Round 5 other fixtures

[sam16111986]

I thought Tempest was poor to both sides. Umaga’s superman dive was very Chiefs-esq, perhaps that’s his audition to be signed by Rob Baxter next year.

Wasps will miss Rowlands when he goes to Wales next season.

Yeah the evolution of Rowlands as a player has been quite dramatic. He was such an average player and then hit some late development at the same time as Launchbury refound his form. Strong lock combo now. Richard Blaze is really getting the most out of them.

Rumours that Stooke will be his replacement. He looked like he was going to be some player initially but never quite fulfilled his potential. Perhaps they think they can bring him on as they did with Rowlands. There's certainly ability there to be brought out.

I'm a big fan of Stooke, if Blaze can get the best out of him at Wasps surely he will be knocking on England's door again.

I think Stooke is a good player as well and that his full potential hasn't been reached. Be a good direct replacement for Rowlands as well.

England is likely to be a step to far though as the competition there is ridiculous. Launchbury isn't yet 30, Itoje, Hill, Kpoku and Isiekwe are all of an age where they could make the next world cup. Lawes is a little older as is Kruis.

[westwinds31]

I would respectfully suggest that Sale have 2 points deducted for that "gamesmanship" at the end. Billy 36 could have taken a quick throw with who knows what result. The action of the water carrier materially affected the game. It may be that Glos would have been unable to capitalise but ?...

Not a lot in that. Water “boy” picks ball up...naughty...Twelvetrees pushes him and Curry takes offence. Big melee but Curry and 12T shake hands no bother. Question mark over Du Preez shoulder on Harris which should have been yellow at the very least. Bottom line is that Glos once again threw away a victory. It happens so often it’s not the officials fault every single time.

[Tiglon]

I would respectfully suggest that Sale have 2 points deducted for that "gamesmanship" at the end. Billy 36 could have taken a quick throw with who knows what result. The action of the water carrier materially affected the game. It may be that Glos would have been unable to capitalise but ?...

Not a lot in that. Water “boy” picks ball up...naughty...Twelvetrees pushes him and Curry takes offence. Big melee but Curry and 12T shake hands no bother. Question mark over Du Preez shoulder on Harris which should have been yellow at the very least. Bottom line is that Glos once again threw away a victory. It happens so often it’s not the officials fault every single time.

Gloucester lost through Lloyd's poor goalkicking. McGinty was the difference. That said, the officiating was poor - where was the TMO when Harris went off with a head injury after a no arms tackle to the head, under the current laws thats a straightforward red card. The ref couldn't have seen it and relied on the other officials to support him, but why didn't he ask questions when Harris was dragged off for a HIA? If the HIA spotter saw it, why did the TMO not?

I also agree with Skivington, the scrum penalty to Sale was plain wrong. You could see the Sale loose head driving the Glouc tight head inwards.

As for the water boy incident, why no meaningful punishment for Sale? Sending off a water boy is utterly pointless. Twelvetrees deserved the yellow, but the TMO seemed completely disinterested when Dickson ordered him to look at what started it, you could almost hear him shrugging his shoulders. The message to teams from that incident is "cheat. Go for it. You'll probably be better off". Cheating prospered and thats bad for rugby. Furthermore, should Curry not have been yellowed for retaliating to 12T?

On the other side of it, I was delighted to see Dickson penalise Ross for patting Balmain on the head after knocking on. More of that please, penalty for being a head.

It was a poor game, Gloucester didn't make the most of opportunities and Sale looked like a group of individuals who were there for the money and to prove how big and hard they are, not to win a game.

The commentators need to start taking some responsibility with regards to player safety, I'm fed up of hearing them wet themselves with glee over the "huge collision" following a dangerous no arms tackle. Stop glorifying it.

To summarise:
Gloucester poor.
Sale poor but kicked better.
Dickson inconsistent, let down by his TMO.

Not a great 80 minutes for rugby.

[westwinds31]

I guarantee if Glos had won that game, nobody would be on Dickson’s case, except perhaps for the horrendous tackle by Du Preez.

[loretta]

Also interested in whether the citing officer needs to take a look at a head butt...

[OakhamTiger32]

I would respectfully suggest that Sale have 2 points deducted for that "gamesmanship" at the end. Billy 36 could have taken a quick throw with who knows what result. The action of the water carrier materially affected the game. It may be that Glos would have been unable to capitalise but ?...

Not a lot in that. Water “boy” picks ball up...naughty...Twelvetrees pushes him and Curry takes offence. Big melee but Curry and 12T shake hands no bother. Question mark over Du Preez shoulder on Harris which should have been yellow at the very least. Bottom line is that Glos once again threw away a victory. It happens so often it’s not the officials fault every single time.

That said, the officiating was poor - where was the TMO when Harris went off with a head injury after a no arms tackle to the head, under the current laws thats a straightforward red card. The ref couldn't have seen it and relied on the other officials to support him, but why didn't he ask questions when Harris was dragged off for a HIA? If the HIA spotter saw it, why did the TMO not?

I also agree with Skivington, the scrum penalty to Sale was plain wrong. You could see the Sale loose head driving the Glouc tight head inwards.

Dickson inconsistent, let down by his TMO.

Not a great 80 minutes for rugby.

Exactly the same as the hit by the Exeter player on Simmons and once again nothing done yet he was cited and suspended afterwards if my memory serves me correctly. TMO needs to be stepping in on these incidents whether the referee asks or not if we are going to cut them out of the game. Agree with you that the TMO seemed pretty disinterested yesterday, which didn’t help Dickson at all.

When we are on the receiving end of these performances by the officials I notice lots of people saying we can’t blame the ref yet watching as a neutral the past few days the Wasps vs Exeter and Glos vs Sale games were littered with errors, inconsistencies and poor decisions. Yes we are all human and make mistakes but missing contact with the head is inexcusable.

[kk20gb30]

Wasps Vs Exeter was a great game to watch for me - massive intensity.In all honesty however , when it comes to the Ruck and Counter the laws of the game need either amending to suit or scrapping because they simply are not being applied.
Still though a fierce , physical contest.

[OakhamTiger32]

Wasps Vs Exeter was a great game to watch for me - massive intensity.In all honesty however , when it comes to the Ruck and Counter the laws of the game need either amending to suit or scrapping because they simply are not being applied.
Still though a fierce , physical contest.

Don’t get me wrong it was a cracking game to watch just not the finest performance by the officials!

[kk20gb30]

Also worthy of a mention here is Connacht's victory at Leinster by 35-24 points in the Pro14
Their first win in Dublin for 18 years , which ended Leinster's 26 match Pro14 winning run .
Another great performance on the day.

[westwinds31]

Also interested in whether the citing officer needs to take a look at a head butt...

I’ve seen the clips, there’s no head butt that I can see. It’s one of those that if you look enough times, you may be able to convince yourself that there was one.

[OakhamTiger32]

Also interested in whether the citing officer needs to take a look at a head butt...

I’ve seen the clips, there’s no head butt that I can see. It’s one of those that if you look enough times, you may be able to convince yourself that there was one.

Or potentially just the BT Sport stirring crew at work once again! Didn't see a head butt when I was wtching but to be honest I wasn't really looking that closely

[Tiglon]

Neither game was decided by the referee, Exeter and Gloucester lost through their own performance.

The main issue is player safety. The refereesimply can't see everything, the TMO needs to spot dangerous play and get involved. I think that's the third time I've seen a shoulder to the head just before or during the breakdown this season - all three have gone unpunished during the game. None of the three incidents actually benefitted the team making them (other than by injuring an opponent) so it's just dangerous play for the sake of it. For me, that's not rugby it's violence and needs to be stopped.

On reflection, the one yesterday was even worse than I initially thought. Harris was smashed in the head by a shoulder while 12 inches from the floor having been tackled. It wasn't an attempted tackle, it wasn't an attempted clear out - it wasn't a rugby act, it was violence, simple as that.

Rugby needs to move away from encouraging players to prove how manly they are by trying to hurt each other, or it's going to get a lot more lawsuits in the future, and far fewer kids taking up the game.

When I played as a kid you'd watch your heroes punch each other - that was stamped out because it was dangerous thuggery, apparently. Now we have 20 stone players performing flying shoulder charges to the head and no one seems too bothered. I know which I think is safer.

[SthrnTiger]

Also interested in whether the citing officer needs to take a look at a head butt...

I’ve seen the clips, there’s no head butt that I can see. It’s one of those that if you look enough times, you may be able to convince yourself that there was one.

Commentator mentions he thinks he saw a headbutt by Yarde, hard to tell but watching highlights it looks to me like Yarde got picked up by his own teammates in the melee (?)

[Not a jock]

There were ten water carriers on the pitch at one stage. I doubt “army” is the appropriate collective noun for such people - perhaps “navy” , “fleet” or “armada” instead?

Whatever, this is the dawning of the age of Aquarius.

[sam16111986]

Sale might not have a monopoly on the citings.

https://mobile.twitter.com/MrBooth7/sta ... 9438310400