Attoub Ban - Stade Francais sources

He has been banned for 70 weeks! Holy flirking shnit!

It hasnt been announce on ERC site yet, I just heard it from Radio 1.

That is some ban, it really sends a message to would-be gougers.

Sangre

Eye-Carumba!

Legion2008

Congratulations must be sent to the ERC/IRB for this ban. It sends a clear statement that this sort of activity should not and will not be tolerated.

Stand firm in the face of the appeal and the french court challenge .....

NotWormBoy

Now they have to be consistent in the future when it comes to gouging. Similar bans in similar cases.

Cuchulain

Do we have any video/pics of what he actually did?

danthefan

Cuchulain wrote: »

Do we have any video/pics of what he actually did?

Zzippy

Proper order. He'll think twice about doing it again, as will a lot of other players.

Ugh, that is revolting.

planet rugby "watch this space for an article" article:
http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16024_5870620,00.html

Sangre

Guaranteed appeal - unprecedented ban length despite no damage to Stephen Ferris.

thomond2006

danthefan wrote: »

:eek: That is a disgrace.

Webbs

Whilst being delighted that a player finally gets the sort of ban that is deserved following gouging, it again highlights the absolute mess that the governing bodies are in regarding discipline.
If Burger had had a similar ban during the Lions tour, and others around that time had lengthier bans then this behaviour would hopefully have been stopped, it has become more prevalent recently as players felt they could get away with it.
Lets hope this will cause players to think twice now before doing this cowardly act in the future

Repolho

Was this in the same match the Dupuy was also cited and subsequently banned for gouging also on Stephen Ferris?

LostinBlanch

The judge was very black and white in his ruling:

Judge Jeff Blackett, the independent judicial officer who took charge of the hearing, was scathing in the written judgement, accusing the Stade player of evasiveness throughout and of being “less than truthful” in his evidence.

In his evidence, Ferris told how he found himself trapped at the bottom of a ruck where fingers were pushed into both of his eyes.

A finger then went firmly and deeply into his right eye and remained there for a few seconds. The contact was very strong and extremely painful, Ferris explained, and was much worse than the earlier contact made by Dupuy.

“It was someone trying to drive a finger as hard as he could into my eye socket,” Ferris said.

Attoub maintained that he had been trying to free himself from the ruck and push himself up from the gournd. When shown a photograph of his middle finger pushing into Ferris’s right eye, he was unable to explain how it could have happened.

“I do not know exactly where that arm was,” he said. “In my head my focus was to get out of that action. I am very sorry for what happened in the end.”

When asked whether it was possible he made contact with Ferris’s eye, he answered: “I do not know, I am sorry I am not able to answer that question.”

Delivering his verdict, Blackett did not pull any punches.

“His (Attoub’s) account skated over the period when his hand was clearly near and on Ferris’s face and he declined to explain precisely what he was doing other than trying to move away from where he was,” he wrote.

“When he was shown the incriminating photographs and asked to explain what he saw or what was happening he replied that he did not know. He refused to accept the possibility that his finger was in the eye.

“It was this evasiveness which satisfied me that his account was less than truthful and that he knew that he had deliberately attacked the eyes of an opponent but was trying to evade responsibility.”

Lets hope this sends out a message to the French (and others) that gouging isn't acceptable.

But I can see Stade appealing to the French courts. So whjat happens if the French courts rule in favour of the French player, overturning the ban, allowing him to play in the 6 nations? It would be an absolute joke if it was allowed to happen IMO. Despite the fact that there are precedents

Court for the arbitration of sport? Or what else, huge fines, €50,000 would make them think twice before trying to gouge other players eyes out.

LostinBlanch

Repolho wrote: »

Was this in the same match the Dupuy was also cited and subsequently banned for gouging also on Stephen Ferris?

Yes

Sangre

Repolho wrote: »

Was this in the same match the Dupuy was also cited and subsequently banned for gouging also on Stephen Ferris?

Eye.

Stev_o

LostinBlanch wrote: »

But I can see Stade appealing to the French courts. So whjat happens if the French courts rule in favour of the French player, overturning the ban, allowing him to play in the 6 nations? It would be an absolute joke if it was allowed to happen IMO. Despite the fact that there are precedents

Court for the arbitration of sport? Or what else, huge fines, €50,000 would make them think twice before trying to gouge other players eyes out.

Stade will find some way of making sure he's available for the TOP14 but he won't be near the HC for a long time.

toomevara

Hallelujah!. Delighted, that'll put an end to this nonsense sharpish by setting a precedent even the dullest goon can comprehend. Nice to see the administrators suddenly growing a spine. Appalling act, ban richly deserved.

Brewster

Once the pictures were authenticated, then ban had to follow. It was a disgusting act of mindless thuggery, the worst kind that can happen on a rugby field. I think the ERC are being consistent in their punishments, jennings was very mild and got 12, Depuy's more serious longer ban and Attoub's the very worse kind with a very long ban.

Paulw

And the length was also due to his poor record before.

From the ERC Press email -

After submissions on sanction from Mr Attoub and ERC at yesterday evening's reconvened hearing, the Judicial Officer found that the offending was in the top-end in the level of seriousness for an offence of contact with the eye / eye area.

Having taken into account any mitigating and aggravating factors, particularly the Player's disciplinary record (which comprised 3 suspensions and included a suspension for contact with the eye / eye area in an ERC match in season 2004/05), the IRB directive (July 2009) regarding contact with the eye / eye area, and the fact that the player pleaded not guilty, the independent Judicial Officer suspended the player for a period of 70 weeks commencing 18 December 2009, and up to and including 22 April 2011.

HH Judge Jeff Blackett in his judgement said that "This is the worst act of contact with the eyes that I have had to deal with: it is a case of deliberate eye gouging ...".

Hopefully it will send a strong message.

stephen_n

Zzippy wrote: »

Proper order. He'll think twice about doing it again, as will a lot of other players.

The fact that he was banned for it before would suggest not!

LostinBlanch

Stev_o wrote: »

Stade will find some way of making sure he's available for the TOP14 but he won't be near the HC for a long time.

But you see, that's the joke of the ban. Which is why i asked should it not be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport if that is the case? Or perhaps players who are guilty of this should be hit with swinging fines such as I suggested. After all if Trevor Brennan can be banned from all rugby activity for 5 years and given a €25,000 fine why shouldn't Attoub and Dupuy if they do manage to wriggle out of a ban via the French courts?

What a farce.
I suppose it has to be taken into context though,he said the picture was altered and even when shown it refused to accept it was his finger.His web of lies clearly got him the hefty ban,if he had accepted and apologised he probably would have gotten around 35-40 weeks.

Luke Fitzgerald was gouged equally as bad by burger and he got 6 weeks or something,Jennings touch a scrumcap and gets 16.They really need to sort this out,its becoming a joke.
Dupuy goes in not once but twice and gets a 24 wk ban

BoarHunter

why not applying this to Heaslip who was cited after the South Africa game ? Or Schalke Burger against the Lions ?

No this people aren't dirty French ... Tincu For Perpignan .. Same story and there was not even one single picture of the eye Gauging in that specific case ....

One day the french clubs will be tired of being ref. by brits against brit teams and supervised by brits commissions for brit. teams...

I agree that such acts have to be heavily punished but everybody has to be treated equally and this is not the case ATM.

BoarHunter

BoarHunter wrote: »

why not applying this to Heaslip who was cited after the South Africa game ? Or Schalke Burger against the Lions ?

No this people aren't dirty French ... Tincu For Perpignan .. Same story and there was not even one single picture of the eye Gauging in that specific case ....

One day the french clubs will be tired of being ref. by brits against brit teams and supervised by brits commissions for brit. teams...

I agree that such acts have to be heavily punished but everybody has to be treated equally and this is not the case ATM.

Heaslip was never cited,SA made that up!

One day maybe the French clubs will stop employing such dirty players and will stop gouging?
They have previous form and are doing it much more than "British teams"

BoarHunter

well i have to say that i wouldn't mind the french club to stick to TOP 14 only ( were there is strangely no citing for eye-gauging ) and make a pass on Hcup. The public opinion is not in favour of this competition anyway for several reasons : refereing, Magners teams making it its main target of the year as they don't face demotion, the TOP14 being so tough and more remunerated, and the Heineken lobby not being advertised in France, etc etc ...

but this is another debate ! i migtht ask another question how come this gauging complains came from the same player ? i have the beginning of an answer : constant irregular play on the ground being ignored by the ref...

Same story for Munster-Clermont last year ... the ref let the situation becoming really poisonous and of course this ends up bursting. the English were masters of that little trick in the 90's with the best happening in Paris with 2 french prop sent out by the Irish ref ( Mr hildish i remember his name ! )against england. Jason leonard is still laughing about it :rolleyes:

And at the end that's always the conclusion : OMG these dirty french ... But when you are not protected by the ref, you have to find a way to make yourself clear ...

Once again i really want to believe you when you say the south African made that up for Heaslip ...

burger got how many weeks for the same foul ?

BoarHunter

BoarHunter wrote: »

well i have to say that i wouldn't mind the french club to stick to TOP 14 only ( were there is strangely no citing for eye-gauging ) and make a pass on Hcup. The public opinion is not in favour of this competition anyway for several reasons : refereing, Magners teams making it its main target of the year as they don't face demotion, the TOP14 being so tough and more remunerated, and the Heineken lobby not being advertised in France, etc etc ...

but this is another debate ! i migtht ask another question how come this gauging complains came from the same player ? i have the beginning of an answer : constant irregular play on the ground being ignored by the ref...

Same story for Munster-Clermont last year ... the ref let the situation becoming really poisonous and of course this ends up bursting. the English were masters of that little trick in the 90's with the best happening in Paris with 2 french prop sent out by the Irish ref ( Mr hildish i remember his name ! )against england. Jason leonard is still laughing about it :rolleyes:

And at the end that's always the conclusion : OMG these dirty french ... But when you are not protected by the ref, you have to find a way to make yourself clear ...

Once again i really want to believe you when you say the south African made that up for Heaslip ...

burger got how many weeks for the same foul ?

http://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2009/1130/heaslipj_brussowh.html

The IRFU has confirmed that Jamie Heaslip will not be cited as a result of an alleged incident in Ireland's Test against South Africa on Saturday.
The IRFU also confirmed that none of a number of referrals made by South Africa against Irish players were upheld by independent citing commissioner Douglas Hunter.
A statement released by the IRFU this evening read: 'The Six Nations has confirmed to the Irish Rugby Football Union that none of a number of referrals made by South Africa against Ireland players has been upheld by the independent citing commissioner that was present at the game between Ireland and South Africa in Croke Park on Saturday 28 November.

'The Ireland management is however, very disappointed that the name of an Ireland player was subsequently associated with eye gouging in the media as a result of one of these unsubstantiated referrals

He wasnt cited!

I dont see your complaint,many Kiwis who have played in france have come out and said eye gouging is part of the game.

Once again

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/france/4945001/Eye-gouging-just-a-way-of-life-in-French-rugby.html

"La fourchette they call it, which is a pretty word for a nasty business," recalled Daniell on a flying visit to London this week. He is now settled in Paris and indeed has become a French passport holder. "Let me assure you it is a particularly unpleasant feeling having a dirty finger scraping along the back wall of your eye socket. And very scary. A sense of panic takes over and you stop everything else you are doing, which of course is the whole point. It is meant as a deterrent, a very brutal warning shot across your bows


"In 15 years of rugby in New Zealand I had been gouged just twice, yet with my first month in France I had lost count. I turned the other cheek for years and eventually I snapped. Gonzalez was a nuisance, always offside and up to no good and it was a huge game for us. As a second row in France you are not expected just to win the ball, you have to police the game as well and sort out the villains. You are not really doing your job and earning your wages otherwise.

Explain that?

BoarHunter

I totally agree that this is unacceptable ! i would also believe that the french do it more than others ( having played for 15 years in France and in Ireland also ). I have no problem with this.

My problem is the difference of treatement. When it is a brit or irish player accused the video is missing or the DVD fails to play or at the end this is up to 8 weeks ... I'm sorry, Same foul same penalty... if it is 70 weeks then let it be.

Tincu was sentenced without any evidence ( no video, no picture ) , exactly like Heaslip. but in that case the commission decided not go ahead ( weird hey :rolleyes: )

once again Roll on the TOP14. Great matches every WE :cool:. Would like to see BOD in Biarritz though. He almost made it a few seasons ago ! Would definitly be good for the league.

PhatPiggins

Thats a very good article in the telegraph, thanks for the link. Might ahve a look for his book.

I played in NZ for a couple of seasons and while I was never gouged I got my head stamped on numerous times, some of it was over exuberant rucking but most was deliberate. In Ireland I find there is a lot more punching, a lot of it sly digs when your not looking. My point I guess is that its a horses for courses kind of thing and foul play that is common becomes almost acceptible.

The problem the French have is that they do it regularly in the T14, a lot of it goes unpunished but get hammered when they try it in the euro comps.

To be honest I've no sympathy for them.

BoarHunter

BoarHunter wrote: »

I totally agree that this is unacceptable ! i would also believe that the french do it more than others ( having played for 15 years in France and in Ireland also ). I have no problem with this.

My problem is the difference of treatement. When it is a brit or irish player accused the video is missing or the DVD fails to play or at the end this is up to 8 weeks ... I'm sorry, Same foul same penalty... if it is 70 weeks then let it be.

Tincu was sentenced without any evidence ( no video, no picture ) , exactly like Heaslip. but in that case the commission decided not go ahead ( weird hey :rolleyes: )

once again Roll on the TOP14. Great matches every WE :cool:. Would like to see BOD in Biarritz though. He almost made it a few seasons ago ! Would definitly be good for the league.

But you just admitted that the french gouge more and then you say they are treated unfairly,while British and Irish players get off?

Atoub was banned for so long because he persistently lied and even when evidence was shown he denied it.
If he had not done this he wouldnt have been banned for so long.

BoarHunter

Goose : we are talking about someone who was sentenced based on a picture provided by the Uslter staff itself ... nothing like this could even be discussed on a real court. when i admit that the French game might be rougher, my point is :

for equal accusations, there is not the same treatment. that's all i see. and the Heaslip/ Tincu exemple is shouting it ....

BoarHunter

BoarHunter wrote: »

Goose : we are talking about someone who was sentenced based on a picture provided by the Uslter staff itself ... nothing like this could even be discussed on a real court. when i admit that the French game might be rougher, my point is :

for equal accusations, there is not the same treatment. that's all i see. and the Heaslip/ Tincu exemple is shouting it ....

The picture was not provided by Ulster staff,it was provided by a freelance photographer who covers all the Ireland games.

So are you saying the picture is suspect?

What are your opinions on how France will do this year,what team would you like to see?

BoarHunter

i am not saying that the picture is suspect. i have no way to verify such things and that would be stupid from my side. i am just saying that the source is not really reliable as it can be considered as biased.

i think a French team will win the Hcup this year ( Toulouse or Clermont ). this is just because the finale is in Paris. I don't like the Hcup. IMO this is just a big Circus organized by Heineken. Matches are refered by brits for brits and when i understand that Heineken makes his money in the UK and ireland where they are the most sold beer, it struggles to replace the wine and the Ricard in France. When a leinster/munster fixture sells half a million pintes all over the pubs of ireland, a Finale Stade F-Toulouse in Edimbourgh was definitly a big flop. Because they can't advertise in France our teams have to go and play in Switzerland, belgium and Spain.

Also, the magners league being so not popular, the teams clearly don't play the fixtures before a Hcup WE. when the French team play week in week out their ranking in the league, the ML teams are resting for Hcup. They face no threat of demotion and at the end they don't care where they end up in ML.

For the 6 N i really don't know. I am not a Fan of Parra/ Trinh duc as halves. i would much prefer Elissalde/Winiewsky ( 10 from Racing Metro Paris ). it is niot looking well as our star prop Barcella is injured and will be out of the scottish and irish game.

I see no grand Slam this year and this will be a close call. I see France losing in Edimbourgh and winning all the other games. Scotland did well last autumn and will make a strong point fighting in murrayfield in the first game. this will finish on point difference in the last day.

this is my view on it. Ireland can do well if O'Driscoll is well. if not they will loose in Paris and london. BOD won 3 out of the 5 games last year

BoarHunter

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/club-rugby/perpignan-could-quit-cup-in-tincu-ban-row-993628.html

if that can refresh some memories. No picture / No video of the accusations. the player was banned 18 weeks by the ERC ...

Let's be serious lads- Eye gouging should be heavily punished. But ERC are not people to be taken as straight and serious.... they are definitly irish/brit biased...

When Heaslip gets away with nada, Tincu gets 18 weeks .... for the same accusations.

sock puppet

BoarHunter wrote: »

Goose : we are talking about someone who was sentenced based on a picture provided by the Uslter staff itself ... nothing like this could even be discussed on a real court. when i admit that the French game might be rougher, my point is :

for equal accusations, there is not the same treatment. that's all i see. and the Heaslip/ Tincu exemple is shouting it ....

Heaslip wasn't cited. He did absolutely nothing wrong. Tincu gouged James. Everyone except you apparently knows that. There was plenty of evidence against him.

sm.org

sock puppet wrote: »

Heaslip wasn't cited. He did absolutely nothing wrong. Tincu gouged James. Everyone except you apparently knows that. There was plenty of evidence against him.

I dont think there was any photo or video evidence though. It basically came down to James word against Tincu. Granted there was some damage to James eye but the video only showed James decking Tincu, in what he claims was retaliation.

The French took huge offence to this and Tincu served little or no T14 suspension.It did nt help that it was a British ajudicator

I have no opinion on who did what but I dont there was plenty of evidence either way.

danthefan

sock puppet wrote: »

Heaslip wasn't cited. He did absolutely nothing wrong. Tincu gouged James. Everyone except you apparently knows that. There was plenty of evidence against him.

There was absolutely no evidence against him.

sock puppet

sm.org wrote: »

I dont think there was any photo or video evidence though. It basically came down to James word against Tincu. Granted there was some damage to James eye but the video only showed James decking Tincu, in what he claims was retaliation.

The French took huge offence to this and Tincu served little or no T14 suspension.It did nt help that it was a British ajudicator

I have no opinion on who did what but I dont there was plenty of evidence either way.

It wasn't just damage though. Doctors showed that the damage was caused by someone gouging him. The only way I see that it couldn't have been tincu, was if another player had gouged James and he mistakenly thought it was Tincu. Regardless, the case has nothing in common with South Africa making up claims about Heaslip.

sm.org

sock puppet wrote: »

It wasn't just damage though. Doctors showed that the damage was caused by someone gouging him. The only way I see that it couldn't have been tincu, was if another player had gouged James and he mistakenly thought it was Tincu. Regardless, the case has nothing in common with South Africa making up claims about Heaslip.

No I was nt suggesting that Heaslip did anything wrong but Tincu was basically called a liar.

There are similarities between the two cases in terms of the lack of evidence. I think Tincu's rep as a dirty player stood against him.

Crash

It always does though. Hell, Neil Bests reputation as a player, despite never receiving a ban prior, ( I think? anyone prove me wrong) stood against him - IMO what Best got was borderline fair penalty for a quite bad case of accidental contact with the eye, but if you view it along side other penalties, he got screwed.

myflipflops

BoarHunter wrote: »

And at the end that's always the conclusion : OMG these dirty french ... But when you are not protected by the ref, you have to find a way to make yourself clear ...

I'll listen to a reasoned debate that the French may get a hard time from these decisions due to a British influence (which you seem capable of making) but the above quote destroys the credibility of your argument completely.

You are making an excuse for the behaviour here. You are proportioning an amount of the blame onto the referee and his policing of the ruck area. This is the first step to introducing an argument where gouging as an action can be defended in the event of a weak referee.

This is complete rubbish. Attoub has been cited for gouging at the worst end of the scale and he has history. If anything 70 weeks in too lenient. Personally, i think a life ban for the game would be good enough for him.

This was gouging against a prone, defenceless player that could have ended his career and lessened his quality of life for it's duration.

Make your points about an anti-French bias but never, EVER make excuses for a player guilty of eye gouging.

d'Oracle

BoarHunter wrote: »

When Heaslip gets away with nada, Tincu gets 18 weeks .... for the same accusations.

Heaslip didn't do anything.
He wasn't cited.

There is no photographic, video or testimonial evidence.
Even Brussow was having none of it.

d'Oracle

danthefan wrote: »

There was absolutely no evidence against him.

I think he means there was loads of evidence against Tincu.

sm.org

d'Oracle wrote: »

I think he means there was loads of evidence against Tincu.

There was nt a shred of evidence against Tincu other then James word.

The medical evidence was that he was gouged but not who by.

BoarHunter

flip flops i was in that case refering to the munster - Clermont game last year where Cudmore was sent out... Munster knew they would get him out of bound and O'callaghan- O'connell went at him minutes after minutes withtout the ref telling them to stop. happened what should happen eventually... And at the end despite the scene being obvious that Both Cudmore and O'Connell kicked each other only the canadian was sent out ... O'connell getting a yellow same action different sentence ... and if you look att he video you will see that O'conell kicks Cudmore on the ground- You can't call that self defence. ( he says after : I had to defend myself ... )


Exactly like the Quinlan - Pelous incident in the Hcup finale some years ago... the ref doesn't do anything about Quinlan provocation, pelous get a Yellow for a kick in the arse that wouldn't have hurt my granny ...

As i said the English mastered this little technique a long time ago, as the discret bullying never gets sanctionned but a clear answer always does. The Irish are definitly the most clever pack these days and now are the reference in "playing the ref" as they say...

the ruck zone is a outlaw zone that is refereed differently in Hcup, internationals, and Some packs are reknowned to have their VIP pass with referees. like that you can manytimes see Munster turning over balls with nobody on their feet .... Magical hey ? :rolleyes: yes this is hours of work and at the end the rest is history and litterature : Just have to get on with it as some say often. the bounce of the ball and the whole story ...

I admire the Game of munster even if it is not my cup of tea it is God damn efficient pick and go....

We just don't approach the game the same way and no victory can replace the try that Heymans scored that day, the one Harinordoquy scored in Dublin last year ( the try of the tournament in my mind for the whole lenght of play ), Burger try in thomond last month and a game like Toulouse- Harlequins last WE : 4 tries to 3 and an open game

Lads i'm not trying to change any opinion here just want to talk Rugby and give my thoughts. Of course we have different views ...

ONCE AGAIN : Gouging must be heavily punished and what Attoub did is not forgivable.

If he deserves 70 weeks let it be, but so Burger and heaslip and all the others any other player who is found guilty by a neutral commission who should be composed of every nation of the Hcup.

And i don't think pleading guilty should affect it whatsoever ...

sm.org

I dont think anyone who bothered to read your posts properly would accuse you of defending gouging Boar Hunter.

I watch a good bit of T14 and I must admit I find the heineken cup far more entertaining. I love the passion of the french crowds but I find too many of the games turn into arm wrestles and kicking duels.

BoarHunter

Bad effect of the rules as they are ATM but TOP14 is on its way with big teams coming out such as Toulon and Racing Metro. In a Few Years teams like Lyon and Bordeaux which are now in 2nd division will come in force. They are already taken over by good Financial projects and the possibility of having great stadiums.

The game will only become better and better. We have already a good few matches played in Stade de France and Marseille stadium ( 60k and 80k attendance ). IMHO O'Connell, O'Gara and the like are a breed in extinction. I don't think many will choose to play their whole career in the Magners in the future. Top14 will be the place to be. The english have started to understand. Good way of life, good salary, good game and good ambiance .

sm.org

BoarHunter wrote: »

Bad effect of the rules as they are ATM but TOP14 is on its way with big teams coming out such as Toulon and Racing Metro. In a Few Years teams like Lyon and Bordeaux which are now in 2nd division will come in force. They are already taken over by good Financial projects and the possibility of having great stadiums.

The game will only become better and better. We have already a good few matches played in Stade de France and Marseille stadium ( 60k and 80k attendance ). IMHO O'Connell, O'Gara and the like are a breed in extinction. I don't think many will choose to play their whole career in the Magners in the future. Top14 will be the place to be. The english have started to understand. Good way of life, good salary, good game and good ambiance .

Yeah its nice to see a few new clubs challenge the traditional top 6. I'd actually go the other way and say that the introduction of the salary cap and the regulation hat a certain percentage of the squad has to come through the clubs academy will see a decrease in the number of overseas players.

Personally I'm for the changes as the French team is not as strong as it should be. Personally I thought part of the problem was that the T14 would bring in overseas players to play in specialist like prop/out half rather then develope a young French player.

When I first starting watching the 5 Nations France had a great scrum and a host of classy 10's. The proping situation has improved of late but there are a lot of scrum halves playing 10 in France and even more foriegn ones.

BoarHunter

BoarHunter wrote: »

Bad effect of the rules as they are ATM but TOP14 is on its way with big teams coming out such as Toulon and Racing Metro. In a Few Years teams like Lyon and Bordeaux which are now in 2nd division will come in force. They are already taken over by good Financial projects and the possibility of having great stadiums.

The game will only become better and better. We have already a good few matches played in Stade de France and Marseille stadium ( 60k and 80k attendance ). IMHO O'Connell, O'Gara and the like are a breed in extinction. I don't think many will choose to play their whole career in the Magners in the future. Top14 will be the place to be. The english have started to understand. Good way of life, good salary, good game and good ambiance .

If that happens Irish rugby will lose a fan for life in me and about 400/500 euro a year in ticket sales.
Then rugby will die in Ireland and hopefully so!

We cant let rugby end up like footy,where man city eg toulon can buy who they want.We need salary caps quick.

Although I do chuckle when I think of Racing paying the absolute ****e Frans Steyn a million a year.


If thats how you want rugby then you French and English can have it,il follow GAA and rugby in Ireland,Wales and Scoland will die.

funky penguin

Back on topic.....Attoub deserves the ban. 70 weeks is quite a good message, but as always, the interesting moment is the appeal result.

Podge_irl

BoarHunter wrote: »

I don't think many will choose to play their whole career in the Magners in the future. Top14 will be the place to be. The english have started to understand. Good way of life, good salary, good game and good ambiance .

And how will the T14 clubs pay them given the salary cap? Never mind that on top of the salary cap they are bringing in a quota system so that teams must field a certain percentage of France eligible players. If anything the GP and the T14 are going to go in the direction of the ML.

Edit: Sorry, this is madly off-topic. I didn't really look at the thread title before I replied.

TitoPuente

funky penguin wrote: »

Back on topic.....Attoub deserves the ban. 70 weeks is quite a good message

That's about the height of it. We can't have gouging in rugby, it's bloody dangerous, malicious and vicious.