Other rugby news in brief
Stade pair take relaxed approach
IT WAS a bad week all round for Max Guazzini and his Stade Francais Empire. Earlier there were two eye-gouging hearings for Julien Dupuy (let off lightly with six months, especially when compared to Shane Jennings, but at least the blatant fingering that has become an epidemic is being punished after an inconsistent year on the disciplinary front) and David Attoub whose case is ongoing, with Sportsfile photographer Olivier McVeigh forced to defend the authenticity of four photographs he took of the, alleged, act of thuggery.
The two lads hardly looked stressed strolling in to their hearings in Dublin last week more like schoolboys having a smoke on the way back from lunch.
Coming out
"In many ways (rugby) is barbaric, and I could never have come out without first establishing myself and earning respect as a player. Rugby was my passion, my whole life, and I wasn't prepared to risk losing everything I loved."– Wales most capped player, Gareth Thomas, explains the trauma associated with being a top-level gay sportsman. Following in the footsteps of Cork hurler Donal Óg Cusack, Thomas came out last week.
Tiger bravely manages to hold on
A LEICESTER Tigers winger made a request to, eh, relieve himself during the Heineken Cup round-three defeat to Clermont Auvergne. The helpful knowledge gained from the Bloodgate scandal has us all fairly well informed on this issue. Unless there is blood the player can only leave the field if he is permanently replaced. Irish referee Alan Lewis stuck to the letter of the law in declining a brief departure to address the man in question’s stomach cramps.
The player, an experienced international, bravely held on. Cruel.
Leinster place-kicking problems
IT IS rare a team hits their bonus point in a match with the scoreboard reading 20-0. That’s what Leinster achieved on Saturday night when Gordon D’Arcy stepped through some dodgy Llanelli defending. Granted, Australian outhalf Shaun Berne landed the simple conversion and showed well in general play but Jonathan Sexton’s return from a broken hand looks essential ahead of the defining Brive and London Irish fixtures in January.
After Sexton and Berne the place-kicking options are Rob Kearney, Isa Nacewa or Fergus McFadden. With the champions in great form the problem has not been highlighted but next month’s trip to the Madejski Stadium is a different matter entirely.
Guazzini counts cost despite win
AFTER LOSING new signing, and incumbent French scrumhalf Julien Dupuy for the rest of the season, Max Guazzini’s grand designs at Stade Francais were disrupted further by the big freeze as Saturday’s match against Ulster in the unique setting of Brussels’ King Baudoin Stadium was forced back to Stade Jean Bouin in Paris yesterday.
Not only did (Gauzzini) have to deal with a number of disappointed Stade fans, but also the loss of hundreds of thousands of euros in costs, stated ERC rugby. Angry at the lack of pitch protection – there were plastic sheets over the field but only two functioning hot air blowers – Guazzini blamed authorities in Brussels. Ulster had their problems with preparation disrupted by a lengthy airport delay on Friday night coupled with the loss of a neutral venue and the additional travel yesterday. At least for Stade and their multi-millionaire financier Max, they reversed last week’s defeat at Ravenhill.
Contrite Cooper in the dock
THIS KIND of thing, unfortunately, will always happen. When a young player is cut loose from the protected environment of a professional squad after a long hard season he tends to let his hair down. Trick is to avoid a prison cell sojourn. Quade Cooper is learning this lesson the hard way. The breakthrough Wallaby centre/outhalf got drunk and committed burglary in Surfers Paradise. On the back of Lote Tuqiri having his contract ripped up by the ARU a few months back, Cooper is desperate to avoid a similar fate.
The kid has priors this season, twice fined by his employers for a food fight and breaking a taxi window. “Alcohol seems to be a common denominator in a lot of incidents,” he admitted. “I need to control that side of things and if I do that, it will be a big factor in keeping me on the straight and narrow. I wouldn’t say that (I have a drinking problem). Sometimes drinking can lead to you making a few bad decisions.”
He continued: “I don’t want to get sacked over this. With the support the ARU has shown so far, and once everything is sorted out in the courts, hopefully I’ve still got a job.”
