O'Gara accused of eye gouging

stephen_n

http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/lions-tour/springboks-fan-the-flames-as-ogara-accused-of-eyegouging-1803872.html

THE war of words between the Lions and South Africa after the ferocious second Test in Pretoria last weekend took a bizarre twist yesterday when Springbok centre Jaque Fourie claimed he was eye-gouged, implicating Ireland out-half Ronan O'Gara in the process.

The Lions have dismissed the allegation but it has added to the simmering feud between the teams that erupted when South African flanker Schalk Burger put his hand in the eye of Lions and Leinster winger Luke Fitzgerald in the opening minute of last Saturday's Test.

The Lions reacted angrily to the incident and to Springbok coach Peter De Villier's defence of Burger -- before and after he was banned for eight weeks -- and have dismissed the startling counter-claim from Fourie.

Speaking to a South African newspaper, Fourie claimed: "In one of the close defensive situations with their replacement fly-half Ronan O'Gara, I was on the receiving end of an eye-gouging."

The 26-year-old centre, who scored a crucial 74th minute try to help South Africa to a series-clinching 28-25 victory, did not specify he was accusing O'Gara of eye-gouging but his comments will heighten the tension between the sides heading into tomorrow's final Test.

Lions head coach Ian McGeechan and tour manager Gerald Davies have denied there is bad blood between the sides.

"We've had a wonderful arrangement with the 'Boks management and there is a great spirit," said Davies.

"Once the whistle blows, we can be people again. There has been controversy and I believe what happened last Saturday has no place in the game. But we need to move on."

- Hugh Farrelly

Smacks of trying to muddy the waters to me what do you's think?

tughfc

any video evidance??

anonymous_joe

No reason to believe or disbelieve it if I'm honest. There's not been any evidence of it, but who knows?

Stev_o

Im presuming it happened on Fouries first touch of the ball off the back of the scrum? Otherwise the only other time i noticed him get the ball is when he scored his try.

Really can't say anything until we see some sort of evidence but i have my doubts that happened.

(By the way article seems a bit subjective or something "did not specify he was accusing O'Gara of eye-gouging but his comments will heighten the tension between the sides heading into tomorrow's final Test. " yet they decide the pin it on ROG anyway. Seems strange)

anonymous_joe

Stev_o wrote: »

Im presuming it happened on Fouries first touch of the ball off the back of the scrum? Otherwise the only other time i noticed him get the ball is when he scored his try.

Really can't say anything until we see some sort of evidence but i have my doubts that happened.

(By the way article seems a bit subjective or something "did not specify he was accusing O'Gara of eye-gouging but his comments will heighten the tension between the sides heading into tomorrow's final Test. " yet they decide the pin it on ROG anyway. Seems strange)

Indo in lax moral standards shocker.

Maybe he'll do a Monica Leech. Here's hoping.

Oafley Jones

anonymous_joe wrote: »

No reason to believe or disbelieve it if I'm honest. There's not been any evidence of it, but who knows?

That would be a fairly big reason not to believe it.

Amabokke

I don't really believe it. Could've been an accident too. Fourie already took back what he said by saying its not an issue for him and it could've been a bok player's boot that caught him in the eye.

I think he said about ROG in the heat of the moment right after the match after accusations were made.

_blank_

I'll keep a close watch on this thread of mine, I'll keep my eyes wide open all the time

Aidric

How ironic in the week in which Peter De Villiers accused the british media of trying to win the game off the pitch.

Amabokke

Even with a total dislike for PDV he is right about the media. Fourie said it right after the game and it is only brought up now by the media, 1 week later.

stephen_n

Stev_o wrote: »

Im presuming it happened on Fouries first touch of the ball off the back of the scrum? Otherwise the only other time i noticed him get the ball is when he scored his try.

Really can't say anything until we see some sort of evidence but i have my doubts that happened.

(By the way article seems a bit subjective or something "did not specify he was accusing O'Gara of eye-gouging but his comments will heighten the tension between the sides heading into tomorrow's final Test. " yet they decide the pin it on ROG anyway. Seems strange)

"Springbok centre Jaque Fourie claimed he was eye-gouged, implicating Ireland out-half Ronan O'Gara in the process"

That seems to more than just imply that ROG did it but this is a lot of PR wars in the press by the looks of things with very little substance. If there was any evidence at all then SA would have cited him!

anonymous_joe

Oafley Jones wrote: »

That would be a fairly big reason not to believe it.

Absolutely but it'd be easy for a finger to slip into an eye at the bottom of a ruck.

chupacabra

Unfortunate that the tour is descending into a bit of a mess with all the accusations, the false and light bannings and of course PDV giving the press some of the best lines they have gotten all year.

anonymous_joe

chupacabra wrote: »

Unfortunate that the tour is descending into a bit of a mess with all the accusations, the false and light bannings and of course PDV giving the press some of the best lines they have gotten all year.

At least there's no Clive Woodward with New Labour spin doctors in tow. :pac:

P_1

Des wrote: »

I'll keep my eyes wide open all the time

Not sure if thats the best idea given the subject Des


Don't think there's much in this. It would have been brought up right after the match, or indeed during it, if there was anything in it.

NickNolte

No evidence, no incident.

Shalk Burger ate my hamster.

chupacabra

NickNolte wrote: »

Shalk Burger ate my hamster.

Aidric

I just caught the tail end of an interview O Gara gave to RTE on the 6.1 news. Was it any use?

copacetic

Amabokke wrote: »

Even with a total dislike for PDV he is right about the media. Fourie said it right after the game and it is only brought up now by the media, 1 week later.

This was brought up by a South African newspaper 'The Citizen', is that correct? I can't find any mention of when he was supposed to have said it. Have you got a link or where are you getting the info from?

NickNolte

To be fair, a lot of the bile is being aimed at Burger and De Villiers. Burger did what he did. Quite a few players before him (in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere) have done the same. De Villiers is a complete idiot and I'm not surprised that he brought the game into such disrepute. The sooner he's gone, the better.

However, the main finger of blame should point at the IRB. Their citing commissioners need to take a ruthless stance against eye gouging and other acts of violence on the pitch. It amazes me that Matt Stevens can get banned for two years for snorting cocaine (an illegal act but, arguably, not doing any damage to anyone other than himself) and you only get a 2 month ban for sticking your fingers into someone's eyeballs. There's little or no consistency or logic in the disciplinary process. It's a tough sport and it needs to be marshalled properly.

Amazotheamazing

Aidric wrote: »

I just caught the tail end of an interview O Gara gave to RTE on the 6.1 news. Was it any use?

It was pretty honest. He said how he'd rather get up and try and help his team rather than lie on the ground. He said the nature of his position meant he was a hero one week and to blame the next. He said he was disappointed but that he knew himself that these things happen in sport and you can't dwell on it.

I've never been a huge fan of his, but he spoke well.

duckysauce

From:

Speaking to a South African newspaper, Fourie claimed: "In one of the close defensive situations with their replacement fly-half Ronan O'Gara, I was on the receiving end of an eye-gouging."

To

When asked to clarify his claim, Fourie said: “It wasn’t eye-gouging. I went into a ruck just before I scored my try and when I came out I couldn’t see out of one eye. It could easily have been one of my players as much as them, so it was an accident. It isn’t an issue for me.” taken from mfs

:mad:

Amabokke

duckysauce wrote: »

From:

Speaking to a South African newspaper, Fourie claimed: "In one of the close defensive situations with their replacement fly-half Ronan O'Gara, I was on the receiving end of an eye-gouging."

To

When asked to clarify his claim, Fourie said: “It wasn’t eye-gouging. I went into a ruck just before I scored my try and when I came out I couldn’t see out of one eye. It could easily have been one of my players as much as them, so it was an accident. It isn’t an issue for me.” taken from mfs

:mad:

Well, I'm not backing Fourie but as a player I understand that you say things in the heat of the moment and the next day you feel different. Same as Heaslip and Phillips. This is not a big deal.

copacetic wrote: »

This was brought up by a South African newspaper 'The Citizen', is that correct? I can't find any mention of when he was supposed to have said it. Have you got a link or where are you getting the info from?

I saw this on an Afrikaans website right after the match when Phillips and Heaslip spoke to the media. I can't remember the link as I look at 15-20 different sites and I don't really want to bother as I don't believe it is true otherwise the boks would've made an issue about it.

GymJim

Can't understand why this would even be mentioned if PDV basically says he and the boks has no issues with eye-gouging anyway - "it's part of the game".

Just can't get the below from his interview out of my head, a real advertisement for the game really isn't it :eek:

"Why don't we all go to the nearest ballet shop, get some nice tutus, get a great dancing show going on, no eye-gouging, no tackling, no nothing...then nobody will enjoy it!"