Farrell, Marler & McIntyre cited.

[Bloggs]

Marler & McIntyre both get 2 weeks, despite me thinking that the minimum ban was 4 weeks.

Imagine Marler's was reduced to 2 for recent good behaviour?

[Puja]

Marler & McIntyre both get 2 weeks, despite me thinking that the minimum ban was 4 weeks.

Imagine Marler's was reduced to 2 for recent good behaviour?

Apparently his racism ban was not taken into account as it was "wholly unconnected" with the matter. Personally, I'd say he's very lucky that the two were just regarded as different flavours of on-pitch indiscipline.

Puja

[morepork]

Farrell will receive an honuorary doctorate from Oxford University for "services to expressions of studied concentration that look like a cumface".

[Digby]

If Marler had really connected I'd think his case much worse than McIntrye, however as Marler basically aimed a rubbish kick I'm not sure it is similar. I'm not surprised they didn't take into account Marler's recent case, they have the option to but also plenty of precedent to ignore, and I'd not be surprised if he'd been asked to plead guilty on the gypsy boy base with confirmation that it'd be a short ban meaning they wouldn't want to reference it now.

[CONVEX HULL]

Farrell did not receive a doctorate, but rather a two week ban.

Charlie Hodgson saves Sarries from two defeats at the hands of Mordt.

[Digby]

Farrell did not receive a doctorate, but rather a two week ban.

Charlie Hodgson saves Sarries from two defeats at the hands of Mordt.

I think we'd all be quite confident you'd win those games with Mordt. Maybe not Worcester if there's no result needed.

[CONVEX HULL]

The penalty still makes a mockery the citing process and, again, a saracens player gets the sh***y and of the stick. No way was Farrell's tackle a red, as the citing commission have stated.

I think that you overestimate Mordt, btw.

[fivepointer]

2 weeks all round then. There's consistency for you.

[WiganShark]

Farrell 2 weeks, this is turning into ffooking wendyball.

[Oakboy]

The penalty still makes a mockery the citing process and, again, a saracens player gets the sh***y and of the stick. No way was Farrell's tackle a red, as the citing commission have stated.

I think that you overestimate Mordt, btw.

I'm surprised at what you say. IMO, Farrell's action was by far the most dangerous of the three. It was almost guaranteed to seriously injure whereas the other two were most unlikely to. You might argue that it tended towards reckless rather than being deliberately malicious but on the 'duty of care' scale it was pretty awful. At the time I was convinced it should have resulted in red.

[CONVEX HULL]

Well, you would, wouldn't you?

[oldbackrow]

Farrell 2 weeks, this is turning into ffooking wendyball.

Well not sure about that but the Samoans, Fijians and other hard hitters are going to get decimated by bans. Perhaps by the next RWC we will be playing touch or tag!

[fivepointer]

Looking again at the Farrell incident, there is mitigation in that Robson dips but really Farrell is flying in without any control. He's not even looking at Robson when he hits him and is in a terrible position. He could easily have got worse than a cut ear. Its pretty reckless and I dont think a ban is excessively harsh.

Marler and McIntyre have got off a touch light i'd say.

[Peat]

How on earth Marler's two trips to the disciplinary committee are considered unrelated I don't know but in a woeful season for the citing process, it's nice to see they can still find new vistas of incompetence to visit. Particularly when he also escaped that citing for striking Evans in the head. Has any player ever been cited three times in the space of about a month and only get four weeks before? Actually... has anyone ever been cited three times in the space of about a month before?

[WiganShark]

It's all gone mad... 4 weeks for this guy Emery, 2 for Faz.

http://www.superxv.tv/video/highlanders ... 51991.html

[Eugene Wrayburn]

How on earth Marler's two trips to the disciplinary committee are considered unrelated I don't know but in a woeful season for the citing process, it's nice to see they can still find new vistas of incompetence to visit. Particularly when he also escaped that citing for striking Evans in the head. Has any player ever been cited three times in the space of about a month and only get four weeks before? Actually... has anyone ever been cited three times in the space of about a month before?

The BBC was rather pointedly saying that it been decreased from 4 for unexplained mitigating features.

[Digby]

How on earth Marler's two trips to the disciplinary committee are considered unrelated I don't know but in a woeful season for the citing process, it's nice to see they can still find new vistas of incompetence to visit. Particularly when he also escaped that citing for striking Evans in the head. Has any player ever been cited three times in the space of about a month and only get four weeks before? Actually... has anyone ever been cited three times in the space of about a month before?

The BBC was rather pointedly saying that it been decreased from 4 for unexplained mitigating features.

So we wait for the decision to be published. But surely the reason will be a lack of previous such incidents on his record, especially when they're not going to be allowed to reference the Evans forearm incident and that actually in fairness Marler had been pretty if not very good for a while before sliding back more than a little.

[kk67]

Looking again at the Farrell incident, there is mitigation in that Robson dips but really Farrell is flying in without any control. He's not even looking at Robson when he hits him and is in a terrible position. He could easily have got worse than a cut ear. Its pretty reckless and I dont think a ban is excessively harsh.

'..without any control'.....is a biggie.

[ad_tigger]

Farrell will receive an honuorary doctorate from Oxford University for "services to expressions of studied concentration that look like a cumface".

You need to get a new boyfriend

[morepork]

Farrell will receive an honuorary doctorate from Oxford University for "services to expressions of studied concentration that look like a cumface".

You need to get a new boyfriend

Is Owen Free this weekend do you think?

[WaspInWales]

Farrell will receive an honuorary doctorate from Oxford University for "services to expressions of studied concentration that look like a cumface".

You need to get a new boyfriend

Is Owen Free this weekend do you think?

Not sure about free but he may be able to offer you a discount.

[Banquo]

You need to get a new boyfriend

Is Owen Free this weekend do you think?

Not sure about free but he may be able to offer you a discount.

Have virtual rep, can't be bothered with the Haskell gif

[morepork]

Boom! Boom!

[Peat]

How on earth Marler's two trips to the disciplinary committee are considered unrelated I don't know but in a woeful season for the citing process, it's nice to see they can still find new vistas of incompetence to visit. Particularly when he also escaped that citing for striking Evans in the head. Has any player ever been cited three times in the space of about a month and only get four weeks before? Actually... has anyone ever been cited three times in the space of about a month before?

The BBC was rather pointedly saying that it been decreased from 4 for unexplained mitigating features.

So we wait for the decision to be published. But surely the reason will be a lack of previous such incidents on his record, especially when they're not going to be allowed to reference the Evans forearm incident and that actually in fairness Marler had been pretty if not very good for a while before sliding back more than a little.

Presumably.

I disagree with virtually every decision they've made though. They should be allowed to reference citings that didn't result in bans and they should be allowed to reference any incidents.

Plus, of course, the Evans forearm incident should have been a ban.

[Mellsblue]

Stuart Barnes:
Farrell ban is close to condoning violence.

Owen Farrell is a serial swinging arm; make that a serial swinging right arm. For Wednesday night’s disciplinary committee to come up with the verdict it did after at one time sentencing him to a three-week ban is distressing.

The verdict started well. Having upheld the opinion of the citing officer, they found Farrell guilty of “an act of foul play that warranted a red card”.

Do I think he was aiming for the head? Most definitely not but was it dangerous anyway; absolutely
It is hard to disagree with the next part of the judgment, either. Sanctions for foul play have three entry points. The lowest is two weeks, the mid-range begins at six weeks, the top end at ten. The appropriate entry is based on a number of assessments. Whether it was intentional, whether or not it caused injuries and whether or not it had any effect on the relevant match?

Sportingly, Dai Young, the Wasps director of rugby, said that the injury Farrell caused, a concussion that took Dan Robson, his scrum half, from the field of play, was not the reason for his side’s 24-17 defeat by Saracens in the European Champions Cup last weekend. Nobody likes a whingeing coach, although Young also described the incident as “a short arm to the head”. Ah, but was it an intentional short arm to the head? There the matter becomes contentious. There is no question that Robson was slipping as Farrell’s right arm swung in the scrum half’s direction.

Do I think he was aiming for the head? Most definitely not but was it dangerous anyway; absolutely. The accidental collision with the head was a sound reason for the low entry point ban of two weeks. Fair enough. But in rugby union’s quest for disciplinary justice, what came next is a joke. The committee added another week to the two-week sanction “as a deterrent in line with World Rugby’s memoranda regarding dangerous tackles”. Understandably World Rugby, the game’s governing body, wants to be seen to be as draconian as possible on the subject of dangerous play.


A two-week ban means that Farrell misses the final two weeks of the regular season. Saracens have qualified for the Aviva Premiership play-offs. That third week, the one that shows that the disciplinary committee has some balls, would take him out of the Champions Cup final on May 14. That would be a blow to Saracens and Farrell, whose role this season has been hugely positive. That third week is a real “deterrent”, a statement of intent.

Or it would have been if not for what came next. After adding the extra week, the sanctions were “then reduced . . . by one week due to the player’s clean disciplinary record, good character and excellent conduct at the hearing”. He’s a tough lad is Owen, he can be brutal in his will to win, but few doubt the innate decency of the man off the field and I am sure his mum and dad have brought him up to mind his p’s and q’s in polite company. But character and how he conducts himself at a hearing should have nothing to do with the length of sentence.

What is relevant is the disciplinary record. Luckily Farrell has “a clean one”. I am not sure when rugby union’s disciplinary slates are wiped clean, but I am certain that the same referee who yellow-carded Farrell on Saturday, Romain Poite, flourished the same colour card when England played Australia as recently as the autumn.

Matt Giteau was laid out for a while, but unlike Robson was able to recover and serve up a hot dish of revenge with the match-clinching try. To remind myself of those events, I turned to YouTube. There it is: a dangerous challenge (this one off the ball) with the right arm and shoulder working in tandem to level the Australian. Is the World Cup so far in the past that such reckless play can be forgotten and overlooked?

Once you are on YouTube you might as well remind yourself of the injury that forced Anthony Watson from the field in last season’s Premiership final. It occurred within the first few minutes and, doubtless, the adrenaline of the final played a significant part, but whose right arm left the England wing prone and, like Robson, out of action? No need to guess.

While the two-week bans given to Joe Marler and Simon McIntyre for kicking out at an opponent were sensible reflections on acts that were born of stupidity and frustration, the verdict in the Farrell case could come back to haunt the disciplinary bodies.

Farrell may not set out to harm his fellow professionals, but the apparently reckless way in which he interprets the tackle means that the game appears to be out on the edge, close to condoning violence. It is true that Robson slipped, but this is the third time in less than a year that players have been left prone by Farrell tackles of excessive nature.

To reduce his ban and allow him to play in the European final because of his clean disciplinary nature is misleading at best, a deception at worst. Farrell’s lunge at Robson was not his finest moment, but Wednesday’s capitulation by the disciplinary panel before Richard Smith, the RFU’s QC, Mark McCall, the Saracens director of rugby, and Paul Gustard, the England and former Saracens defence coach, was infinitely worse for rugby union.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/stuar ... -gpv2vhzmg