Banned: Scott Higginbotham
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Wallabies flanker Scott Higginbotham has been banned for four weeks after being found guilty of punching and striking All Blacks flank Richie McCaw.
The incidents occurred during last Saturday's Bledisloe Cup Test at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, which ended in an 18-18 draw.
Higginbotham will miss out on facing England and France on their end-of-year tour to Europe next month after the ban was imposed at a judicial hearing on Monday.
The soon-to-be Melbourne Rebels forward was charged with both kneeing and headbutting McCaw in the 26th minute of Saturday's match.
Judicial officer Jannie Lubbe said the incidents were of a low level of severity and took into account Higginbotham's previous clean record.
Comments
BillyMutt2 says...
Yeah OK @Bok, get over it. We know your silly little game by now. Idiot.
Posted 03:02 23rd October 2012
safehands says...
I cannot believe I am actually agreeing with the BokAvenger.....in so much as it is way too light a sentence for rubbish that we don't want to see in our beautiful game. The being punished by hung drawn and quartered if he was a 'Bok' thing is clearly rubbish though, but really, what kind of judicial system is this? Rugby is a tough game but we don't want thuggish behaviour spoiling the game, because unfortunately for Higgers, is that the match won't be remembered for Australia's fantastic fighting spirit, but for another cheap shot by another dimwitted opponent...
Posted 02:08 23rd October 2012
LeftRightOut says...
@BokAvenger - are you serious? Are you suggesting that if this was a South African player the punishment would have been much worse?? Etzebeth and Greyling got half the punishment of Higginbothom - all of them got off too lightly as far as I am concerned, but at least the prunishments are somewhat consistent (double for higgers for having two shots at it)
@three6three6 - I agree and I can't see the kiwis holding a grudge for this - there is respect for Higgers as a player and he will learn from it. Unlike that big girl Cooper who couldn't help himself with repetitive cheapshots, then couldn't handle the special attention he got, and then couldn't handle representing his (second) country because he didn't like the training facilities
Posted 01:10 23rd October 2012
7ton says...
bokavenger
What you mean like Greyling?
Posted 01:03 23rd October 2012
BDAUSSIE says...
@ Meldave - do you know what predmeditated means!? it means at some stage during the game Higgers decided he was going to go up to Richie Knee him in the head and then headbutt him. How do you say it was 'clearly' predmeditated ?? Think before you write. there is no evidence of what Higgers was thinking before the act. It was, as I see, clearly a spur of the moment brainsnap from Higgers. That's consistent with what we know about Higger (i.e. he has no history of playing dirty)
Let's be fair, there's headbutting and then there's headbutting. It's poor form i agree but Higgers wasn't really attempting to do damage to Mccaw, he was trying to intimidate him. The suspension reflects that and I think its about right.
Posted 00:02 23rd October 2012
StunTheMullet says...
Unsurprisingly Higgenarse, like the rest of the cheap shot wannabes such as Rougerie or Greyling or Powell or Waugh or Cooper or Hartley, has got off lightly so it will just continue until the day someone is seriously injured.
@ three6three6 says "The unfortunate thing about all of this is that Higginbotham is a half decent player.... he just allowed his emotions to run away...."
BS - Higgenarse was being an arse in the previous ABs game where he was also targeting Sir Richie so more seems like "gameplan" to try and unsettle him.
The good thing is he now has a target on his back and we know how well taking on Sir Richie worked out for the Quadestile.
Posted 23:52 22nd October 2012
turmeric says...
He's a crap player anyway, just a thug and will now only be remembered as one (if at all). Hope they don't even take him on tour now!!
Posted 23:32 22nd October 2012
sukkadoits says...
@BokAvenger he got the same as Etzebeth and Greyling
Posted 23:29 22nd October 2012
nzmaoriboy says...
It baffles me when people say Richie deserves it for being a cheat!.Statiscally Oz gave up more penalities at ruck time than the AB's..Dont see too many AB's players committing those silly fouls ay. McCaw has the 2nd most carries in this AB's squad this year after Kieren Read..If he irritated opposition players that much! you know that they have plenty of oppurtunities to legitamately smash him during the rugby game on "D" & in Rucks?? Which 99% of good rugby players do.
Posted 23:21 22nd October 2012
Ripzy007 says...
Very Light...This is the first times he's been caught but he's been doing a few cheap shots in the past...also earlier in the match, he tried to rip of Reid's head...Its sad because he seems to be a good player unfortunately he's heading towards the path of Troy Flavell, a brute without a brain..
Posted 20:52 22nd October 2012
georgesmith says...
Biased decision. R. McCheat cheats all day and night, yet nobody says or does anything. The real picture is S. Higginbottom became frustrated because R. McCheat was cheating at will and the ref was letting him get away with it.
Posted 20:51 22nd October 2012
Ripzy007 says...
Very Light
Posted 20:49 22nd October 2012
Phill_Moore says...
A complete joke, and not a funny one. Jannie Lubbe and the judicial committee ridiculing themselves again...
Kneeingbotham deliberately attacks a prone and entangled McCaw, to the head! Twice! Within a minute!
But he only gets 4 weeks (not even the full November tour!) because McCaw was not badly injured? WTF?
The primary Job of the judicials is not to punish, it is to prevent this from happening again by setting an example when a thug like Headbuttham does it. So now, Lubbe's and the Judicial's message is: "Go for it, be a thug, do a Gougerie, just try no to set people on a coma, pretty please"
A disgrace.
Posted 20:43 22nd October 2012
Isograford says...
He was doing headshots in all the Bledisloe games he played this year. He seems to be the Aussie pack Meathead.
Funny that all these cheapshots happen when McCaw is trapped with no teammates around.
Methinks the colour of the Australian jersey is appropriate for he and Cooper.
Posted 20:40 22nd October 2012
rakavi187 says...
Higginbotham is just pissed off that his name was not mentioned in McCaw's book.
Attention-seeking drama queen.
Posted 20:37 22nd October 2012
Kinsman says...
@three6three6, what is unsporting behaviour? Booing a player or kneeing one in the head?
Posted 19:56 22nd October 2012
nzmaoriboy says...
Sweet as...more of a hows your mother incident to me! Received and dished far worse in my time (not proud)!! Higgers definitely not a player I perceive to be Dirty, more overly enthusiastic.
Posted 19:36 22nd October 2012
nzmaoriboy says...
Sweet as...more of a hows your mother incident to me! Received and dished far worse in my time (not proud)!! Higgers definitely not a player I perceive to be Dirty, more overly enthusiastic.
Posted 19:36 22nd October 2012
pog_mahone says...
Dafydd29 - that's the effect McCaw has on people. He annoyed Jamie Heaslip so much that he kneed him in the head and (rightfully) got a straight red. He's done the same to countless others. I'd love to hear an honest first hand account from a couple of them as to what drove them so barmy.
Posted 19:08 22nd October 2012
2eyedkiwi says...
@Bokavenger - just like what happened to Greyling? Oh, thats right, he only missed one game.... Idiot.
Posted 19:03 22nd October 2012