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Dan Biggar verbal altercation with fan: 'I hope he gets hammered for it'
A verbal altercation between Dan Biggar and a fan during Northampton Saints’ Challenge Cup game with Gloucester at the weekend has become a talking point online.
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Biggar had been dismissed by referee Sam Grove-White for a dangerous tackle on Lions teammate and Gloucester centre Chris Harris, but the action really kicked off when he made it to the sideline. Abuse was hurled at the Wales international after he left the field following the red card in the 51st minute.
It’s not entirely clear which side the fan hurling the abuse was supporting. The online consensus suggests it was a Saints fan involved in the incident, although others have suggested a Gloucester was removed from the stadium.
The incident might not have been picked up but for a blog post written this week written by Ashley Tuala. The wife of Northampton Saints player Ahsee Tuala writes that Biggar was subjected to ‘disgusting’ abuse as he left the field from a supporter in Kingsholm.
“Now as he was walking off the field a particular person from the crowd was literally just hailing a whole lot of abusive words to him directly.
“The player bit back and returned some words. Now here is the funny yet sticky part, the person in the crowd yelled back because the player was saying things back to him that he was being unprofessional and that he shouldn’t be saying things back because he is who he is.
NEW BLOG POST IS NOW LIVE ??
Please share/retweet if you like it ??https://t.co/efY7DfhHlS pic.twitter.com/klDV8jkZ2t
— Ashley Tuala? (@ashley_tuala) April 18, 2022
“The stewards were then seen trying to calm the situation down. The player was then heard saying I’m not going to sit here and allow someone to verbally abuse me.”
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Tuala also alleges that homophobic slurs were also directed at personnel at the game.
“I must mention people from the crowd had also been heard throughout the game verbally abusing and saying some pretty disgusting things towards not only players but also members of the staff, like you’re fat and also using the disgusting word ‘you’re a F****T’.
“In no way, shape or form am I only pinning this verbal abuse on one particular team’s home crowd whatsoever this is only a mere example of the type of abuse that can be heard during a match.”
In the end, Biggar copped a three week ban for the red card offence, while there doesn’t appear to be any official consequences for the ‘fan’ who launched the tirade at the veteran flyhalf.
Some believe incidents such as this one – admittedly commonplace in other sports – are creeping into rugby union, a sport where such behavior from crowd members has traditionally been frowned upon.
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Biggar was defended today by David Flatman, the former England prop writing in his RugbyPass+ column this week that he hopes the fan in question gets his comeuppance.
“Perhaps paying for a ticket makes some folks feel like they have a right – a level of ownership – to do what they want. But compare the £50 a punter pays to the graft and sacrifice that goes into the average week of a professional player in the week leading into a match,” wrote Flatman.
“Fans don’t all have to be cheerleaders; they don’t need to smile and laugh every minute they spend in the ground, but they need to not insult players from a distance and expect to get away with it. Personally I’m glad Dan Biggar stuck up for himself, and I hope the gobs***e who shouted all those awful things at him gets hammered for it.”
Comments on RugbyPass
A lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
3 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
1 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
2 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
2 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
3 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
2 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
4 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
21 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
21 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
4 Go to comments