Eddie Jones, he tried but couldnt resist trying to influence Joubert :)

[Slamdunk]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/35774334

Even going so far as to mention the referee by name is probably pushing it a little far methinks. Essentially, 'honest' Eddie is saying "We have the better pack, world rugby knows it and if it goes wrong, its Wales' fault"

Fair play Eddie, you tried but you couldnt help yourself. Is the pressure getting to you a little bit mate?

"If you are the referee, if you are Wayne Barnes or Craig Joubert, and you keep penalising Wales for pre-engaging, then all the smart guys in the commentators box say 'this referee is ruining the game'.

"But they are not ruining the game, it's the team that is scrummaging illegally which is ruining the game.

"So we want the referee to be really hard, and if he has to ruin the game, he has to ruin the game."

Got to laugh at the glaring contradiction here too. The refs are not ruining the game, but if they have to ruin the game they have to ruin the game. Im not sure he was fully sober when he said that

 

[AzaMatt]

i was waiting for a thread about this haha. to be honest i think all scrums have some form of illegality going on, its just a question of whether you can get away with it or not. eddies comments could come and bite him in the ass as if either side try anything dodgy now joubert will be penalising everytime

 

[Mumbles119]

Doesn't need a whole new thread, probably best to just comment with this in the match thread that already exists.

 

[Slamdunk]

Doesn't need a whole new thread, probably best to just comment with this in the match thread that already exists.

maybe someone cleverer than me can throw it in there

 

[ncurd]

:wall: wait for everyone to throw their arms in the air when Gatland does something similar.

Can't we just ignore comments like this?

- - - Updated - - -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/35774334

wales already did.....ah well at least we aren't debating about the fecking roof this year

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Yawn

 

[NickBD]

Nice try. In that said story Wales coaches are pretty much calling Marler a cheat which is as bad if not worse. With Gatlands history with the press Wales fans can't throw stones here

 

[Maverick1987]

I don't blame him . The way Wales scrummage completely undermines the referee . It's a good job Nigel Owen is Welsh because if he refereed a Wales game the props would be getting yellows left, right and centre . Gethin Jenkins has made a career out of fetching the scrum down

 

[Thingimubob]

Nice try. In that said story Wales coaches are pretty much calling Marler a cheat which is as bad if not worse. With Gatlands history with the press Wales fans can't throw stones here

Well they've got a point, Marler rarely scrummages legally! I agree that we can't say much here as Gatland and McBryde have both done it now and in the past. Jones is just as canny with the press though, so they're all as bad as each other.

I don't blame him . The way Wales scrummage completely undermines the referee . It's a good job Nigel Owen is Welsh because if he refereed a Wales game the props would be getting yellows left, right and centre . Gethin Jenkins has made a career out of fetching the scrum down

And Marler has made a career by not scrummaging straight. Man consistently drives in at an angle!

Always is six of one, half a dozen of the other when it comes to international scrummaing. Both teams know what they can do and get away with.

 

[Which Tyler]

1. Well they've got a point, Marler rarely scrummages legally! I agree that we can't say much here as Gatland and McBryde have both done it now and in the past.
2. Jones is just as canny with the press though, so they're all as bad as each other.
3. And Marler has made a career by not scrummaging straight. Man consistently drives in at an angle!
4. Always is six of one, half a dozen of the other when it comes to international scrummaing. Both teams know what they can do and get away with.

1. If there's a professional prop anywhere in the world who usually scrummages legally then he needs to be fired, as he's not doing his job.
2. Absolutely.
3. you could have just said that "Marler is a loose-head prop" and left it there. Of course he drives in at an angle - it's what LHPs do.
4. Absolutely.

 

[Thingimubob]

1. If there's a professional prop anywhere in the world who usually scrummages legally then he needs to be fired, as he's not doing his job.
2. Absolutely.
3. you could have just said that "Marler is a loose-head prop" and left it there. Of course he drives in at an angle - it's what LHPs do.
4. Absolutely.

3. I dunno. You do get LHP's of the Jenkins type who go "ah sod this. To the turf!" - hence why he had a period of getting yellowed for it pretty mcuh every game... Some refs clamp down on the at an angle stuff, meaning you do actually occasionally see props forced to go straight for once.

 

[AzaMatt]

Nice try. In that said story Wales coaches are pretty much calling Marler a cheat which is as bad if not worse. With Gatlands history with the press Wales fans can't throw stones here

surely implying referees are not doing their job properly is worse than calling a player a cheat? lol. not that i condone either, lots of illegal stuff goes on in scrums, who cares, surely thats part of the 'dark arts'

 

[McTallshort]

Isnt it great having a head coach who fires little shots out there to the press, got so fed up of Stuart what a nice guy Lancaster being all respectful and kind. Glad EJ is ruffling a few feathers.

 

[TommyV]

Who cares, the scrum is a mess in modern rugby and every team cheats to get an advantage not just the Welsh or the English.

I mean I haven't seen a ball fed in straight since about 2004.

 

[AzaMatt]

Who cares, the scrum is a mess in modern rugby and every team cheats to get an advantage not just the Welsh or the English.

I mean I haven't seen a ball fed in straight since about 2004.

once in a blue moon in a pro12 game the ref will give a penalty for it, once. for the rest of the game they can feed it how they like then and it seems to be forgotten, its bizzare.

 

[McTallshort]

once in a blue moon in a pro12 game the ref will give a penalty for it, once. for the rest of the game they can feed it how they like then and it seems to be forgotten, its bizzare.

Perhaps the ref like everyone else just want the ball out the scrum so everyone can just get on with the game.

 

[AzaMatt]

Perhaps the ref like everyone else just want the ball out the scrum so everyone can just get on with the game.

yea, i hate it when the scrum has collapsed yet the ball is at the back of the scrum and we get a reset. just play the bloody ball, stop hoping for the pen

 

[McTallshort]

yea, i hate it when the scrum has collapsed yet the ball is at the back of the scrum and we get a reset. just play the bloody ball, stop hoping for the pen

Amen to that, love it when the front rows come up and all look at the ref expectantly and he just says "ball at the back feet use it" wish it would happen more often.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

wales already did.....ah well at least we aren't debating about the fecking roof this year

I guess we could always debate whether we should create a tempory structure and put some tarpaulin over Twickers?

 

[smartcooky]

Actually, I think Eddie is right on the button with his comments here , with just a slight change of wording

[TEXTAREA]"If you are the referee, if you are (insert referee's name here​) or (insert referee's name here​), and you keep penalising (insert team name here​) for pre-engaging, then all the smart guys in the commentators box say 'this referee is ruining the game'.

"But they are not ruining the game, it's the team that is scrummaging illegally which is ruining the game."
[/TEXTAREA]

Newsflash Eddie. ALL teams, without exception, cheat at scrum time, even yours.

Also, some of us, Eddie, have long memories. Your Wallaby team, when you were coaching them, were the biggest scrum cheats of all. I have never seen a prop more adept at trying to avoid a proper contest at the scrum than Al Baxter. He wouldn't be much good at poker because he was always folding! Add to that, the consummate skill of George Gregan who was an absolute master at delaying the throw in to maximise the chance that his team would get a free kick for an early shove.

Gregan & Baxter ran this dog and pony show for years, right into Robbie Deans' time at the helm, until they ran into French referee Joel Jutge at Twickenham. Jutge (who IMO was by miles the best referee in the world at that time) made Baxter stand up and scrummage properly, and when that happened, Andy Sheridan utterly dismantled him.