appointed match official team was unable to participate,” the governing body said in a statement to Reuters on Friday.

“All options have been explored, including having a neutral TMO operate remotely, but these were simply not viable.”

World Rugby added that there is recent precedent for non-neutral match officials to take part in international fixtures.

“In line with World Rugby’s contingency plans, when the pandemic impacts published match official appointments, the priority is always to ensure that matches can be played".

“This approach has successfully served a busy and geographically complex July 2021 window where amendments have been necessary and planned for".

“This COVID approach also operated at the 2020 Rugby Championship, where non-neutral referees, assistant referees and TMOs were appointed.”

So all of this happened prior to Rassie's video being released.... but I have yet to see any article about any member of the Lions squad, being notified to attend any disciplinary or misconduct hearing, but Rassie has to?

What Rassie did was completely wrong, but his back was to the wall, and given all the various extenuating circumstances behind why he did what he did....  I 100% fully support him.

The Lions have brought world rugby into disrepute, even basically calling them liars about the TMO issue, but not one single thing has been done about it by world rugby, and it got so serious that world rugby decided that they themselves had to put a press statement out about it, refuting the Lions claims that they were not informed about the TMO..... but still nothing at all was done to anyone.

This is another pathetic and inconsistent display from world rugby.... on the application of any rules or laws of the game or their own organization..... with certain people again being treated differently to others...…..and this is exactly why the Rassie video was released to begin with.

Welcome back DA...glad to see you are alright...you had some of us worried about you...Rooinek especially.

Yes on Rassie's storm in a teacup I tend to have the same view.

It's unfortunate that people cannot see deeper into the intentions...they judge incorrectly. Rassie is a good human being and a great motivator and peer for the players and yes he's got balls...he stands up (did not run the ref down) merely asked honest questions which should have been answered timeously.

Thanks Seb, it's good to hear that everyone is doing well, especially during these difficult times for so many people

I agree with you, there was so much going on here behind the scenes.... it goes way deeper than what we see at surface level..... just imagine what these guys know that they cannot reveal to the public

I am more concerned with how world rugby have responded to all of this

Not even remotely consistent with any decision making at all

Haha geez, DA!!!

Welcome back man.

You know everyone thought the worst, right? Glad to know you're all good but jirr, there's a pandemic going on guy, say something next time. 

I'm also behind Rassie on this one. Perhaps it's my distaste for authority but I can't see how it's bad for the game. Checks and balances, peer review and honesty. We need more of it.

Did you see Loma's come back fight? Beast mode. 

Gutted that Fury v Wilder was postponed. 

The big one...Canelo has called Spence Jr out. I get goosebumps just thinking of that fight. Will 100% be booking tickets go and see it. 

You'll be happy to know that nothing has changed here.

Where have you been? 

Again, l ekker to have you back :)

Hey Plum

I hope you are doing well bud, it's good to be back and especially to see that everyone else here is also doing well

Watched Loma, as usual, he was incredible.....he is a genius....I hope he gets some bigger fights soon later this year

I have the same feeling about Fury vs Wilder....what a damn pity

Covid is playing games with everything around the world which is crazy hey..... and I "hear" that Fury was not 100% ready, so let's just say that Covid could have come at a opportunistic time for him 

To me, Wilder just looks different in some way.... far more focused, way more intense..... I still hope Fury absolutely destroys him though.... what a pathetic guy to accuse Fury of cheating and blaming his own team for losing..

Spence vs Pacquiao is in 3 weeks time, and that should be one hell of a fight.....but to even imagine Spence vs Canelo..... let's go, hehe, can't wait..... who do you have, Manny or Errol?

Kamaru vs Covington coming up soon, which was a epic 1st fight, so I can only imagine that this one will live up to the same hype...… how was that knockout of Masvidal by Usman.... holy shit dude.

I have just been focusing on other things for a while now, taking a break from online activities, social media.... etc etc..... it just gets too much.... too busy, so that's never a bad thing in my book.....

Despite what "some" people on here have been saying and professing for such a long time, Covid is real, and Covid is very deadly.... I have unfortunately experienced it far too often, especially during 2021

Never have I lost so many friends and acquaintances to just the "flu"....and in one particular instance, it was my friend and his wife within 3 days of each other.... which is crazy, because all the people I know that lost their battle to Covid were not even remotely in any career or job position to put them directly in the line of fire from Covid..... it makes no sense, but it's a daily reminder of what we face

I absolutely hated the fact that I had to put something foreign inside my body, and it was something I really was against doing..... but I decided to take the vaccine, against all my own personal doubts and beliefs, purely because after researching it, in full on OCD like fashion, I knew it was the correct thing to do, especially for my family, and I also didn't want to be "that guy" on his deathbed saying, "if only I took the shot"

I have never once had a flu shot or any other kind of yearly jab, so this was a massive personal decision for me, but the relief of getting it done was actually far more surprising... it gave me a peace of mind that I never expected...

Edit: I have not yet experienced what Covid feels like, and I certainly hope not to..... for as long as possible

Let's hope we can all still say hi to each other, come July 2025

If you are going to make a video, you firstly have to have your house in order. He doesn't. If I were him, I'd have submitted the video to whoever was concerned at the IRB. If I wasn't being heard, then I'd make itt clear that lines of communication between me and them have officially ended. From there, I'd simply make a YouTube account, and start posting ref analysis videos there. 

Agreed Aug, I am not saying he did, at all

So you would manage to succeed in doing all of that, and have time to address all your questions, concerns and queries..... to be able to change your tactics, team selection and everything else.....before a possible series deciding game...... in just a few days time

Never going to happen

The aim was simple: Pressure the ref. The part that got me into the topic was using Kwotalisi. Josè knows very well how tetchy the subject is. Using race to induce fear. If ever there was a way to lose my respect, that is surely it. I see Josè very differently after that. In the past two years, refs have been fined, banned and sacked for alleged racism without any proof, only an accusation. I can't abide by that at all. It adds something to rugby that we've never had before, something we don't need. 

Fair enough Aug

I actually agree with what you mentioned in your 1st post, and if the time was available for Rassie to do just that, it was definitely the preferred option, and it might be that he even followed your exact example, by posting those other clips as Jaco Johan on Twitter, but did not do the same with the longer more detailed video... who knows.

The Kolisi "race" accusation is a different issue for me.... I can see how some people would perceive it to be that way, I genuinely do, but I also believe that it is also not entirely fair to 100% say that that was Rassie's sole intention.

Kolisi was treated differently on the filed for that game, by the ref and the assistants.... there is absolutely no doubt about it...… he was openly laughed at when he questioned the one particular decision, and you can very clearly hear it as well... and in the other incident he was just waved away by the assistant whilst the Lions captain was talking to the ref, and that was for the very valid complaint of illegally pulling the Springbok player back from scoring the try.

I am honestly not sure how else Rassie could have directly pointed these issues out, without it being seen or perceived as racist tones or accusations..... they said it was disrespectful and that he was treated differently to Alun Wyn Jones....there is no getting away from that, he was..... but how people perceive that is another story

As I said earlier, I still blame Kolisi somewhat, for that happening, but hopefully he has learnt from it

DA my guess is almost every point Erasmus raised is rebuttable. I have given examples elsewhere. But Rugby is so complex almost everything is an interpretation. Much is custom rather than specific law.

If you watch a lot of rugby  you have a ‘sense’ of when there is an infraction. That sense is what allows the game to flow rather than referring everything for video review.

The one clear mistake ….and it was a doozie….was not carding Hamish Watson. But that mistake rested primarily with the video ref who never made it a big deal. And it was balanced by the Kolbe call in the second test.

For the rest it was a series of close calls you get in every rugby game. Gatland could probably put together a very similar video making the Lions case.

Hi DA and welcome back.

Rassie has said he has reported issues to the IRB and got nowhere.

These lazy leachers have allowed incompetent and even cheats to officiate. They run cover for refs. Hence what happened.

Rassie did exactly what many coaches before him should have done but lacked the courage - shone a big bright light on the Refs misdeeds.  Had he sent in the clip zero would have happened as was the case in the past.

Of course the lions get off scot free. It doesn't not surprise me at all. 

Rassie did the right thing. Why in the world should we tolerate this many years old situation continuing a moment longer.

The series become a joke because of Covid and the fact that there is a South African TMO when the Boks are involved and the fact it is being held in SA.

There is very little respect for this series.   

The TMO is WR's doing...

I wonder why no issue was raised about local TMO's being used  in the last rugby championship....

DA

Ja man, I hear you. I still can't decide whether or not to take this vaccine. Problem is, I've never had ostrich mentality and can't ignore decisions in the hope's of future information making my decision for me. 

Pressure is kinda on now as well, since my age group are now getting the vax. I've already had Covid though and it wasn't bad in my case. Have always had a crazy immune system. Must be a decade since I last had a proper flu. Seems like all that tonsillitis I had as a kid was good training. 

I'm hoping to be able to give it a few more months before I have to make a decision on the vax, but at the same time, this indecision vibe is a kak headspace. 

Eish, Manny or Spence is a tough call. Pacman is fighting like he's 25 and has all experience while Errol is a devastating sniper with great technique. It's a win win for me because if Many wins it's a final big scalp in an epic career and if Spence wins then the new king has taken his crown from a legit old king. One thing is that Spence hasn't been properly tested science he pranged his car. Perhaps Manny could expose a slightly lesser Spence. It's 50/50 for me but my heart has to be with the old man. 

Regardless, I'm a huge Spence fan. Him and Crawford are easily the best boxers in the US at the moment. And both very likable guys too.

Wilder - have you been seeing his training videos? He looks focused but at 34, trying to learn movement and fluttery combos while 6'6"? I think Fury is hoping he tries some of those training combos in the ring. Wilder is a fast-twitch merchant. Were I his coach, I think the best bet would be to study the previous 2 fights and look for ways to create that one opening he needs for the KO. Fury is technically sound but he does have a lot of tells and has never had a good poker face. My advice would be to study and capitalise on that. If Wilder tries to outbox Fury, this third fight will go even worse for him.

Loma vs Teofemo 2 is on for later this year. Have you seen that Loma was fighting with only one hand until the 6th round of the first fight? That's why he started so slowly. He was trying to save his shoulder/career. Apparently, after the 6th he chucked caution to the wind and that's why the fight was such a tale of two halves. I thought it was weird and seeing the stories about the shoulder surgery finally provided an explanation. Loma said he didn't back out because he thought he could beat Teo with one hand haha. 

Still, credit to Teo for agreeing to a second fight. That's what I love about Latin fighters, they don't duck opponents. Too much pride.

I doubt it's possible for Usman to lose to Covington. Haven't seen what bookies say but I can't see them offering Colby much of a chance.

Have you seen Dricus Du Plessis in the UFC? That KO a few weeks back...guy's got some power. Lekker to have a Saffer there. Here's hoping he gets to choke Whitiker out

Edit: Fixed my typos. Apologies. I'll get a new phone soon. Haha I'm almost at 5 years on this phone.

I hear you Plum

I haven't had Covid yet, so I still have the uncertainty of how it will affect me, and I think that was basically the turning point for me to get the vaccine.

If I had been through it like you did, with no major issues, I would in all honesty have probably been doing exactly what you are doing now, and waiting it out a bit..... but there would still definitely be the uncertainty, especially with all these extra new strains with different viral loads.

I agree with you, I am also going with Manny, even though I think Spence could win it, he is a tremendous fighter.... I just have too much respect and admiration for the old man, so will always back him..hehe.

I will always be watching Loma, I did know about the hand issue, but I only found out much later after the fight and it all made sense then... the rematch is going to be epic in my opinion, because Teo is a great fighter.

Usman and Covington went 5 rounds last time, then the stoppage was made late in the 5th round.... Colby was sorta holding his own, then got his jaw broken, got knocked down a few times, then got taken to pieces by Usman, so I expect the same to happen again, but maybe sooner this time.

I have watched all of Dricus's fights, interviews, pre and post fight, because I have been a huge fan of his for a long time, since his EFC days. Did you see his recent interview with Joe Rogan when he tells Dana White and the American people how to pronounce his South African name properly, just after his last epic win..... it was fantastic to see and hear.... he said his name will become well known, so people will need to learn how to pronounce it properly.... it was so cool.

DA

Mike Tyson's podcast is becoming really good. I mean, he needs a co-host to keep him on track but some of the guys they are bringing on are legends.

Khabib was on there this week and Canelo not too long ago. Ryan Garcia also - this kid has serious hands. In just the few episodes I've watched, there have already been some live call-outs with Mike just rining up other fighters and saying, " Hey, when you fighting this guy?" Kind of unprofessional but awesome at the same time.

Finally, a podcast that gets the best of the best in and lets them talk for as long as they want to. And I'm very happy for Tyson and his ex-fighter co-hosts to benefit from it as opposed to sleezy broadcasters. All aboard the decentralisation train.

Man, what a great time to live in - despite this Covid kak.

I went and watched Dup's fights after seeing him in the UFC. He's a proper submission artist. After seeing him in the UFC I was thinking that he was mainly an average striker with a lot of power...didn't realise what a ground-game monster he was. Do you know if he's a BJJ black belt?