Rugby's biggest controversies of 2017
2017 will be remembered as a year of controversy for a lot of things, and rugby was no different. Here’s a look at the moments on and off the field that made for an interesting season.
Jerome Kaino/Aaron Smith playin’ up
While sex scandals were mostly the domain of Hollywood this year, the All Blacks had to deal with a couple of their own, in the same week no less. In the build up to the first Bledisloe Cup test in Sydney, it emerged through the Australian press that Jerome Kaino had been engaged in an extra-marital affair, meaning the veteran flanker flew home and didn’t rejoin the team till later in the season. Meanwhile, poor old Aaron Smith not only had last year’s toilet-sex travesty brought up again, but also his terrible command of written English when text messages he sent were published.
Alun Wyn Jones gets his bell rung, plays on
Remember way back at the start of the year when World Rugby said they’d get serious about concussions? Turns out they might’ve got one themselves and forgotten, or simply shown that they don’t actually care. During the tense third test between the All Blacks and Lions, Alun Wyn Jones was knocked out cold before his head even hit the ground by a high shot by Jerome Kaino. Barely five minutes passed and Wyn Jones returned to the action. The post-match inquiry somehow cleared the Lions’ medical staff of any wrongdoing, proving that their pre season bluster was just a load of hot air.
Kaino catches Jones and goes to the bin.
Lions were abysmal vs 14 for large parts of last week. Lessons learnt? pic.twitter.com/uymohSIzDH
— Steve Lai (@stevelai) July 8, 2017
The World Cup hosting shambles
There were three applicants to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup, and somehow World Rugby managed to make both Ireland and South Africa believe they were going to win before handing it to France. The whole thing was a shambles, helped in no part by the fact that the Irish thought it was theirs to lose, before a pre tournament report said to give it to South Africa. In the end, the lure of French money won the day – and in all honesty, who is surprised by that?
Michael Cheika
If there’s one event filled with anticipation by the rugby media, it’s whenever Wallaby coach Cheika gets near a mic. While there’s been some beauties this year, he reached his peak in the aftermath of the their 27-all draw against the Springboks in Bloemfontein. Even though it was plain for anyone with eyesight to see that Israel Folau pulled the hair of Dillyn Leyds in an attempted tackle, Cheika defended his fullback vehemently to the point of comedy. There’s no word on whether he’s actually bothered to watch the incident.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V-3xLIuwB4
Pacific Island funding
Sadly, this one can probably be added to the list of any season. However, the stark reality of the disparity of payment between the major powers and the Pacific Islands was laid bare when it was revealed that English players would be taking home £22,000 for their test against Manu Samoa. This was in comparison to the Samoan each receiving around £650, which made the actual game itself a bit of an afterthought as action was demanded from all corners. Whether World Rugby will actually take any remains to be seen.
End of the third All Blacks v Lions test/Wallabies v England tests
Michael Cheika actually had a legitimate reason to get angry last month, namely when rookie ref Ben O’Keeffe and his TMO got together and disallowed a couple of crucial tries at Twickenham. Back in June though, it was Kieran Read who was dirty at referee Roman Poite. The Frenchman conspired with his countryman assistant ref to reverse a potential game winning penalty to the home side, a decision that will probably define the All Blacks’ entire season.
Comments on RugbyPass
After their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
2 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
31 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
3 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to comments