Loose Pass

This week we will mostly be concerning ourselves with disciplinary issues and Heineken Cup notes…

This week we will mostly be concerning ourselves with disciplinary issues and Heineken Cup notes…

It's difficult not to feel a little ambivalent about Mike Tindall's punishment from the RFU. He was a prat. But to have a 75-cap World Cup career ended so…

Tindall, 25k less well off and now no longer an international – which was kind of a given anyway being as he is 33 – was punished for some rowdy behaviour during the World Cup, behaviour that notably did not include staggering ball-naked into a bar and lamping a couple of patrons à la Zac Guildford.

Obviously there's in-season and off-season and there's probably a fair few details of Tindall's conduct we may not be privy to. But either way, it's a staggering sentence in comparison to the 5k ones dished out to Messrs Haskell and Ashton.

When you compare the known actions of the three: Tindall getting drunk – very drunk – and fooling around with some friend at a few pubs, while Ashton and Haskell – sober, very sober – making all sorts of inappropriate comments to the hotel lady leading to her distress, and then note that Tindall's sentence was more than five times the weight, you have to wonder what moral code the RFU were operating from. Is binge-drinking worse than sexual harassment now?

There are more questions than that. If Tindall's behaviour was so bad, why was he not sanctioned sooner – or more accurately, why was the hearing not convened sooner? A campaign to be forgotten, certainly best forgotten in the eyes of the RFU, is now all the more memorable.

The actions of Ashton and Haskell were also the subject of a clumsy attempt to remove their gravity with this sentence in the RFU disciplinary statement: “it should be stressed that the allegations of very serious wrong-doing made against Chris Ashton, Dylan Hartley and James Haskell by Annabel Newton, a member of staff at the team hotel, were entirely false. We do not believe the players had any intention to sexually harass or intimidate Ms Newton.” Entirely false? Why the fines then?

The Tindall case has been used as collateral from the RFU, a political rugby ball to be placed on the line of what it deems its moral integrity. Unfortunately, given that this is an organisation that has orchestrated the shambolic departure of its Chairman, CEO, Head of Performance and last two coaches, is run by Rob Andrew who makes teflon look like double-sided sticky tape (two-faced sticky tape is more appropriate) and still can't decide whether to make the man they shamelessly ushered into the Head Coaching role through the back door four years ago re-apply for his job or not with the Six Nations just eleven weeks away, this rugby ball has been touched down behind its own line.

The pressure is still on – scapegoating a long-standing servant of the team is not the right move, nor is brushing the insidious indiscretions of the younger players under the carpet. The whole saga has also made Martin Johnson look out of touch with his players, and incapable of judging disciplinary matters for himself, two things he is so patently obviously not.

At this juncture a few substitutions in the RFU ranks wouldn't be out of place either.

Meanwhile, there's Zac Guildford. If ever anybody needed to be made an example of, it would be him. New Zealand is not short on wingers, so a lengthy ban would hardly blunt the team's attacking edge, nor would a swingeing fine be out of place to a well-paid sportsman still at the tender age of 22 and with a good few years to make up the shortfall.

Given the hero status now being afforded to all All Blacks, a zero tolerance policy here would be entirely appropriate. It would also show clear leadership at the NZRU – particularly as the coaching/management staff is in transition.

A cracking weekend of Heineken Cup action was a little lean on tries it has to be said – although studying the latter stages of the World Cup would surely lend credence to the assertions of those who promote the Heineken Cup as being closer to top-level Test rugby than Super Rugby.

Here's a couple of thoughts on the weekend's action though:

Six French teams, one win, one draw, four defeats. World Cup hangover? Possibly, but there is an apparent prevalent culture among French teams that seems to suggest they are too happy to rest on their laurels and hope for a penalty or drop goal rather than fight for the win at times. Only Toulouse – as ever – bucked the trend, but Clermont especially were guilty of wasting multiple chances to spread the ball and strike a killer blow.

That'll be bad news for all the French teams playing in pools with Irish teams, with Munster, Leinster and Ulster all coming from behind to snatch points in the final stages of their respective matches. So going on this basis, we'll make a bold prediction: France to lead at half-time in the Six Nations, and Ireland to steal the clash.

Still, that's better than the French fared against the Welsh, with a clean sweep of French teams by the Scarlets, Cardiff Blues and Ospreys – a real rarity in the Heineken Cup. Likewise, the Scots ran roughshod over their English counterparts. Was there the merest smidgeon of motivation left from the World Cup do you think?

All of which leaves the Italians, who are still a long way from closing the gap but heading in the right direction still.

Loose Pass compiled by Richard Anderson