Rugby autumn internationals

BT Bob

They could have tried the 13-man drive Wales (eventually) succeeded with

I have to say I think it was the wrong call. Even with a successful penalty, it was clear SA would take their time with the restart and thump it as long as possible and keep England pinned back.

All very easy with hindsight, of course.

la gran siete

possibly  but i honestly dont think it matters because the Boks were so in control of the lineouts, as they always are ,that the likelihood of England scoring was like minus zero.Robshaw took a gamble which didnt pay off in the last dying minutes and he is getting flak for it.The bloke is still a rookie  as captain on England and as long as he learns from his mistakes ,like the ones he made the previous week, then the press should lay off him.Its the long term that matters not the short.The performance was better and we shall now see how much they can restrict NZ to who, if they have left their best performance till last , will be looking to put 50 points on the board

gibbsy

Andrew Hore has been banned for 5 weeks. Bradley Davies will miss the Australian test. I think they have treated him quite leniently.

BBC Sport - NZ's Andrew Hore banned for five weeks for striking Bradley Davies

BT Bob

Leniently??? I think it's a complete joke.

I always thought the IRB worked in "matches" not weeks. A 5-week ban means he'll miss the England game, 3 "friendlies" and possibly one league match. These bans should be for "proper" matches.

Also, the IRB seem to have bottled it as their own recomended minimum is 8 weeks for this kind of offence and apparently they were swayed by his remorse and the fact that he's contacted BD every since the assault to see how he's getting on (great PR). Also, apparently, the panel weren't convinved Hore was trying to hit Davies in the head!!!! You really couldn't make it up!

I believe one NZ "journalist" has said he thinks Davies should have been cited for diving! Amazing.

gibbsy

Here's a report from an Australian source:

Always the victim, never the perpetrator: All Blacks must own their acts of violence

But the best one, obviously comes from New Zealand that thinks it has found a motive as to why Hore took out Bradley. In other words it was Bradley that was a fault for hindering Hore getting to the breakdown. Amazing.

Andrew Hore's Motive Revealed by BBC Footage | Stuff.co.nz

BT Bob

I read the Stuff piece and it's definitely one of the more balanced reports! Like the others, of course, it ignores completely the fact that Davies was under no obligation to get out of Hore's way.

More worrying, is the news that Davies is suffering memory loss as a result if this assault. I hope he makes a full recovery. He will, sadly, miss at least the next 4 weeks - including an international, 2 European Cup matches and a league fixture. Just makes the 5-week ban seem even less of a punishment.

travid

Enough is enough. Hore should be prosecuted for unprovoked assault. The bulls*** about sport almost having exclusion from the laws of the land. Racist chants at football and fans assaulting others. Are they excluded from prosecution? Well no, not really! So why is this thug be allowed to escape prosecution for poleaxing someone for lazy running?

If he did it 20 yards to the left i.e. off the field, lets say for someone spilling his drink, would they say that it was part of being a supporter. Players involved in physical contact sports have as much responsibility not to set out to hurt an opposing player just like any other citizen! Lazy runner has turned into a victim of a viciuous, unprovoked assault. Hore should be prosecuted just like an other citizen, not excluded because of some unwritten exclusion/excuse

la gran siete

i shall  watch with some interest which Welsh players will raise their hands for their Lions squad.Based on the AI matches, so far i have mostly Irish players

pault2007

Just seen the England team for tomorrow.

I can't believe Courtney Lawes and James Haskell are on the bench - you need all the experience you've got against the All Blacks.

And I reckon Andrew Sheridan would've been better alongside Dan Cole than Alex Corbisiero.

BT Bob

Fair point. I would say, on current form, there's only Halfpenny, and Warburton. Adam Jones will go - unless he's still injured - because he's the best tight-head in the northern hemisphere at the moment. The only other possibilities are, IMO, Cuthbert & North.