Life imitating rugby?

Snickers Man

What am I describing here?

A brutal assault is carried out by a leading member of a body of men who have done pretty much the same sort of thing often times before without anybody batting an eyelid.

It is difficult for the authorities to determine exactly who is to blame and the established judicial process runs into a dead end very quickly.

Friends of the assaulted person take umbrage and try to bring attention to the assault and the need to do something about it.

They are vilified for engaging in “spin” and detracting attention away from the bigger picture, which is the growing ascendancy of the assailants’ organisation.

In a contest shortly afterwards the assailants organisation win a convincing if largely predictable victory. They argue complete vindication and that, having made some bland public statements without ever trying to assist established disciplinary procedures, the issue is over and should be put to bed. “We should move on”


Does this sound anything like Sinn Fein and its attitude to the McCartney family?

Or the All Blacks and Tana Umaga’s attitude to the attempted crippling of Brian O’Driscoll?

Or both?

RuggieBear

I hope you are seriously not trying to compare an IRA atrocity to the BOD incident?

De Deraco

wtf have been smoking

Snickers Man

Of course there is no moral equivalence between rugby players duffing each other up and thugs with knives slashing people to death. And I'm not trying to suggest there is.

But if you switch from the context of Northern Irish street life to international rugby, you find that the reactions and strategies of people in each are similar.

The All Blacks case is "Forget about it. It was nothing. Happens all the time. Move on. To complain is to whinge. And after all, we won which is the main thing so we're allowed do this sort of thing."

To complain is to be a wuss and to miss the big picture.

Which is bollox and is remarkably similar, to my mind, to the attitude of Shinners to the McCartneys. "Hey we won the election. Our position is endorsed. These publicity mad bitches just want their picture taken with GW. Move on."

As I said before, rugby players take an inherent risk when they play the game. Collisions, stray boots, swinging arms---these things often happen with no malice aforethought. It's a physical contest. Big guys are going to use their strength to shove little guys out of the way.

All of this is accepted by anybody who plays/coaches/watches ie loves the game. Normally, what goes on the pitch is best left on the pitch and reconciled with a few pints afterwards.

But ganging up on somebody to lift him in the air and drop him on his head is unacceptable and this has got nothing to do with winning or losing. It is posing an unacceptable risk of death or serioius injury to a defenceless player.

Even if the Lions win the Third Test (OK you really can ask me what I've been smoking now) it will not resolve the issue. Umaga and Meleamu should be sanctioned for what they did. The fact that the process broke down because the citiing commissioner had a plane to catch is something the IRB should address.

Quickly.

Before somebody gets killed.

And on that note, I suggest that with the All Blacks coming to play in Ireland in November Irish rugby fans have a choice of how to react.

1) Forget about it. Put it all down to "it's a tough game. These things will happen. Umaga did nothing wrong."

2) Boo him every time he touches the ball. Insist that somebody kick crap out of him in the first minute of the match. Whistle at the haka and pelt them with coconuts. In other words, demean ourselves to a point bordering on racism.

3) Boycott the game unless some serious disciplinary moves are made against Umaga/Meleamu by the NZ union or the IRB before the match.

Never thought I'd say that after years of going to Lansdowne and looking forward to a first ever victory over the Blacks but I'm tending towards option 3 at the moment.

RuggieBear

i agree with your moral stand.....i reckon you should go for option 3....(i'll look after your tickets for you)

aoa321

what point are you trying to make here ? is it about Sinn Fein or the All Blacks? what are you on about ?

Is this really a comparison between ....
the interpretation of an whether an incident on a rugby pitch was foul play or an unfortunate accident emenating from unneccessarily rough play ?
... and ....
the vicious slaying of a father of 2 infants in Belfast by a gang who consider themselves freedom fighters but behave as a murder mob. McCartney was murdered as he tried to save his friend's live by trying to take the heat out of what was already turning into a very vicious incident. He had a bottle smashed in his face by a man while he was being held by another group of men, his throat was then slashed with the broken bottle - while he was still being held ... allegedly !!

I hope I'm picking you up wrong - if I am let me know, if I'm not you're soooo off the wall with this that I won't be discussing it any further.

take it easy mate and stick to the rugby - I read these posts for a bit of light relief during the day !!

Mungaman

Why don't you just admit that you got beaten by a better team, look forward to the All Blacks coming to Landsdowne and concentrate on trying to win rather than comparing it to politics

Amz

I'm going to lock this thread. If one of the other mods wants to reopen it then that's fair enough.

There is no comparison between the McCartney murder and the now infamous tackle on Brian O'Driscoll.