Matera hero to zero

[jgriffin]

Not sure what is more disturbing, the speed of the UAR's U-turn or the reaction of some of these forum members?

Both.

UAR quick to brush it all under the carpet when the finger was pointed in the direction of their culture. A nice, diverse, tolerant culture that was bringing through their youth players.

Sadly, it has to be remembered, beyond sport, Argentina is a country with many longstanding issues from the top down. Corrupt politicians seem the norm, and the go-to hiding place for those trying to hide from justice post WW2 in the 1950s-1980s.

Let us not forget those that served our Country down there April to June 1982 and since!
However the game of Rugby has brought them some respect across the world.

Speaking as someone whose middle brother served honourably there, and of who I am proud, I wouldn't open that can of worms any further.

[ads]

Hmm, not sure common sense has prevailed really. Doesn't set a great example does it? Reinstating him as captain and basically getting off scot free isn't really looking at the bigger picture.

He was young, yes. He's now a different person, he says he is. He's apologised, has he? He's learned, only he knows...

I'd like to see him do something to show he's a different person. Like actively get out into communities, maybe when he's back in Paris and work with young black kids.

Would be interesting to see the reaction of his black team mates when he's back at Stade....

[JP14]

Neil Fissler has deleted his twitter, not sure why but I put it here because I have a suspicion it’s linked to what’s gone down with Matera.

[Scott1]

Neil Fissler has deleted his twitter, not sure why but I put it here because I have a suspicion it’s linked to what’s gone down with Matera.

Why is that? Was he backing him and got heat for it?

[fentiger]

Neil Fissler has deleted his twitter, not sure why but I put it here because I have a suspicion it’s linked to what’s gone down with Matera.

He did have quite a bit to say about the Milwall fans vs BLM

[Tiglon]

Really good article with quotes from Ugo Monye explaining why it's a problem that UAR have backed down.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/55173053

"Just so we are clear, [the comments] are not immature - they are racist and they are vile."

The issue with dismissing the tweets as immature is that you are implying that racism is just something you do when you're a kid (a 19/20 year old kid who would be treated as an adult in most countries).

[mol2]

I don't think any of us were justifying what Matera said, more that it was a long time ago when he was a youth.
No, at that age we are not developmentally mature. Criminally responsible in the eyes of the law, yes.

Was it right that he apologised and made it publically clear that he knew that what he said back them was wrong - absolutely.

Reinstating him as captain immediately was also not a good message to send out.

The problem is that too many people feel entitled to judge the errors of others. To be honest many of those under the age of 50 have lived such sheltered lives in the almost Orwellian era of today's nwespeak when people are pilloried for using the wrong terminology for ethnicity. However those that are doing this are unaware through ignorance that the terms used innocently by one generation as being perfectly innocent and polite terms in the era that individual comes from. Just because this generation have different polite terms does not mean that others are necessarily wrong. Too much black and white thinking in a greyscale world.

I wonder how many under 30s have read 1984 or even watched the film. Not too many, and I suspect they might find it uncomfortable viewing.

[Tiglon]

I would point out that Matera has not been criticised for using the wrong terminology, but for suggesting it would be a good idea to kill black people. I'm not judging Matera, I've made mistakes too and been punished for them, I've said and written silly things I didn't mean, but it's important for UAR to send a clear message against racism - unfortunately the message they've sent so far is that it's ok to be racist if you're young and you say sorry at some point.

I'm not saying Matera should never play for the Pumas again, I'm not saying he should be kicked out of rugby, I'm not even saying he should be dropped from the team for longer - the rugby side of things is in fact almost irrelevant. However, UAR need to send a much stronger message with the words they choose and Matera should be used to do some good to balance out his mistake - e.g. as others have suggested some kind of community service work educating against racism in Argentina.

Argentina now have a lot of young people reading what Matera wrote all those years ago and laughing about it, thinking it's funny and thinking that if their hero did that when he was 19, it must be ok for them too - particularly when everyone is making excuses for him.

[mol2]

Apparently he has got to undergo and educational/remedial educational program before being considered for captaincy.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/55475293

So the Argentinian rugby authorities have taken time to reflect, taking a measured approach to this and ultimately to young players in Argentina.

[Not a jock]

At the risk of being slightly off-topic, when he was brought in as injury dispensation for Tom Croft, why did he only play eight games for Tigers?

[Scott1]

At the risk of being slightly off-topic, when he was brought in as injury dispensation for Tom Croft, why did he only play eight games for Tigers?

Because everyone was too scared of him

[mol2]

Presumably because Tigers in those days were unwilling to let young players get too much game time and perhaps his face didn't fit?

[Scott1]

Crazy world we live in! It’s like ANTIFA and UAF walking around acting like nazis. They love freedom of speech but dont dare say anything they dont like