Keven Mealamu get 4 weeks for head butt

[Shaggy]

Radio sport in NZ is reporting that Keven Mealamu has received the minimum penalty of 4 weeks for his head butting during last weekend's test match against England last weekend

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Fair enough, minimum for a head butt considering his record so far.

 

[FlukeArtist]

Yeah - its hard to say whether or not that was on purpose. My gut says it was on purpose (even though he's a pretty clean player)

How Hartley (with his record) avoided being cited is beyond me.
What a joke.

 

[Teh Mite]

Conspiracy time...

 

[Shaggy]

Yep, I think it's quite a fair call - this stuff's got to be removed from the game (I know it will never fully be removed) ... from Keven's point of view, he now has to be disciplined enough not to repeat this again, as he'll get what Bakkies got next time.

It puts more pressure on Andrew Hore now, and Hika Elliot should now get a start for the ABs

EDIT:- Steve Hanson says there's a good chance they'll appeal it. Source: NZ's Radio Sports

 

[alexrugby]

Radio sport in NZ is reporting that Keven Mealamu has received the minimum penalty of 4 weeks for his head butting during last weekend's test match against England last weekend

He will be much more careful against players after getting back from 4 weeks penalty

 

[Larksea]

this seems very unlike Kevin, there must be doubts over if it was intentional, alot more doubt than there would be about Hartley's effort and he didn't even have to front for it?

 

[Shaggy]

this seems very unlike Kevin, there must be doubts over if it was intentional, alot more doubt than there would be about Hartley's effort and he didn't even have to front for it?

Hmmmn ... I'm not totally convinced that it was accidental, or whether it matters to the judiciary if it's accidental or not (not sure what the rules are) ... but in any case, I think maybe it's better if he just cops it - there's already enough conjecture over whether some players/teams get preferential treatment, so if they ever want to lessen the number of these types of incidents, the punishments need to be consistent, and the players/teams need to accept the rulings

 

[dan the man]

Keven Mealamu's not usually that sort of player but i must admit it did look pretty intentional...

As for Dylan Hartley, he got enough punishment from Brad Thorn...



Haha

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Love how Courtney Lawes runs across and gets involved, call 99 style :lol:

 

[nickdnz]

Yeah, Kevin Mealamu has played over 100 Super rugby games and over 80 international games, with a clean record. On one side of it, you could say a player with such a clean record after so many games, could be given a break, but on the other side you really want to remove that kind of stuff from the game, and it looked intentional enough for it to be punishable. In many ways, it's a good thing it didn't happen against Ireland, as we'd never hear the end of it.

 

[Larksea]

shame, after some awesome performances in the tri nations I thought Mealamu would be up for an IRB player of the year nomination. But this will surely end any chance of that.

 

[Sam Owen]

How Hartley (with his record) avoided being cited is beyond me.
What a joke.

Yeah I think its cos Hartley missed Ritchies head, I think thats why. Had it connected and Ritchie was hurt then Hartley would have got punished. In the end it wasnt much IMO, if anything Hartley just deserves some spotlight so if he does it again, well, then they need to punish him and get him to redirect his aggression towards things within the game.

Kevin is one of the nicest guys, I cant believe he did that. Nice guy or not he deserves to be punished, Im sure Kevin will learn from his punishment and that will be the last time we see any foul play from Kevin again. He must have been angry at something not sure if it was on the field or off the field but for a nice guy to do something like that they have to be ****** off.

 

[Geoff_]

I think it was unintentional in my opinion, cause I think he was trying to clear moody away and his head just sort of got in the way which resulted the"head-butt"
But I think it should be reduced to 2 weeks. 4 weeks is a bit too long. Mealamu has been playing superbly it would be a sad way to end the tour.

 

[smartcooky]

Hard to argue against Keven getting the four weeks. Its the low-end suspension for striking and will have taken into account his clean record.

It also looks pretty deliberate too; he tilts his head towards Moody and that action results in the head to head contact.

Dumb rugby, just stupid. He has put his team under a lot of pressure now, because Andrew Hore hasn't played several weeks, so they will be forced to use him and Hika Elliot, who's only game for the All Blacks was not a test match (Munster in 2008)

 

[girvanfan]

Sorry guys but that was a blatant and quite deliberate foul. Anyone who thinks it was accidental is just plain stupid. This type of thuggery goes on all the time unfortunately, but most have their activities down to a fine art, making it appear 'accidental'.
The game, frankly, can do without thugs like Mealamu and Botha. Shame though as they are both very talented players.
I think 4 weeks is little more than a slap on the wrist and it will be farcical if not contemptible should they decide to appeal. Graham Henry's remark that Mealamu is such a clean player is laughable.
Why can't there be integrity any more? The guy's been found out - he's guilty - let common decency prevail, give him an appropriate punishment ( like three months suspension plus a heavy fine, with the proviso that if he offends to the same degree a second time, he's out of the game permanently).

 

[nickdnz]

Sorry guys but that was a blatant and quite deliberate foul. Anyone who thinks it was accidental is just plain stupid. This type of thuggery goes on all the time unfortunately, but most have their activities down to a fine art, making it appear 'accidental'.
The game, frankly, can do without thugs like Mealamu and Botha. Shame though as they are both very talented players.
I think 4 weeks is little more than a slap on the wrist and it will be farcical if not contemptible should they decide to appeal. Graham Henry's remark that Mealamu is such a clean player is laughable.
Why can't there be integrity any more? The guy's been found out - he's guilty - let common decency prevail, give him an appropriate punishment ( like three months suspension plus a heavy fine, with the proviso that if he offends to the same degree a second time, he's out of the game permanently).

Over 200 first class games, and not a single conviction. Common sence suggests he is a clean player, and has one of the best records out of any player in the world, never mind the fact he's played so much more than most. To call him a thug, and suggest he get's that kind of punishment, seems rather foolish to be honest.

 

[Sam Owen]

Sorry guys but that was a blatant and quite deliberate foul. Anyone who thinks it was accidental is just plain stupid. This type of thuggery goes on all the time unfortunately, but most have their activities down to a fine art, making it appear 'accidental'.
The game, frankly, can do without thugs like Mealamu and Botha. Shame though as they are both very talented players.
I think 4 weeks is little more than a slap on the wrist and it will be farcical if not contemptible should they decide to appeal. Graham Henry's remark that Mealamu is such a clean player is laughable.
Why can't there be integrity any more? The guy's been found out - he's guilty - let common decency prevail, give him an appropriate punishment ( like three months suspension plus a heavy fine, with the proviso that if he offends to the same degree a second time, he's out of the game permanently).

Ive got the feeling your not familiar with Kevin Mealamu.

 

[RoosTah]

Keven Mealamu's not usually that sort of player but i must admit it did look pretty intentional...

As for Dylan Hartley, he got enough punishment from Brad Thorn...



Haha

Maybe, but that was still pretty thuggish and out of line... that should have earned him at least a couple weeks on the side line. He completely came from no where and blatantly elbows McCaw in the face.

 

[dullonien]

Fair enough punishment for Mealamu.

As for Hartley, I can't believe he wasn't cited and banned for that. If was basically a flying forearm into a players face who had no way of protecting himself. People may say that there was no injury caused etc. but that shouldn't really come into the recogning. There was potential for a serious injury there if McCaw got caught in the jaw, nose etc. If theres intention, or even if it was just a bit reckless players should get punished. The fact that Hartley's got previous aswell doesn't put him in good light and imo should have picked up a couple of weeks suspension.