P
potjiekos
Guest
@ Lee ... Interesting analogy there mate.....
It was NEVER my intention to equate every infringement ever committed by either team, nor was I attempting to villify any one team or an individual player. I was merely trying to highlight the inefficiencies of Sir Lawrence of Bryce, as an international referee.... thought you could identify that??
Since you've opened up the door, I might as well oblige....
I am on record here as saying that I deplore foul (dangerous) play in rugby, in all its forms especially when transgressed by one of the boks. Such conduct is contrary to the spirit of the game and can never be condoned. In this regard, I concede that Schalks 'excessive raking' may be construed as dangerous play for several reasons, none more important than the potential damage that may be caused to Pocock's eyes or even worse ...his spinal column.
Semantics, I tell you! It's quite evident that the 'eye-gouging / excessive raking' debacle, boils down to perspective.......
In my laymans perspective, I understand 'eye-gouging' to amount to the forceful application of one's hand (eg...fingers, knuckles, palm) to the eyeball or eye-socket of another, with the EXPRESS INTENTION to cause extreme pain and disorientation. The victim of an eye-gouge would almost always require immediate on-field medical attention and / or would be substituted for further evaluation.
The assertion by a rugby pundit such as yourself, (I would like to think that you are!)....that Schalk gouged the eye(s) of Sir David, especially when taking the aforementioned into account, completely boggles the mind....
....the 'once-an-eye-gouger-always-an-eye-gouger' tag attributed to Schalk IMHO, is also not a fair tag, especially since he's not only matured as a senior member of the boks over the years, he's also made great strides to clean up his act and play within the rules of the game.
In the spirit of branding players based on past infractions, I could easily call Dan Vickerman a brutish lout due to his propensity to KNEE defenseless players in the head, but I wont 'cause its just not right....
It was NEVER my intention to equate every infringement ever committed by either team, nor was I attempting to villify any one team or an individual player. I was merely trying to highlight the inefficiencies of Sir Lawrence of Bryce, as an international referee.... thought you could identify that??
Since you've opened up the door, I might as well oblige....
I am on record here as saying that I deplore foul (dangerous) play in rugby, in all its forms especially when transgressed by one of the boks. Such conduct is contrary to the spirit of the game and can never be condoned. In this regard, I concede that Schalks 'excessive raking' may be construed as dangerous play for several reasons, none more important than the potential damage that may be caused to Pocock's eyes or even worse ...his spinal column.
Semantics, I tell you! It's quite evident that the 'eye-gouging / excessive raking' debacle, boils down to perspective.......
In my laymans perspective, I understand 'eye-gouging' to amount to the forceful application of one's hand (eg...fingers, knuckles, palm) to the eyeball or eye-socket of another, with the EXPRESS INTENTION to cause extreme pain and disorientation. The victim of an eye-gouge would almost always require immediate on-field medical attention and / or would be substituted for further evaluation.
The assertion by a rugby pundit such as yourself, (I would like to think that you are!)....that Schalk gouged the eye(s) of Sir David, especially when taking the aforementioned into account, completely boggles the mind....
....the 'once-an-eye-gouger-always-an-eye-gouger' tag attributed to Schalk IMHO, is also not a fair tag, especially since he's not only matured as a senior member of the boks over the years, he's also made great strides to clean up his act and play within the rules of the game.
In the spirit of branding players based on past infractions, I could easily call Dan Vickerman a brutish lout due to his propensity to KNEE defenseless players in the head, but I wont 'cause its just not right....
