fozza says...

Watching the game for a second time at 03:30 in the morning whilst my newborn slep in my arms, I think the ref actually stated the penalty was for the back row breaking early. Now, this does actually happen before the ball squirts out as you can see the flanker on the Ref's side standing up when the ball flies out. Having said that, this would still appear to be harsh for a Penalty try as what effect did they actually have on the game (and the blind side flank who made the tackle on Morgan was still bound).

Another dissapointing column from Mr Anderson but don't send it anywhere! Even the ones I dislike and think are non-sensical (England Nuked the Irish scrum.. but...) generate more entertaining writing in the forums as people who seem to understand rugby far more than Mr Anderson, write far more eloquently on the subject... then you get APV1 (only kidding my fellow bath fan!!!).

England had a huge advantage in the scrum, they used it well, for the most part they did it legally as far as i could tell, but I have no doubt shenanigans from both sides were going on!

One thing I can't stand (and this might be what Anderson meant with his comment on whooping and gloating) is when a scrum does well, everyone jumps up and congratulates each other and the backs come running in to slap their props on the back side and promise them a low carb recovery drink after the game. At one stage the Irish did this after winning one penalty at Scrum time. Needless, unsportsmanlike and has the potential to be really bad taste if someone was injured in the recently finished scrum.

Posted 14:18 20th March 2012

lawynd says...

@wazsere - all good points. One thing I've noticed over the last few years, and Ireland aren't the only side guilty of it, is that the back row aren't putting a shift in at the scrum. Whilst those additional shoulders don't always look like they're adding much the ballast and stability of three extra bodies can often be the difference between a successful scrum or getting nudged backwards. Look at teams like Leicester or Northampton, in particular, who have dominant scrums; the flankers might have their heads up to see what's going on in front of them but they're still aiding the drive at the same time and you rarely see the number 8 looking up until his pack is moving forward. Such basic skills, that were drilled into me at an amateur level, are not being followed by 'hollywood'-style back rows. Yes, I do mean Ferris, Heaslip and O'Brien, chaps. ;)

Posted 10:32 20th March 2012

TVaddict says...

Wow, does the guy who writes this hate England or something?

Posted 18:41 19th March 2012

sanka69 says...

Hear hear to a lot of these comments, Richard Andreson articles get more and more ridiculuos the more you read!! Cmon PR time to do away with the rubbish.......we can't all be wrong!!

Posted 17:41 19th March 2012

gingergenius says...

Every Loose Pass article contains several 'opinion' pieces about rugby events in the past week. About once a month, there is a section that is well-researched and worth reading.

All the rest of the time it is an exercise in cheap, nasty, sensationalist and simply low-brow journalism from Richard Anderson. We see this level of journalism regularly in Stuff, in the Sun, the Western Mail... and there's two reasons:

If we're being cynical, the authors are making controversial statements to generate debate, which makes more people read and talk about the article.

Alternatively, they simply come across as unintelligent and poorly informed.

Make your minds up - go through Anderson's back catalogue of 'anti-rugby from England', 'Ireland's front row were hard done by', NH rugby sucks, Australian and SA rugby sucks, Saracens suck (and are ALL South African)...

Is this fair, rational and well-informed writing? Or is it glamourised trolling? Richard Anderson, you are shockingly bad at what you do.

Posted 15:45 19th March 2012

Chancer says...

I don't recall any 'whooping and gloating' ??? Without taking anything away from Wales, what was 'Technically Superior' ??

A very strange article all round, although once again as posted on other articles the inconsistency of Reffing is embarassing.

Some do everything to allow the game to flow and some are really pedantic about the letter of the law and please don't get me started on scrums!

Posted 15:34 19th March 2012

Ramage says...

lol @Jay Starr "trash from all over the world look the same," I absolutely agree. Mine is collected on Wednesday's and Id like to inform Barend van Graan hes quite welcome to send Nel here for removal if he cant do it himself. However take note van Graan the rugby world is watching you and should you not do anything then it is you who needs to be removed.

Posted 13:54 19th March 2012

APV1 says...

@ heart_of_oak - Hear! Hear! Thanks for saving me the necessity of posting almost a replica of yours.

@ JayStarr - there are morons all over the world and you're right - you can pick 'em! Thankfully for us, they're mostly found in soccer stadiums (although the fans' reaction to the Fabrice Muamba incident this weekend was laudible and commendable in every way). And the parents are too stupid to realise that they're ruining their childrens' lives, which is the greatest shame. Hopefully the other 9 out of 10 will have some influence too. At least the kids are watching rugby - there's hope for them yet!

And perhaps it's his name. I used to love watching Andre Nel bowl, as he was confrontational and aggressive too. But he kept it on the pitch as well! ;-)

@ Richard Anderson - were you hungover or still half cut when you penned this? Some of the LP articles are excellent, but this one's a little peculiar.

Referees rarely make the decision now-a-days when it comes to tries, preferring to rely on the TMO. They need to grow some balls. Yes. But he didn't see. He asked the TJ, who also didn't see. We all did, because we had the TV, but he didn't. Imagine the furore if he'd not awarded it and it had been a try?

"Gloating"? Who from? If you filter out the trolls - we all know who they are - the posters and fans from all nations have been gracious, magnanimous, humble and circumspect - all things we expect from rugby fans.

Posted 13:45 19th March 2012

JayStarr says...

Regarding the Bulls fan - just look at him. Seriously, just LOOK AT HIM... then you wouldn't have to waste so much space writing about him! Or trying to disprove his ridiculous story... He's TRASH. Pure and simple. Trash from all over the world look the same. Unfortunately I have to agree with you that one in 10 people at Loftus has Mr.Nel's mentality (i.e. morons)... And the scariest thing is seeing how they influence their little kids - with Bull rings through their noses, throwing middle fingers and swearing at the opposition players to their parents' drunken delight. No wonder Bulls fans have such a reputation in South Africa. But you're not writing about anything new here - so it's a bit annoying that you wasted so much space with it if you were only going to write about one SH matter this week.

Posted 13:07 19th March 2012

heart_of_oak says...

As always, when England do well, we have to qualify this with 'Ah, but...' statements. In this case, the focus is not on England's great scrummaging but on poor referreeing. You then go on to talk about whooping and gloating. I've looked through the message boards, on the BBC and other rugby sites and I can't see much evidence of this. On the contrary, alot of posts from Englishmen have been very measured and I only saw one post which unnecessarily and rudely baited Irish people about St Patrick's Day. If you're going to say there's whooping and gloating because English people are pleased when England won, you don't understand a natural desire to celebrate a victory. Is that what you call whooping and gloating ? If so, then I reckon any winning side is guilty of it.

I think all Englishmen would say our side is young, inexperienced, in development, with an inexperienced coach (at top level anyway) and yet in spite of this, they've all done well and better than many of us expected.

Loose Pass, your reporting does you a disservice.

Posted 12:42 19th March 2012