Trevor Brennan you little scamp

Chucky the tree

Ulster are to lodge a complaint with the organisers of the Heineken Cup following ugly scenes during their 28-13 defeat at Toulouse on Sunday.

Coach Mark McCall said the Irish province would be citing Toulouse player Trevor Brennan for allegedly striking Ulster lock Justin Harrison.

Both players were sin-binned but McCall insisted Brennan should have been given a straight red card.

Brennan could be in further trouble for clashing with Ulster fans.

Ulster chief executive Mike Reid was expected to make a statement on Sunday night.

Coach McCall confirmed: "We will be lodging a complaint against Trevor Brennan for what he did to our player.

"We are very lucky Justin has not got something seriously wrong with him."

Ulster lost the match 28-13, although both sides were already out of contention for a quarter-final place.

I thought the French air and wine had helped him mellow a bit, seems not. Anyone know why it kicked off with the fans?

Good to see fellow Celt Gareth thomas willing to jump in though.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/photo_galleries/6285305.stm

mikedragon32

I understand there was some taunting from the Ulster fans while he was doing warm-ups, so he decided to hurdle the advertising and lay into a fan! Still though, with Thomas getting involved too, something pretty bad must have been said. (Not that I'd ever condone violence off the field)

Good ol' Trev... I don't think he'll ever mellow, we just don't hear so much about his antics any more since he left Leinster!

Love the second and third pics on that link Chucky!.... I saw Trevor punching Santa Claus!

spanner

read in the paper that the fan told him is pub does a s**t pint of Guniness and this is what was the taunt

shmaido

spanner wrote:

read in the paper that the fan told him is pub does a s**t pint of Guniness and this is what was the taunt

got a link? really curious as to what was actually said, kinda like the zidane incident, was anybody actually there?

giddyup

According to the BBC they were chanting "your pubs a load of bollocks". Don't know how that would make you want to jump into a crowd and start biffing a chap surrounded by pensioners. Whatever they said to him he was an idiot - it was his last HC game and he must have an autobiography in the works and he was thinking this is the last bit of exposure he'd get on an international stage.

Shame he dirtied his bib in this way as his was an interesting rugby story but this just makes him look like a clown.

smashey

giddyup wrote:

According to the BBC they were chanting "your pubs a load of bollocks". Don't know how that would make you want to jump into a crowd and start biffing a chap surrounded by pensioners. Whatever they said to him he was an idiot - it was his last HC game and he must have an autobiography in the works and he was thinking this is the last bit of exposure he'd get on an international stage.

Shame he dirtied his bib in this way as his was an interesting rugby story but this just makes him look like a clown.

While Brennan has been known for having a short fuse, I have to wonder what was really said when Gareth Thomas lost the rag as well. Also, why does Justin Harrison always seem to be involved with opposing players?

shmaido

smashey wrote:

..Also, why does Justin Harrison always seem to be involved with opposing players?

Exactly my thoughts aswell, thats more than a few times that I've seen other players reacting to whatever he says to them, it happened at the last stand after owen finnegan scored his try, you could him say something to owen but it wasn't even owen who took exception, it was our own ever smiling Gordon Darcy who started throwing hand bags. Loads of other times I cant think but it leads me to thinking that Justin is a bit of an arseh*le, well on the pitch anyway

Snickers Man

shmaido wrote:

got a link? really curious as to what was actually said, kinda like the zidane incident, was anybody actually there?

The Belfast Telegraph has quite an in-depth report. Interesting the parallels between Cantona and Brennan. Each dived into the crowd to duff up a fan who had insulted the honour of something near and dear to them.

In the case of Cantona, it was his mother. In Trev's case, the quality of the Guinness served at his establishment. No doubt about who's got the better sense of priorities, eh?

This is why the French and Irish don't play cricket. Couldn't handle the sledging.

madds

Snickers Man wrote:

...In Trev's case, the quality of the Guinness served at his establishment. No doubt about who's got the better sense of priorities, eh?

I believe Trevor's mother was insulted by the bloke. Still doesn't condone what he did, but if there's one thing that will get the red mist going with TB, and it's a derogatory remark about his family.

redzerdrog

smashey wrote:

While Brennan has been known for having a short fuse, I have to wonder what was really said when Gareth Thomas lost the rag as well. Also, why does Justin Harrison always seem to be involved with opposing players?

Gareth Thomar co-owns the pub with Brennan AFAIK

Sangre

Harrison is always getting into fights. Hes the type player who thrives on aggitating the other players causing them to lose concentration, make mistakes and give away penalties.

Benedict XVI

giddyup wrote:

According to the BBC they were chanting "your pubs a load of bollocks".

Sounds a bit like the classic 'Early bath for your Mr. Cantona', statment by Matthew Simmons when asked what he said to Cantona that proveked hime to come into the stands after him in 1995.

Trojan

smashey wrote:

why does Justin Harrison always seem to be involved with opposing players?

Harrison always has been a thug, nothing new.

Disappointed with Brennan, I know he's a hard man and all but thought he'd know better.

Time Magazine

Trevor represents Leixlip with pride as per usual :rolleyes:.

Terry

I've known Trevor pretty much all my life and have never known him to get into a fight outside of a game. (school yard crap aside)
He's generally a gentleman and i was very surprised to see this on the news.
Shame really.

muffler

Well first of all I wasn't there and I am always skeptical about what is contained in the media especially the english rags but I dont think it takes a mathematician to work out the gist of the comments that were hurled at our Trevor bearing in mind that ulster rugby has a very one sided contingent - both players and fans

omb0wyn5ehpij9

smashey wrote:

While Brennan has been known for having a short fuse, I have to wonder what was really said when Gareth Thomas lost the rag as well. Also, why does Justin Harrison always seem to be involved with opposing players?

Totally agree here. Gareth Thomas having to be held back really makes it look like something seriously bad was said!

And personally, overall i think Trevor has cleaned up his act a hell of a lot since moving to France

il gatto

George Hook and Mick Galwey were talking about it on Newstalk, and they mentioned that the local paper in Toulouse reported that abuse was thrown about his mother and the fact that he's from the South (One can imagine the sort of terms). I suppose the truth is halfway between that and the pub taunts.

buck65

Seems to be a bit of a nasty undercurrent in a minority of Ulster fans and players. Think the IRFU should sort this out immediately.

bobbysands81

Good man Trev - you're STILL the only reason to watch rugby.

budgies_tongue

I have no problem with Trevor's defence of his family, his country or his business or whatever. If these Ulster fans want to bring politics or religion into professional rugby then lets have it. Drop that Irelands Call muck, fly the Tricolour proudly, play all our matches on a Sunday with bucket loads of gargle for everyone!!!

madds

redzerdrog wrote:

Gareth Thomar co-owns the pub with Brennan AFAIK

Incorrect. Trevor co-owns De Danu with a guy from Cork/Galway. Thomas's ex-gf used to manage the bar.

I think it's now a case of damage limitation for Trev. Can't see him playing again this season which effectively means that was his last game for Toulouse. If he wants to remain in the game in a coaching/media capacity, a positive spin is going to have to be put on this - defending the honour of his family.

As for the noble gentleman who said Trevor has let Leixlip down again, can I ask this person to give examples of previous occasions when he has let the town down? Looking forward to your reply.

Amz

Madds, please refrain from calling people names, we don't want this place feeling like the soccer forum.

As a Leixlip native I don't feel let down by Trevor and never have.

madds

fair enough.

thebaz

while brennan was wrong to react like he did, i can totally understand why --
certain cowards hiding in a big crowd think its ok to hurl personal abuse to players of opposing teams -- having played junior level rugby and soccer , i never experienced much at rugby , but soccer witnessed many nasty incidents , some where i was physically restrained from getting involved -- its just mob mentality , and these folk are just cowards , and i always thought Cantona was right to defend his honour in the manner he did , but rugby crowds in general are not as vindictive as soccer .

cgarvey

Jaysus thebaz, that's a worrying opinion! So if the taunt is bad, you (as a professional player) can leave your field of play and hammer someone half your weight? What if the taunt is really, really very bad? Even by "an eye for an eye" reasoning, this doesn't add up.

I could understand Trevor being very hurt or very angry (or both) by some bad comment, but his reaction can in no way be justified. All the debate about what was said (here and other forums) really does show a worrying amount of sympathy. Who cares what was said. It was verbal (neither side is denying that). So a response of brute force, such as that, is not justified.

thebaz

cgarvey wrote:

Jaysus thebaz, that's a worrying opinion! So if the taunt is bad, you (as a professional player) can leave your field of play and hammer someone half your weight? What if the taunt is really, really very bad? Even by "an eye for an eye" reasoning, this doesn't add up.

I could understand Trevor being very hurt or very angry (or both) by some bad comment, but his reaction can in no way be justified. All the debate about what was said (here and other forums) really does show a worrying amount of sympathy. Who cares what was said. It was verbal (neither side is denying that). So a response of brute force, such as that, is not justified.

i did say he was wrong to react as he did -- but if the abuse had been rascist people would be up in arms, some of the personal abuse i have heard has been every bit as bad as rascist abuse , after all players are human beings too

muffler

Loads of abuse is being hurled from the terraces and stands at players and nobody is doing anything about it - well apart from Cantona and Brennan.

I think Trevor did the right thing by attempting to stop the incitement that was prevailing.

At least theres one ulster rugby fan who will think twice before shouting abuse again

Homer J Simpson

Brennan has my support in this one. I've been to a lot of munster matches lately and I've been hearing plenty of personal jibes\insults coming from the terraces. Thats the problem when you have every jackass jumping on the bandwagon. Long term rugby supporters are well aware of the banter that goes on in rugby amongst the crowds however these new plastic supporters obviously are not. Best of luck Trevor it's a pity you were overlooked for so many years by Irish coaches.

cgarvey

Wow (as in I'm genuinely shocked)!

thebaz

cgarvey wrote:

Wow (as in I'm genuinely shocked)!

Why ??
I'm surprised , particularly in soccer that more incidents don't occur.
If you listened to some of the venom that comes out of certain idiots in a hostile crowd at a match , the players themselves who are engaged in the actual contest are then expected to show 100% restraint, just cause they get paid (and in rugby it is relativly not that much !) .
West Ham supporters vindictly chanted at Glenn Roeder they were glad he got a tumour !!! thats the level you are dealing with sometimes -- justified ? sometimes yes , in my opinion.

Time Magazine

madds wrote:

As for the noble gentleman who said Trevor has let Leixlip down again, can I ask this person to give examples of previous occasions when he has let the town down? Looking forward to your reply.

Australia v Ireland, suspended for fighting.
Toulouse v Ulster, found guilty of stamping.
And now Toulouse v Ulster, assaulted a spectator, with another little scuffle.

Pride of the town. A noble gentleman, you might say :rolleyes:.

Amz

I don't see too many others 'round here represting their country or their clubs at such a high level.

3 Incidents you've picked out of his entire career to date. His reputation as a hot-head was not always deserved in my opinion. He seemed to me to be targetted by refs and any incidents which may otherwise have gone unnoticed or unpunished were singled out for attention because people assumed there was malice/anger attached to them.

Time Magazine

Amz wrote:

I don't see too many others 'round here represting their country or their clubs at such a high level.

Just off the top of my head: Mick McCarthy (tbc), David(?) Matthews (Olympic runner), Enda Murphy (All Stars a couple of years ago, widely regarded as one of the best 'keepers in the country), Eimear Fallon (one the best handballers in the world, silver medal iirc), that other girl Fiona (surname escapes me atm, similar to Eimear in the handballing leagues), Maria Moolick (tbc as one of the best footballers in the country).

That's just sport. We can always go on about Dave Geraghty (Bell X1) and the Future Kings of Spain. And that's before we get into the business world etc as representatives for the town.

Plenty of locals who have reached the same level as Trevor (i.e. an uninspiring international career or above) without the reputation. Of course if you're soley talking about rugby, he's almost certainly our best ever. But the best rugby player to come out of Leixlip, tempered with a bad reputation, doesn't exactly win you the Freedom of the Town (heh).

</off-topic>

muffler

Ibid wrote:

Just off the top of my head: Mick McCarthy (tbc), David(?) Matthews (Olympic runner), Enda Murphy (All Stars a couple of years ago, widely regarded as one of the best 'keepers in the country), Eimear Fallon (one the best handballers in the world, silver medal iirc), that other girl Fiona (surname escapes me atm, similar to Eimear in the handballing leagues), Maria Moolick (tbc as one of the best footballers in the country)......We can always go on about Dave Geraghty (Bell X1) and the Future Kings of Spain. And that's before we get into the business world etc as representatives for the town.

If its the ex Ireland manager you are referring to - well I have heard of him (even though you're wrong) but I never ever came across any of the others - famous in their own townlands or parishes maybe.

I had the pleasure of both meeting Trevor Brennan and seeing him play

Amz

Muffler, it's not the ex-Ireland manager.

Most of the people Ibid mentioned would not be known outside of the Leixlip area, or at most Athletics circles in Ireland. Any of them who are "better known" never really performed at an international level.

Anyone involved in Gaelic Football/Handball doesn't really compare to professional rugby. The amount of money pumped into St. Mary's GAA club is unreal when compared to Barnhall where Brennan started and it's not that difficult to be a world champion in a sport played by very few people around the globe particularly if your father is a coach.

CJhaughey

AFAICS Trevor did that guy a favour and put a bit of shape on his physiognomy

Chucky the tree

He was an accountant too, so it was well deservd.


Maybe thats why Ibid is so upset?

Sangre

If you condone smacking a spectator then clearly its ok to smack another player on the pitch. If you think they are any less brutal in what they say then you're slightly naieve. I think we can all guess what type of situation that would result in.

super_furry

He assaulted a memember of the public and, as such, should be arrested. No ifs, ands or buts.

muffler

super_furry wrote:

He assaulted a memember of the public and, as such, should be arrested. No ifs, ands or buts.

Is that so now. What about the guy who is a member of the public who decides to mug some nice old lady and nick her handbag - we let him run past and do nothing just cause he is a member of this famous public.

The public are expected to behave in an appropriate manner and obviously the guy who got a slap from Trevor didnt get it for saying his prayers.

super_furry

No-one knows if the guy said anything to provoke the incident, at the moment it's Brennan's word against a group of supporters.

Everyone can see that Brennan assaulted him - maybe he'll be able to use provocation as a defence in court - but the fact remains, he assaulted him and should be arrested for it.

muffler

In recent times we had a man found not guilty of killing a traveller by taking the law into his own hands. This case is hardly as serious but I think it can be viewed in the same light where the accused party who lashed out felt the need to do so.

I know thats over -simplistic but the bottom line is that if the so called fan had not shouted outrageous abuse at Brennan the incident would never have occurred.

What I would love to see now is a poll on this issue

stooge

muffler wrote:

In recent times we had a man found not guilty of killing a traveller by taking the law into his own hands. This case is hardly as serious but I think it can be viewed in the same light where the accused party who lashed out felt the need to do so.

I know thats over -simplistic but the bottom line is that if the so called fan had not shouted outrageous abuse at Brennan the incident would never have occurred.

What I would love to see now is a poll on this issue

A Poll would be a great idea....


I say fair play to Trevor, I can imagine that this so called 'ulster Supporter' was throwing both personal and sectarian abuse at the player and he fully deserved a good trouncing.

it's just a pity this was caught on camera. He shoulda waited until he came into his pub and battered the life out of him.

Also, the media coverage up north is terribly one-sided. No blame at all attributed to the scumbag supporter.

stepbar

In defence of Trevor Brennan, if it was a remark about his mother well yer man deserved a few punches. Supporters shout sh1te because they know 9 times out of 10 that they will get away with it. Now, ive stood on the stretford end during man u matches and heard the abuse thrown at players, some of it's outragous. Now I know its a different sport by the same idea applies. No player should be subjected to a barrage of abuse. If it takes one player like Brennan to shut some loud mouth up (and a few more besides), well so be it.

Sangre

super_furry wrote:

No-one knows if the guy said anything to provoke the incident, at the moment it's Brennan's word against a group of supporters.

Everyone can see that Brennan assaulted him - maybe he'll be able to use provocation as a defence in court - but the fact remains, he assaulted him and should be arrested for it.

Provocation only applies to murder/manslaughter.

the fnj

Trevor Brennan was wrong to punch the supporter, regardless what was said there is no justification for reacting to provocation in such a manner, what he did was absolutely disgraceful and he has more than likely ended his very successful Toulouse career in a very shameful manner.

If the supporter was shouting about Brennan’s mother and or shouting religious abuse he should be banned from Ravenhill but it is up to the Ulster Rugby board to deal with him not Brennan.

I think everybody has forgotten an important point Trevor Brennan is a professional athlete, part and parcel of sports at that level is people, on and off the pitch, will try and put you off your game. It may not be right but people do it because of people like Brennan reacting in such a stupid manner.

I’ve been a Mary’s and Leinster supporter all my life and Brennan has always been a hot head, he was a smashing player, abrasive, committed incredibly hard working, he was never the most skilful player on the park but he always made up for it with the intensity he played at. However other teams and supports would try and rile him up because they knew he was likely to react by doing something stupid and at the least would concede a penalty. His discipline improved as his career went on but he was never a well-behaved player and to try and claim he is an angel is naive.

I firmly believe he would have gotten more international caps had he been able to control himself but at times he was a liability on the field.

By reacting to the abuse he was given he is encouraging more people to do the same to him, people shout abuse at players to gain a reaction, a true professional will rise above it and not let his team down by doing something so stupid, Brennan will probably be suspended for the rest of the season he is now useless to Toulouse for the remainder of the French league?

It’s a very clichéd point when things like this happen but what message is being sent to young players? I and I’m sure everyone here who has ever played rugby was always taught not to react to provocation on the pitch, nothing would annoy a coach more than a penalty being reversed because players couldn’t control themselves after a foul was committed. It can be hard on the pitch when one player is trying to provoke a reaction but it’s very easy to ignore noise coming from the crowd.

Brennan should have ignored the abuse, or better yet used his anger in a controlled manner and gone out onto the pitch and put in a few big hits, that would have shut up the mouths in crowd.

To move onto the supporter I hope they can find a case against him and ban him from attending games, he should also be named and shamed for his behaviour. The supporters around him should also feel responsible, had a few people told him to shut up I’m sure he would have, part of the kick racism out of football campaign encourages fans to speak out when they hear someone say something out of line, same should have applied here. Rugby is known for having good supporters, nobody who knows about the game wants to see it go the way of soccer.

Sorry for the long post but there is a lot of ill informed points being made here, in any situation physical violence is never an appropriate reaction to words regardless how nasty.

stewie01

the fnj wrote:

By reacting to the abuse he was given he is encouraging more people to do the same to him, people shout abuse at players to gain a reaction, a true professional will rise above it and not let his team down by doing something so stupid

So your saying Zidane is not a true professional?

1.I dont buy into this ''hes a professional sports player'' so he cant react crap anyway. If your a ''professional '' shopkeeper or accountant or watever and 2 or 3 lads come in to your place of business and start throwin abuse about you and your family do you sit there continuing with your work or confront them? Just because he plays sport and is a ''professional'' does not mean its acceptable. EVER.

2.TB plays second row. you dont succeed with out the physical edge that these players have. harris, grewcock, shaw, botha ect..... these all play or played international rubgy. they are also ''hot heads''.

3.Dont know where your comin from about bring shame to leixlip. A man thats reached the top level he could go in his profession. that works three jobs to provide for his family. wat do you have to do to be a success in your eyes. its a physical, at times very hard game.

4. i dont care who you are violence is needed in some circumstances and 1 is when some idiot starts abusing the people that brought you up and made you wat you are today wat ever it is. Zidane, cantona brennan didnt except it and neither do i.

Beaten deserved

damnyanks

It wouldnt of happened if the lad in teh crowd didn't think he had safety in numbers.

While it was a total mismatch and not very pleaseent sometimes you just need to put a line in the ground and if someone passes it do something to make them realise they did it. Generally they dont do it again.

TB shoudl get punished for what he did but I'm pretty confident the lad in the crowd will be very careful about how he acts in future.

madds

Ibid wrote:

Australia v Ireland, suspended for fighting.
Toulouse v Ulster, found guilty of stamping.
And now Toulouse v Ulster, assaulted a spectator, with another little scuffle.

Pride of the town. A noble gentleman, you might say :rolleyes:.

Yes, i remember it well. On those 2 occasions that TB was suspended for fighting/stamping, the whole town came to a halt, and it was spread all over the pages of the Liffey Liar!!

What a joke. Rugby is a physical game. TB is an aggressive player who dishes it out and expects it in spades in return. To suggest that he let the town down after these 2 incidents is well, laughable.

And to suggest that

Ibid wrote:

plenty of locals have reached the same level as Trevor (i.e. an uninspiring international career or above)

is an insult to not just TB but all of those people you have mentioned, some of whom I know personally.

13 international caps between '98 and '01, 3 Heineken Cup Final appearances, 2 Heineken Cup wins, 50 odd appearances for Leinster, came close to Lions call up in 2004, etc. etc.

If that doesn't inspire any young person who is starting out without the benefit of attending a rugby-oriented [insert relevant sport or other discipline here] school, then I give up.

Absolute codswallop (not calling anyone names there mod).

(P.S. Fiona Healy is the other handballer you can't recall)

Clareman

I wasn't at the game or know the player, so I don't have any first hand information on either Trevor or the incident itself, but you can't condone someone climbing through 6 rows of spectators to box the head off someone,. there was a BBC reporter at the game, and had this to say http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/my_club/ulster/6286055.stm

If someone was to have said something nasty, and that hit a nerve, then he deserves to be punished, but to have someone physically assalt him is not the way to go, he might have wanted to take things into his own hands, but he should have known better, any of us here in work or in our personal lives have to deal with a large amount of grief, but if we were to physically abuse someone over it it wouldn't be acceptable.

Also, if Trevor was able to single out 1 guy in the crowd (6 rows back) shoulting something nasty he has fantastic hearing.