Well, another weekend, another step backwards for the game of rugby.
Bundee Aki was sent off for tackling. Yes, I suppose his shoulder inadvertently made contact with the head but if he were any lower the ball carrier would have made contact with Bundee’s head. It would have been hard to imagine that yellow and red cards would have thrown about with gay abandon even just five years ago. If anyone should have been sent off over the weekend, it should have been Ofa Tu’ungafasi who made a clear out straight to Scott Barrett’s face. No – yellow card. Which is it? make contact with head by mistake – red card. Deliberately – yellow. Hard to figure.
Mike Fraser covered himself in glory again. Wrongfully called Ricky Riccitalli offside that led to a Chiefs try.
Paul Williams virtually made the Crusaders v Blues game unwatchable. Penalty after penalty after penalty. Even the commentators, who seem to shy away from such criticisms, made comment on some of these calls.
I think what we have is referees looking for infractions rather than ruling what happens. It’s an important distinction to make. When you look for something wrong – you’ll invariably find it even though it may not be there. Tell the fucking TMO to fuck off too. He or she can be used when asked. Imagine trying referee 30 professional rugby players and having three other voices in your ear telling what’s wrong. Fuck that. I like the way Paul MacFie used to handle such situations – he basically said shut up unless I ask for your opinion.
Another downside to the bloody rugby is that I could pick a winner even if I tried. The Chiefs won, the French beat Wales in the last play, the Poms got snotted by the Irish. The only constants are death, taxes and the Crusaders.
Narry mind.
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