Loose Pass
This week we shall mostly be concerning ourselves with ranting, through all forms of media, and a phoenix's return to the flames…
This week we shall mostly be concerning ourselves with ranting, through all forms of media, and a phoenix's return to the flames…
The interconnectedness of the modern world, the ability to propagate an opinion irrespective of how ignorant or futile and to circumnavigate the usual gatekeeping channels in doing so, is somewhat antithesis to that of the modern rugby player.
Fact is, unless either broadcast through the proper formal lines or extensively vetted by those employed to maintain face, it's rare for a player to be allowed, publicly, to have an opinion at all.
This is the price one pays to be paid to do something we fans hope the players actually love as much as us, but in the world of social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter (feel free to change the 'i' for an 'a' to get this writer's opinion of that particular outlet), it must sometimes feel for the players a bit like being sat in the stocks in front of an unruly rabble and a supply of tomatoes usually reserved for Spanish festivities.
Bryan Habana is one to have fallen foul of actually being human in public on it when defending himself, Neemia Tialata also has found that something he had to say while subject of numerous rumours became headlines the next day. Quade Cooper's 'over it' Facebook status after a Reds defeat was once talk of the town. Presumably Cooper just wanted people to leave him alone instead of asking those misplaced 'what happened' questions one tends to get after a game, but one media outlet even speculated it was a public declaration he was finally giving up the bottle after a long fight.
In most instances, most people just do not care what these guys have to say on social networks. But supposing we did, what useful information is there to glean?
We can, for example, presume that Cory Jane was annoyed when he wrote: “I'm so pissed at playing that sh*t. There is one man that was worse than anyone on the field, I can't say his name (hint) he never got the ball.” (In case you were wondering, it's Stuart Dickinson), but so what? If you lose a game, you are annoyed and the ref is often to blame while you are still angry. It's like the ebb and flow of the tide.
This was not press statement nor interview nor newspaper column, it was just Jane venting spleen at a bad personal game and a perceived injustice. Compare it to the facebook status of a friend of mine at the weekend: “Kak ref, yellow card, still no ****ing internet. Bull****.” If you're an actual friend/acquaintance, you sit back and have a giggle.
The problems come when those not involved in the player's immediate social network get access to it all. Jane's one-liner earned him an informal slap on the wrist from the authorities, presumably when someone tried to turn Jane's anger into the newspaper column/interview it so palpably was not.
Then you have the Irish at the weekend, with Cian Healy and Jamie Heaslip so assaulted by vitriol from the Irish public they felt compelled to launch public defences of themselves on Twitter, much as Habana was forced to do last year. And that after the Irish had actually won.
So this is an appeal to everybody: can we please take social media with a pinch of salt, mind our own business, and stop being (in the Irish case) so negative and remember there are very few who could do better than the best players in the country? There are more important things to worry about in rugby than one specific player's frustration on one specific matchday.
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Certainly there are those among the Irish fraternity who think so as well. We have received a fabulous letter from one fan, which is laid out for you in full below. We've never been a column to support anti-referee rants, but in terms of credibility, neutrality and objectivity, this one is a corker. It certainly raised a few smiles and had the eyeballs rolling at Planet Rugby HQ.
“Numbers, numbers, numbers. 6 Nations, 2011, 3 rounds down, 2 to go, and its fair to say one of the prevailing themes and arguably the most significant “number” of Ireland's campaign so far has been the penalty count. And it does not make pretty reading: versus Italy a penalty count of 5 for and 13 against. Against France a count of 8 for and 9 against, which probably felt worst because of Morgan Parra's match winning goal kicking, while against Scotland on Sunday, 4 for and 12 against.
After each match the Coach and Captain have dutifully trotted out the usual lines about Ireland's “discipline letting them down” and “the need to improve” and prominent commentators are starting to call for fines and player demotions to be considered. But have these experienced international players really lost their way on the pitch to this extent or is there perhaps more to it?
Have Ireland just been unlucky with their referee appointments this season? I would argue that they have and I give you the 3 stooges, Messrs, Poite, Pearson and Owens.
Monsieur Poite is currently France's top referee on the IRB lists but this probably says more about his colleagues than anything else. His “did he, didn't he” letter writing exploits may have been hyped up by elements in the media but were not a good start and this allied to his interpretation of the scrum in Rome, since de-constructed by various scrummaging experts, have only added to a less than impressive CV at the top level of professional rugby. Au revoir Monsieur.
Then Mr David Pearson, the smiling assassin of English referees. Every player's friend (at least in his eyes!) but the master of whistling one side only. When he lectured Brian O' Driscoll midway through the first half in Lansdowne Road he, O' Driscoll, who has probably forgotten more about international rugby than Mr Pearson will ever know, really looked liked he wanted to to say something along the lines of “I'll talk to my team when you ref both sides” but of course he didn't. Again since that match, and in his own understated way, Declan Kidney has revealed that Ireland's enquiries (more of this later) and IRB review has revealed that 2 or 3 of Mr Pearson's penalty decisions should in fact have gone the other way. Irish Grand Slam anybody?
And finally Mr Nigel Owens of Wales, a referee I had a lot of time for until quite recently. Probably until the night he was in charge of the Scarlets Leinster Magners league match in December last and chatted throughout to the Scarlets front-row in Welsh. Latterly too his refereeing style has seen an increasing focus on him on the pitch, never a good sign. And Keith Wood's view of his management of the Scotland Ireland scrum contest (including incidentally the yellow card incurred by Allan Jacobsen of Scotland) was that, basically, he did not have a clue. I think Wood knows more about scrummaging that Mr Owens, don't you?
So in my opinion Ireland have been very unlucky to get these 3, one after the other, and a couple of