Thread: British & Irish Lions to Australia

11 hours and still no decision.

Not that good at Maths eh Willy

I'm quoting the news sources, which may be slightly delayed.

It does not change the joke that this appeal is. IRB has fucked up big time. Unprecedented.

A pity that this Horwill incident has got about as much publicity as the actual tour, whatever the outcome it has become what people will remember of this tour in future years.

Horwill and Test coach Robbie Deans were scheduled to front the media at 8am (AEST) but their press conference has been delayed until 1pm (AEST) pending a judgment.
Horwill still waits for appeal decision

1pm - 10am Thai-time

Horwill cleared for second time

Wallabies skipper James Horwill has again been cleared of stamping and will lead his side into battle in the series-deciding third Test against the British and Irish Lions in Sydney on Saturday night.
2013 Lions Tour: Wallabies captain James Horwill cleared of stamping for a second time - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Should never have been a 're-trial' fucking joke.

Originally Posted by Bobcock

Should never have been a 're-trial' fucking joke.

Indeed, some serious explaining needs to be done regarding that.

By whom to whom?

They can appoint a QC to run an inquiry, and if they don't like his answer just keep doing it until they get the right one.

By the IRB to the entire rugby world.

You'll be waiting a very long time.....

Anyone guess who this is writing?

I support this but I think it needs to go a step further and remind supporters how little some of them know about the rules and how watching on TV with multiple angles doesn't sudenly make you a fucking expert over a guy who's out there in the thick of it and knows more about the game than they ever will.

Makes me laugh when people bandwagon against Steve Walsh for example or Wayne Barnes. If these guys were shit they wouldn't get the gig, there are thousands of top referees out in the world waiting to take their places. Walsh is a good referee, even great, the constant sniping at him in particular gets on my tits. Yep, he's very confident, but always labelled arrogant, I suspect a bit of jealousy from maybe of the amateur experts.

It's time for a little perspective, and a little empathy. It's time, I reckon, that we ease off this assault on rugby's referees.

No, you are not imagining this. I am going to bat for referees everywhere for the job they do under the most trying of circumstances. And, yes, I hang my head in shame for all the verbals I've given them in my time.

Why now, you might ask? Well, you could say I saw the light in my second game of club rugby on Saturday, and it's given me a much better appreciation for the thankless job the man with the whistle does.

It's appropriate, too, to think about this because officials have come under some real heat in Super Rugby recently from coaches not happy with their lot in life.

Let me paint you the picture from our game on Saturday in Clyde. The referee turned up in his uniform and with his bag containing the two touch-judge flags, because at this level he would have to make do with a couple of reserves to be his "assistants".

It takes a special type of person to turn up on his own and referee, because he copped a constant battery of feedback throughout the game. There was no help from the touch-judges, and of course he missed a few things. But the thing that struck me, he was such a lonely figure. When I went to find him after the game to shake his hand he was already making his way out of the ground.

There he was, bag in hand, uniform still on, hopping in the car to head home. The players all go to the clubrooms to digest the match, but it's not so easy for the referee to relax and have a beer afterwards.

Too often when things don't go our way we want to point the finger at the referee. But it's not an easy job.

In the NRL they have much less complicated rules, and it's a much easier game to officiate. Yet they have two refs out there.

Rugby has more rules and less officials and we expect our refs to get every single decision right. I know as a player I did my fair share of moaning, but I can't help thinking that our expectations are unrealistic.

Of course at the top levels the ramifications of bad decisions can be catastrophic and big calls can change the balance of a game, or even a season.

But it's not an easy task picking everything up out there. I challenge any players griping at refs - Ali Williams springs to mind - whether they could do a better job.

Sure, they're paid to get it right, but nowhere near as much as players are paid. And, they're actually there for the betterment of the game; not to ruin it as a spectacle.

As a player sometimes I'd come off the field thinking I had a bad game, but thankfully my team-mates played well and we got away with a win.

But the ref can't do that. They're accountable, they're on their own and there's nowhere to hide. Sometimes they have an off day.

It hit me on Saturday what a hard and thankless job it is. This guy turns up, he's got no support, but he gives up his Saturday to referee a club game and puts up with what he had to.

Something had changed in me. In my first game back this season I was terrible. I swore, I backchatted. But I realised my expectations coming from professional to club level had been unrealistic.

So this time I grew up, shut up, pulled my head in and got on with it.

Then it struck home how vocal everyone was. He got his one cheer afterwards but by that time he was heading to his car.

Refs are there because they love the game, but it's just not easy. What sport has as many rules as rugby? I can't think of one that's close. The breakdown alone can have up to a dozen infringements.

They have the hardest job in all of sport.

I remember having a dig at Jonathon White for a last-minute penalty that cost the Bulls a win against the Brumbies. I thought it was an impulse decision that affected the outcome.

Somebody told me he's a heart surgeon in Auckland. That's his job. He doesn't need to be out there, but it's something he's passionate about. I thought 'good on you Jonathon White', you've reached the top in your field, and in your sport.

These guys are doing a thankless job in the most difficult sport to referee and maybe it's time we cut them some slack.

^ Fine, but Steve Walsh is still a wanker.

^^ Cheatie McCheat?

Walsh is an excellent referee, whether you like him or not.

British & Irish Lions versus Wallabies, July 6, Sydney
1. Alex Corbisiero (London Irish/England)
2. Richard Hibbard (Ospreys/Wales)
3. Adam Jones (Ospreys/Wales)
4. Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys/Wales, capt)
5. Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers/England)
6. Dan Lydiate (Dragons/Wales)
7. Sean O’Brien (Leinster/Ireland)
8. Tangaki Taulupe Faletau (Dragons/Wales)
9. Mike Phillips (Bayonne/Wales)
10. Jonathan Sexton (Leinster/Ireland)
11. George North (Scarlets/Wales)
12. Jamie Roberts (Cardiff Blues/Wales)
13. Jonathan Davies (Scarlets/Wales)
14. Tommy Bowe (Ulster/Ireland)
15. Leigh Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues/Wales)
Replacements
16. Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers/England)
17. Makovina Vunipola (Saracens/England)
18. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers/England)
19. Richie Gray (Scotland)
20. Justin Tipuric (Ospreys/Wales)
21. Conor Murray (Munster/Ireland)
22. Owen Farrell (Saracens/England)
23. Manusamoa Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers/England)

^ that looks to be a better team and bench (if the hooker can hit his man in the lineout). I'm encouraged by that selection (if it's the real one), but still have a bad feeling about this tour/match...

Originally Posted by Bobcock

Walsh is an excellent referee

He's a biased wanker, imho.

BOD not even on the bench!

The bench looks exciting, good chance of stretching the Wallabies if Plan A suceeds in battering them into submission with Roberts and Co.

The team hasn't trained this week yet, still a chance one of the returning players could fail to prove their fitness.

Many won't like it, I know pseudolus won't....

Wales and a few Others Vs Australia

Making the necessary adjustments to the team that went so close in Australia last year.

Roberts really is key.....

Wallabies expected to be unchanged with the exception of StGeorge to start and Hooper to the bench.
Gill has been dropped for ....McCalman.....whahahaha.

Big call to bring George back, no test match rugby for several years and not played a game for several weeks.

I'd be nervous rather than rejoicing....

Hibbard ? Roberts ? What a joke.