Rugby is the big loser when friends fall out
Everyone knows the tales of punch-ups in training, and every so often things happen in public that show the tensions that can exist within a squad – remember Carl Fearns’ right hook that laid Gavin Henson out, and which was captured on a pub’s CCTV!
However, the Melbourne Rebels seem to have taken things to a new level with the altercation between Lopeti Timani and teammate Amanaki Mafi. Bath fans will remember that Mafi left the club in double-quick fashion after an altercation with the head of sports medicine – he has, as they say, ‘previous’.
It seems that the pair were drinking at a house after the Rebels lost to the Highlanders in their final Conference game of the season. The details of what kicked things off aren’t clear, but from the state of Timani afterwards, it came from a lot more than a single drunken punch. Pictures of him staring into the camera through swollen black eyes that are barely open have featured in many papers over recent days, including the headline ‘Super Thugby’!
Thankfully, rugby’s omerta was kicked into touch on this occasion when the police got involved, and Mafi is charged with the catchy ‘injuring with intent to injure’.
If he was found guilty, then that carries a maximum sentence of five years, although it won’t come to that as Mafi won’t even need to appear in person, as he’ll be playing in Japan by then. Both players have been fined A$15,000, which does seem to add insult to injury for poor old Timani. Apparently the two are actually mates – they just have a funny way of showing it.
Does this sort of thing matter, or is it just big boys letting off steam? Actually, it matters a lot. Part of rugby’s unique selling proposition is that it embraces wholesome values, and can present itself as a sport where people can have a few beers without getting aggressive, where segregation is unheard of, and where the whole family can go along and have a good time. Anything that threatens that image, either on the pitch or off it, damages the game.
It’s taken a while, but this weekend’s Super Rugby quarter-finals were something everyone could understand – teams playing each other in a knock-out format, with no convoluted conferences. The final eight were four from New Zealand, two from South Africa, and one each from Australia and Argentina. The Kiwis had a conference all to themselves, while the Aussie and Saffas had theirs padded out with, respectively, an Argentinian and Japanese franchise.
To remind you, each team play 16 matches, eight home and away against the other teams in their conference – sensible so far – and then eight home and away against four teams from other conferences.
I detest these artificially constructed fixture lists, which do not produce a proper result – you might play the strongest teams from different conferences, or you might get the basket cases. The Pro14 is similarly daft, and I would genuinely question whether such leagues can properly be described as genuine competitions, or merely the product of marketing men’s dreams. When you add in the air miles travelled, and the time zones crossed, it just gets madder and madder.
The officials appointed for the Super Rugby quarter-finals also beggared belief.
If you have two New Zealand sides then appointing the Kiwi Glen Jackson is fair enough, but why didn’t the Waratahs v Highlanders match have an Aussie ref ’, and why did Jaco Peyper get the Lions v Jaguares clash? Surely a referee from a neutral country has to be the fairest and most sensible option? Maybe the Super XV travel budget didn’t have enough left in it for common sense to prevail.
As we approach the new Gallagher Premiership and the French Top14 seasons, let’s be thankful that whatever their faults, at least we have proper grown-up competitions where the best team will actually come out on top, and as fans we’ll understand what’s going on!