Neil Francis

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117672030#Comment_117672030

ive already outlined why i think his pattern of behaviour (of which there are plenty of examples) would make me consider him racist, or at least ignorant as to why hes racist, so im not repeating them.....and i consider his words about marcus smith to be racist.

if you dont, fine, im not trying to change anyones mind if they want to defend him.

sydthebeat

100% absolutely..

all he had to do was 'cut and paste' from the last time he had to come out and proclaim he wasnt being racist

aloooof

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117672227#Comment_117672227

I don't particularly want to defend him, but fair enough. My only point was that, of your examples, the Aki one is a particularly poor one as he's said the exact same thing about Stander since.

Deusexmachina

A few posters here conflating criticism of the project player system with racism. It ain’t necessarily so. He asked for Irish players to have precedence over project players during selection for the National Team.

If the Llanelli Scarlets came in with an offer £75k more than Munster and Connacht did for CJ Stander or Aki, the pair of them could be lining out for Wales and learning the lines of 'Bread of Heaven'.

i think he is provocative in his language in order to stimulate debate. Much like Eamon Dunphy, Joe Brolly or Paul Kimmage.

i don’t always agree with them but I am not interested in only reading articles from people I agree with. It’s important we debate things like the project player system.

And opinion columnists have to be a bit controversial, otherwise there is no point - might as well just print a bunch of statistics and quote the IRFU party line (Thornley).

(Ps If we are flinging the ‘isms’ around, then calling a 57 year old a ‘dinosaur’ is ageism.).

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117676736#Comment_117676736

"If the Llanelli Scarlets came in with an offer £75k more than Munster and Connacht did for CJ Stander or Aki, the pair of them could be lining out for Wales and learning the lines of 'Bread of Heaven'."

If they contributed as much to Scarlets and the local community around Scarlets then maybe - but both players stayed in Ireland when they could have earned more in the top 14 or premiership so your reasoning is both reductive and unreasonable.

"i think he is provocative in his language in order to stimulate debate. Much like Eamon Dunphy, Joe Brolly or Paul Kimmage.

If he had anything interesting to say I might agree with you. In this instance, what debate is he stimulating? Do tanning beds make or break an outhalf?

"i don’t always agree with them but I am not interested in only reading articles from people I agree with."

This old chestnut. It's not that anyone agrees or disagrees with Francis and if he was offering some insight into the game then your point might have some merit. He was acting the role of a schoolyard bully calling someone out over his perception of their appearance. He was being a child.

And opinion columnists have to be a bit controversial, otherwise there is no point - might as well just print a bunch of statistics and quote the IRFU party line (Thornley).

I, like probably everyone on this forum - LIKES a controversial opinion. I welcome them. Francis wasn't being controversial, he was being a dick - there is a difference. If he said that Smith was worth a shot over the out of form Farrell - that would be controversial. But no, he called him an Oompah Loompa because by all accounts he has little of merit to say about the actual sport.

I would be interested to know why you've so much skin in this game.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117676905#Comment_117676905

Did he call him an Oompa Loompa?

Quantum Erasure

...

xxyyzz

Maybe this was posted already, I haven't read through the whole thread but he has previous https://www.joe.ie/news/twitter-reacts-angrily-to-neil-francis-comments-on-gay-people-in-sport-409464

Richie_Rich89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117681843#Comment_117681843

Yeah, rather narrow-minded views, you'd have to say. He doesn't consider women's sport for a start. Tennis is full of lesbians. Then there are some sports that seem to attract male gays - diving being a good example.

hahashake

In isolation you'd chalk it up to ignorance, but taken together with his entire history you'd think there might be something more there.

ec18

it's a publication thing look at john greenes tweet about Stander today...give it a rest he's retired and being interviewed in SA

You know what I'm gonna close this

there's not much more that can be said and a lot of arguments are going round in circles so we'll leave it at that