Poll: Should SOB be cited?

[Cap'n Grumpy]

Incident can be viewed HERE

Looked like he took two goes at him, first with the elbow, then with the fist.

One he might have got away with, the second, I suspect will see him missing some matches, and deservedly so.

Shame after what has been such a great season for him to have blighted it thus.

[Cormac]

Incident can be viewed HERE

Looked like he took two goes at him, first with the elbow, then with the fist.

One he might have got away with, the second, I suspect will see him missing some matches, and deservedly so.

Shame after what has been such a great season for him to have blighted it thus.

Was just about to post exactly the same thing. A shame as it was a blot on an otherwise fine performance. Probably the end of his season. POC got six weeks, my guess will be four for O'Brien.

[bootlaced]

Incident can be viewed HERE

Looked like he took two goes at him, first with the elbow, then with the fist.

One he might have got away with, the second, I suspect will see him missing some matches, and deservedly so.

Shame after what has been such a great season for him to have blighted it thus.

Was just about to post exactly the same thing. A shame as it was a blot on an otherwise fine performance. Probably the end of his season. POC got six weeks, my guess will be four for O'Brien.

It will give him a good rest before the WC,and allows Jennings to get some game time.

[backawaygoonahead]

Incident can be viewed HERE

Looked like he took two goes at him, first with the elbow, then with the fist.

One he might have got away with, the second, I suspect will see him missing some matches, and deservedly so.

Shame after what has been such a great season for him to have blighted it thus.

Bless you skipper, wonderful to see it again and SOB dealt supremely well with the cheating barsteward, the old one-two WHAMMO & Nyanga went down like a heapashite. Instant and appropriate justice.

Hats off SOB If he misses the HC Final it will be an offence against natural justice if not the laws of rugby. I suspect 2 digs at Nyanga will have sealed his fate.

[Cap'n Grumpy]

Incident can be viewed HERE

Looked like he took two goes at him, first with the elbow, then with the fist.

One he might have got away with, the second, I suspect will see him missing some matches, and deservedly so.

Shame after what has been such a great season for him to have blighted it thus.

Bless you skipper, wonderful to see it again and SOB dealt supremely well with the cheating barsteward, the old one-two WHAMMO & Nyanga went down like a heapashite. Instant and appropriate justice.

Hats off SOB If he misses the HC Final it will be an offence against natural justice if not the laws of rugby. I suspect 2 digs at Nyanga will have sealed his fate.

I knew you'd see it differently from me and after agreeing with you on quite a bit recently, I needed that reassurance that I was indeed still different from you

(apart from using even numbers of emoticons)

[Shan]

He won't get away with that I'd say. Needless to say we don't want this type of thing going unpunished but they need to start dealing with the cheating going on as well. There's 3 officials watching so there is no excuse for missing these things.

[Snipe Watson]

There's 3 officials watching so there is no excuse for missing these things.

I think that's part of the problem. There are two who just seem to watch the match and flag when the ball goes out or speak when spoken to. We need a more american football type of system where all 3 are more actively involved in refereeing the game.

[backawaygoonahead]

I knew you'd see it differently from me and after agreeing with you on quite a bit recently, I needed that reassurance that I was indeed still different from you

(apart from using even numbers of emoticons)

Skipper, I could have put you out of your misery long ago and confirmed you were not actually me or like me, but I have a bit of wickedness tucked away in my napsack and your squirming has been top class entertainment.

I am shocked however that nobody else appears to have the same relish for a cheat getting a hiding as I do.

CHEATS ARE A SCURGE ON THE GAME. Now please lets not have some fool suggesting that every player cheats, there are degrees, sleekid girly cheating is my bugbear - pulling back jumpers is like pulling someone's hair in a fight - girly and the girl deserves a good bitchslapping.

SOB rose in my estimation on Saturday whereas the rest of you appear to take the PC position that we can't have ruffians beating cheating feckers up. I can live with that. Go on SOB* you boy ye.


Never worry if you miss the HC final this year, Leinster look set to dominate for a few years.

Clermont, Racing Metro ,Scarries, Leicester and Toulouse.

Compare that with Northampton - Edinburgh, Castres, Cardiff, Ulster, Perpignan.

Chalk and cheese - Leinster are top top class. The rest of us need to sharpen up and aspire to reach their level. Not many BODs about mind you.

[rocky]

I'm with you on this one Goon. Thomas and Nyanga both deserved what they got. Interestingly, after both of them went down like a man who had been shot, they were both able to continue with little evidence of any ill effects. So, in my opinion, they cheated in pulling the jerseys and then cheated in terms of their response to the smacks they received. Until the officials begin to properly punish this stuff I can see little other course that for the offended player to mete out retribution. This activity is no different from trips and obstructions and these offences usually get a yellow at least.
Rocky.

[Cap'n Grumpy]

I am shocked however that nobody else appears to have the same relish for a cheat getting a hiding as I do.

CHEATS ARE A SCURGE ON THE GAME. Now please lets not have some fool suggesting that every player cheats, there are degrees, sleekid girly cheating is my bugbear - pulling back jumpers is like pulling someone's hair in a fight - girly and the girl deserves a good bitchslapping.

SOB rose in my estimation on Saturday whereas the rest of you appear to take the PC position that we can't have ruffians beating cheating feckers up. I can live with that.

To a degree I still agree with you. Fifteen years ago, that sort of thing was not only accepted but even encouraged. If you got involved in something dodgey, you accepted the consequences as meted out by the players, and we probably had a better game because of that. The game has changed however, and players have got bigger, more muscular, and if put into the ring could do some damage to a few of the modern day boxers. To counter that, referees have been put in charge more, and if we accept that, I think we have to accept that the the rules should be applied across the board without players taking the law into their own hands.

I think we either accept the conventions of yesteryear IN FULL, or we accept them as they are now IN FULL - no half-way houses.

SOB got caught out taking the law into his own hands - he should now pay the consequences.

On a slight tangent, Backaway (and I suspect I already know the answer you'll come back with), you say cheats are a scourge on the game, and yet I think on another thread, you lament the lack of a "dog" or two in the Ulster squad. Do you consider a "dog" to be a cheat, or is that definition inaccurate?

[Alister Scott]

It's all very quiet on the citing front.

Has he got away with it?

Have they turned a blind eye?

[BR]

It's all very quiet on the citing front.

Has he got away with it?

Have they turned a blind eye?

Looks like it.

[lovesthehardground]

Not sure I believe what I've read in this post. Can't really understand what the problems are.

Firstly, what Nyanga (??) did happens at every line out, ruck, maul, scrum etc in every game. Blocking, pulling & obstructing is and has been part of rugby since its invention. Its illegal - so what. It is also part of every game. Get over it!!

Secondly, SOB should not get cited or banned for what he did. It was illegal - so what. Get over it. If he had not been fouled then he wouldn't have lashed out. Simple!

I know you can't let players ref the game and decide themselves what is right or wrong, but if the authorities choose to ignore the illegal blocking, pulling etc then they should also ignore the retaliation the fouled player takes.

Indeed that way maybe, just maybe, this form of "cheating" may decrease.

[darkside lightside]

I think he's a very lucky boy - what Nyanga did was pretty much par for the course for a back row forward (baga - have you been as outraged watching your beloved Munster over the years, when Quinlan, master of the crafty shirt-pull, has been doing his stuff???) and SOB had 2 digs. Should have been cited and banned IMO. Failing to do so is clearly inconsistent with the treatment of other similar offences this season (POC for example)

[fuzzylogic]

Leinster's Sean O'Brien should consider himself lucky to avoid a citing following his backhand to the face of Yannick Nyanga during Leinster's Heineken Cup semi final on Saturday.

O'Brien was being held at the back of the scrum by Nyanga as eighthman Louis Picamoles cruised over untouched for a try to Toulouse in the second half of the 32-23 Leinster victory.

It's impossible to say whether the Ireland loose forward, who has been outstanding over the last year, would have made it across and effected a successful tackle or not. There is however no doubting the fact that he was held back, which led to the backhand lash out.

Nyanga looked stunned as he fell to the floor before receiving medical attention. He got up after some time, but was substituted for the rest of the game. None of the officials appeared to see it.

Fellow Irishman Paul O'Connell received a four week ban when he did the same thing to Jonathan Thomas in December of last year. O'Connell was spotted doing it at the time and picked up a red card, and later the citing and subsequent suspension.

There is a 50 hour window for citings to take place, so O'Brien has somehow avoided being picked up for striking out, and will be free to play in the final in Cardiff on May 21st.