Loose Pass
This week we will mostly be concerning ourselves with late truths, early fibs, retirements, luxuries and meddling…
This week we will mostly be concerning ourselves with late truths, early fibs, retirements, luxuries and meddling…
A few weeks ago, we lamented the unfortunate behaviour of Napolioni Nalaga in the matter of his contractual breakdown with Clermont, and his apparent complete lack of respect in the way he went incommunicado.
Well, French journalists, never shy of heading off the the Pacific Islands in hunt of a good story (you may remember we once recounted the odyssey of the journalist who travelled off to track down an errant Rupeni Caucaunibuca), did not let the Nalaga story rest there.
A good job too, for the truth may never have come out. According to Marc Duzan's article in Midi-Olympique, it seems Nalaga is in his hometown of Sigatoka, stuck there not because he is depressed over his fiancee's car crash, but because he has fallen out with his mother over who he ought to be heading down the aisle with!
'Napo” was wanting to marry a local girl who he had met two years previously, and with whom he has a 10 month old son, Napolioni Junior, with a view to returning together to France. His family and particularly his mother, had other ideas, having arranged a marriage to the daughter of a well-to-do family from Suva, a thing commonly done in Fiji, where many villages are still controlled by a 'senior' or chief, who oversees daily life.
The 'accident story' was fabricated by the 'entourage' around Nalaga to buy time to sort the mess out – apparently his mother had the right to block his bank account, thus preventing him paying paternal contributions to his son and girlfriend.
The Fijian courts subsequently stopped him from leaving until the matter was settled. He is quoted as saying, “he wishes to return to France after the World Cup”, thus turning his back on his mother and family, together with his fiancee and son.
So we owe Nalaga an apology it seems. And his mother may possibly be the most unpopular person in the Auvergne…
Thanks to Marc Thompson for the info.
Other unpopular people with club administrators this week include one Andrew Powell, he of 'a bit of Anglo-Welsh banter' which quickly degenerated into an all-out bar brawl between he and a bunch of Queen's Park Rangers soccer club fans.
Powell's little story brought tears to the eyes. “I was knocked to the ground by a gang who then started to kick and punch me,” the 29-year-old told The Telegraph.
“It was pretty scary. I curled up into a ball and put my hands over my face and temples but couldn't cover the back of my head.
“I was then hit by a bar stool and lost consciousness after that but I suffered a pretty bad cut. There was blood everywhere. I think I lost around two pints of blood in the pub and was taken away in a wheelchair and then taken by ambulance to a hospital where they stitched me up.
“I needed at least 10 stitches but I am okay now. I am feeling sore all over, but it was just one of those things.”
Hmmm… ok, so no other party involved has proffered their version of the facts, but there's a lot of odd turns of events in there. Firstly, Tim Payne, with Powell at the time, appears to have not played any kind of intervening role in what Powell claims is a near-unprovoked attack. So passive was Payne's reaction that he has since been exonerated by Wasps' initial investigation. Is that really what clubmates do these days? Simply stand by and watch while another takes a beating? We doubt it. So you'd have to assume, at the very least, that the banter which kicked off the incident was a little more than the usual jokes about sheep and cups of tea, and that Payne was neither impressed by Powell's behaviour nor taking part in any of it.
Second, the phrase 'at least ten stitches' is an odd one, or has the NHS stopped giving you information on injuries these days? And finally, 'just one of those things?' Seriously? A GANG punches you to the floor, opens up your head with a bar stool and presumably flees, and this is 'just one of those things?'
No it is not. Powell's stupidity in even talking to the press while under club investigation, thus exacerbating the bad publicity, has been compounded by the flaws in his story. As with Gavin Henson last week, it's yet another story of a talented player with trouble just following him around.
A quick tribute to a retiree this week: farewell Tom Shanklin.
Shanks has been a terrific servant for club and country, a tireless worker on the pitch whose tries were so often the by-product of his efforts in support. His injury history blighted his career in the later years, but in a fortnight when a couple of his more naturally gifted compatriots have been exemplifying what not to do off the pitch, it would be remiss not to remember a player who was so exemplary both on and off it.
Wouldn't it be good to be Guy Novès? Short of players? Hmmmm – I think I'll take South Africa's Player of the Year last year, one of New Zealand's more cultured runners, a Wallaby scrum-half, a national team ace goal-kicker… yes, that'll do nicely thanks. And just so you know, we're not stopping there.
The French introduced a salary cap last year, as well as a system attempting to limit the number of foreign players playing in the Top 14. No really, they did.
In South Africa, the most intriguing interview of the week was that conducted by Sharks coach John Plumtree in the light of the ongoing debate over where to play John Smit.
National coach Peter De Villiers still insisted last week he would only consider Smit for hooker and said he would speak to Plumtree on the subject. Reading between the lines, you'd have to have thought that would be a request from PDV to Plumtree to give Smit some gametime please.
Plumtree's interview contained the following lines: “We had a positive meeting; how I'm using John here is an insight into possibly how they can use him there. How I utilise John at the Sharks suits our team dynamics but how he (De Villiers) uses John is totally up to him.
“The main thing is making sure John is happy with what I'm doing here – and he is… at the end of the day, we'll do what's best for the team; that's pretty much what our discussion was based upon.”
Reading between the lines, that's basically: “Leave my team alone Mr. national coach.” PDV's job is getting harder and harder, and Smit's SA squad status more and more unclear.
Loose Pass compiled by Richard Anderson.