France V England - Spirit of the game?

[19thagain]

Having just read the comments on Belly Putters and the feeling of many golfers that they are 'cheating' 'not in the spirit of the game'... I wonder, if like me, you feel a degree of embarrassment at England running onto the field at the weekend as the above comments can be levied at them and whilst the Belly Putter is within the rules of the game, England's behaviour was NOT!

They are entitled, by their results, to be there BUT the fact that they were, as a team, prepared to CHEAT to get there leaves a taste and for this reason, as a TV spectator... "I'm out"

 

[surefire]

England swapping the balls is the same as any other infringement in the game, it is breaking the LAWS of rugby, the same as collapsing a maul, offside, feeding a scrum, collapsing a scrum, obstruction, handling in the ruck...

There are LAWS broken from minute one to minute eighty of every single rugby game ever played in the world, so why everyone seems so fixated on England breaking one LAW of the game during one game over everyone else doing exactly the same is beyond me.

As for the off the pitch behaviour, this Nike advert springs to mind: http://youtu.be/R8vh2MwXZ6o

 

[USER1999]

Can't see a problem. Rugby is about establishing what you can get away with, and then pushing the limit. When the ref has had enough, or finds what you have been doing, you get pinged.

 

[surefire]

Murph summed up exactly what I was alluding to.

That's one of the differences between games with a ref, and golf, where you are your own ref, and have a duty to protect the field.

 

[Doc]

Nail on the head Murph.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Academic once France knock us out

 

[bladeplayer]

: http://youtu.be/R8vh2MwXZ6o

played the clip & when it was over there was a tiger woods clip on the same page .. heading " im not a roll model" probably the truest thing he ever said ha ha...

 

[upanddown]

Never understood the mentality that breaking particular rules in sport is ok and that other types are perhaps morally wrong.

In football, it is a foul to bring someone down in the middle of the pitch if they pass you. You know that when you do it and if caught, you accept the punishment.
Football fans will make statements like "that was a good booking" or "he took one for the team."
If he gets away with it, he's a hero.

However, if someone dives to gain an advantage this is seen as morally wrong. It is the same thing in my book and also in theory, in the rule book as both are punishable by the award of a freekick and a booking.

But, as mentioned earlier, one is seen as acceptable and the other not. Time to stop this and realise they are all the same thing.

 

[surefire]

Academic once France knock us out

What's with all the negativity about England, Homer?

You're almost as bad as my French colleagues from work, except they are even harsher about France!

Is self belief not permitted anymore, because people will just come along and spout a load of crap about entitlement and arrogance?

 

[19thagain]

Can't see a problem. Rugby is about establishing what you can get away with, and then pushing the limit. When the ref has had enough, or finds what you have been doing, you get pinged.

Can I take it then Murph, that you and your two supporters on here agree with the blood capsule event, that hit the headlines last year?

 

[Aztecs27]

Can someone please tell me WTF you are talking about? I can't find anything about anything related to this anywhere on any sports news sites.

 

[john0]

and to think that they made you a mod, tut!

Here you go..

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/rugby/Rugby-World-Cup-2011-Cheating.6845182.jp

 

[Aztecs27]

Ah. Storm in a tea cup really. It's been dealt with as it should have been and made no bearing on the result of the game.

Also, unless I've missed something, how are you confident that they were "prepared to cheat as a team"? Seems like the two involved were the only ones who knew about it. I'm pretty sure the 22 squad members didn't run out onto the pitch against Romania knowing that the Kicking game would be fine because they were pulling the old switcheroo with the kicking ball.

Rugby is one of the best sports for discipline and punishment, whether it be in game or afer the fact through citation etc....If they RWCL officials thought there was a major issue to investigate, they would have cracked down hard on England, but as it were, they haven't and it's been dealt with internally.

Johnno is NOT Dean Richards and has far more integrity (even if he's an utter douchebag at times)...so comparing this to the blood capsule incident isn't really a balanced argument.

 

[19thagain]

Ah. Storm in a tea cup really. It's been dealt with as it should have been and made no bearing on the result of the game.

So, from your reply, it is OK to cheat as long as it has no bearing on the final outcome of the game..oh, and by the way, it has been dealt with so leave it alone!!

SAD!

 

[Snelly]

No I don't feel ashamed about England and it has got sweet FA to do with belly putters.

This thread is stupid and pointless and I can't really see the point you are making or why you started it..


Come on England. Time to get stuck in, roll over the French and march on to another final with the Celtic choruses of how arrogant we are ringing in our ears. Love it!

 

[Doc]

As a former Rugby player I accepted the times the scrum was brought down intentionally, even knowing the risks.

I accepted the flying punches through the scrum

I accepted 12 aluminium studs down my back when getting raked.

All taken in the spirit the rules were broken in i.e. dont' get caught and do unto others as they do to you.

sent off many a time for breaking my opponents noses.

Still had a pint with them after the match and can honestly say i bear no grudge for any of my long standing injuries as a result.

But.... and its a big one, I would never ever dream of cheating or bending the rules of Golf, its not the same.

I may be a hypocrite but I can see a difference.

Cheers

 

[Aztecs27]

So, from your reply, it is OK to cheat as long as it has no bearing on the final outcome of the game..oh, and by the way, it has been dealt with so leave it alone!!

SAD!

Erm..no. You're flat out accusing the entire England team of cheating, when infact, it's only proven that the two coaches who were suspended were the culprits. And they were suspended. I'd like the proof of where the rest of the England team were involved in this elaborate scheme. Infact, I bet Johnno's team talk consisted entirely of cheating our way through the second half by switching balls, which must be why they played so well! Because they all knew they were cheating and didn't care because they would win! :wishes the rolleyes smiley was still here:

IF this was as big an issue as you're making it out to be, there would be inquests and investigations by the tournament organisers and protests from every other competing team. As such, there's not really been a sniff and I had to spend 20 minutes trying to find an article which talked about it.

I, like Snelly, will be watching tomorrow hoping we start hitting our stride, roll over the CESM's and make our way back to the final....again.

 

[Mungoscorner]

Vive le France

 

[surefire]

Vive le France

Has France had a sex change?

 

[chrisd]

As a former Rugby player I accepted the times the scrum was brought down intentionally, even knowing the risks.

I accepted the flying punches through the scrum

I accepted 12 aluminium studs down my back when getting raked.

All taken in the spirit the rules were broken in i.e. dont' get caught and do unto others as they do to you.

sent off many a time for breaking my opponents noses.

Still had a pint with them after the match and can honestly say i bear no grudge for any of my long standing injuries as a result.

But.... and its a big one, I would never ever dream of cheating or bending the rules of Golf, its not the same.

I may be a hypocrite but I can see a difference.

Cheers

That about sums it up perfectly, although, in my case, it was football!


Chris