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Wales coach Rob Howley sent home from Rugby World Cup amid betting allegations

He could have bet on the horses instead...

Have to agree here. If his sister's death caused him to gamble there are many other ways. Betting on rugby and on your own team/players is more than that personally.
 
The ban means he wouldn't have been able to take over Italy, as per the rumour.

...

Damn.
 
Yeah, no real need to bet on rugby. However addiction can lead to a loss of rational, and it doesn't appear like he's been acting all that rationally.

He should probably be glad that he's been forced to confront his issues now and not potentially after he'd fallen deeper down the rabbit hole and run up endless debt, lost his family etc. like happens in many other cases.

Whether his coaching career can recover after this though is questionable, especially given the criticism of him during his time with Wales/Lions already.
 
If only he'd done 2 more he would have had 365 bets, probably had a bet with them that he could get 365 bets. I had thought it might have been the odd bet here or there but 363 is quite something
 
On the face of it he deserves banning for that degree of stupidity alone.

However the BBC are saying that the trigger for his betting was the death of his sister. That doesn't excuse it, but is part of a very sad chain of events. Here's the story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/50629124

He could have bet on the horses instead...
The ban means he wouldn't have been able to take over Italy, as per the rumour.

...

Damn.
Or the Lions...
 
Have to agree here. If his sister's death caused him to gamble there are many other ways. Betting on rugby and on your own team/players is more than that personally.
But only for a few pounds each time and still losing? Nah. There's clearly a problem here, I hope he gets the help he needs as gambling addictions are no joke. They literally cost lives at worst and completely ruin others.

If he had been using his status to make a lot of money using inside information or influence (is it even gambling at this point or fixing?) then sure, a proper ban would be required for the integrity of the sport but in this case it seems appropriate and sympathetic.

Get well soon, Howley.
 
Anyone else slightly concerned that the two Welsh players he placed bets on haven't been investigated further?

Don't get me wrong - I don't actually think there's anything more serious going on, but the extent of it seems to be "We asked Rob Howley if the players were involved, we asked the players if they were involved. Everyone said no, so that's good enough for us".

Again - I don't for a second think this was a case of fixing, but I'd prefer the process to be a lot more rigorous than just asking everyone if they're guilty to be honest.
 

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