European Club Rugby
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The video was not really conclusive and you could well ask questions of Waller with his hand and arm all over Ashton's face but to me it just looks like a rugby incident and nothing much to be concerned about. Having said that though, Ashton's growing rep as a tool cannot help him in circumstances like these and he is unlikely to get much sympathy. FWIW I thought the eye gouge last year was questionable too.
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The video was not really conclusive and you could well ask questions of Waller with his hand and arm all over Ashton's face but to me it just looks like a rugby incident and nothing much to be concerned about. Having said that though, Ashton's growing rep as a tool cannot help him in circumstances like these and he is unlikely to get much sympathy. FWIW I thought the eye gouge last year was questionable too.
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@Catogrande If that was the case, you'd think the other player would say it didn't happen?
@Bones
Not sure if you mean the biting or the gouging incident? Assuming it is the former, you would need to add context - the match itself was pretty brutal and there was a lot of niggle. Both sides were up for it and there was plenty of bitch play going on. In the context of the match it wouldn't surprise me that someone had got bitten or that someone could claim a bite when another time they might just wash it off as something and nothing. But yeah I would like to assume that if a guy had claimed he'd been bitten that there was some sound reason for doing so..During the game Waller (not alone by any means) was playing the tool card at every opportunity and got yellowed himself for a stupid off the ball dump tackle at one point. In itself the tackle was not much of anything other than being plain stupid. Does that have a bearing on his claims? Who knows but the video posted below doesn't show much to me - certainly not 13 weeks.
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@Bones
Not sure if you mean the biting or the gouging incident? Assuming it is the former, you would need to add context - the match itself was pretty brutal and there was a lot of niggle. Both sides were up for it and there was plenty of bitch play going on. In the context of the match it wouldn't surprise me that someone had got bitten or that someone could claim a bite when another time they might just wash it off as something and nothing. But yeah I would like to assume that if a guy had claimed he'd been bitten that there was some sound reason for doing so..During the game Waller (not alone by any means) was playing the tool card at every opportunity and got yellowed himself for a stupid off the ball dump tackle at one point. In itself the tackle was not much of anything other than being plain stupid. Does that have a bearing on his claims? Who knows but the video posted below doesn't show much to me - certainly not 13 weeks.
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@Catogrande It's a dirty filthy bite! 13 weeks is pretty sweet.
@Bones Well the judiciary certainly thought so and they're never wrong
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you cant really accidentally bite someone, and having been bitten, you know you've been bitten, so I don't think you would confuse some other niggle with a bite.
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Just as well Ashton's been taking good care of his teeth.
https://twitter.com/CGdentalcentre/status/759006187023060992
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The rumour on PR from someone who likes to think he is in the know is that Ashton is going to head back to league after the suspension.
@Smudge said in NH club rugby:
The rumour on PR from someone who likes to think he is in the know is that Ashton is going to head back to league after the suspension.
That's already been reported in media before today - e.g. Guardian newspaper
"“What I am hearing is absolutely not the Chris Ashton I know,” said the club’s chairman, Nigel Wray. “I very much hope that Chris is not forced out of English rugby because he is a very well-liked and respected member of our family, one of the hardest workers in the game. I am not a lawyer, but if this were a legal matter the case would not come to court.”
The implication was that the 29-year old Ashton would, once his suspension was completed, look at finishing his career in France or return to rugby league having left Wigan for Northampton in 2007."
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Don't these guys have lawyers at their trials, and they are treated as legal matters?
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God I had the miss fortune of watching the Toulon v Clermont and the Toulouse v SFP games. For teams with high profile stars in them the passing, ball control, and running lines were of the standard to would expect to see at amateur level, because most of the team were on the piss the night before.
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Mourad Boudjellal contemplates selling Toulon
http://www.espn.co.uk/rugby/story/_/id/17641408/mourad-boudjellal-contemplates-selling-toulon
@Stargazer said in NH club rugby:
Mourad Boudjellal contemplates selling Toulon
http://www.espn.co.uk/rugby/story/_/id/17641408/mourad-boudjellal-contemplates-selling-toulon
My heart bleeds!
"There is a strong chance that this will be my last year," Boudjellal said on AFP. "I do not have a huge fortune but it's reasonable.
"I am much depleted by the club and I don't know if many presidents do this.
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Scotland coach Vern Cotter to join Montpellier for season 2017/18
By IAIN MORRISON Wednesday 28 September 2016 Scotland coach Vern Cotter has, as was widely anticipated, found himself a post with Montepllier in France’s Top 14 from the end of the current season when his contract with Murrayfield expires. Cotter was controversially replaced by Glasgow boss Gregor Townsend just a few short months ago despite taking Scotland to within a whisker of the World Cup semi-finals in 2015, losing to Australia in the last minute thanks to a incorrectpenalty. Cotter made his name in France, first as a player and more recently as the head coach of Clermont, who he led to the Top 14 Championship in 2010 after innumerable failures in the final. He moved to Scotland in 2014, one year later than expected after the Scottish Rugby Union failed to inform Clermont of their signing and the club duly held Cotter to his contract rather than release him one season early.The current Montpellier coach, World Cup-winner Jake White, is leaving the club to make way for Cotter. What is less clear is just how many of the South African counterparts that White signed are leaving with him. After failing to make much of an impact in the Six Nations to date – two wins in ten attempts – Cotter has one final season of Six Nations rugby to make his mark in Europe before a return to the club game.The official announcement by Montpellier: http://www.montpellier-rugby.com/news/communique-officiel-0
Not in the official announcement, but according to the French paper Midi Libre, Cotter has signed a deal for 3 seasons (so until June 2020): http://www.midilibre.fr/2016/09/28/rugby-montpellier-l-ancien-clermontois-vern-cotter-a-signe-au-mhr,1400186.php
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This weekend, the European Club Rugby competitions kick off and the first game has already been played.
Aviva Premiership team Harlequins absolutely smashed 2014-14 Top 14 champions Stade Français Paris, scoring 7 tries to 3, in a 43-21 bonus point win.
This weekend's games:
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From Sky's FB page:
Get your European Rugby Champions Cup fix on the Rugby Channel!
Saturday: LIVE - 7.40am: Glasgow Warriors v Leicester Tigers
Sunday: LIVE - 7.40am: Scarlets v Sale Sharks
Delayed - 9.45am: Wasps v Zebre
Delayed - 11.45am: RC Toulon v Saracens
Delayed - 1.45pm: Connacht v ToulouseMonday: LIVE - 12.55am: Bordeaux-Begles v Ulster
LIVE - 3.10am: Racing 92 v Munster
LIVE - 5.25am: Exeter Chiefs v ASM Clermont AuvergneEuropean Rugby Challenge Cup
Monday: Delayed - 11.30am: Pau v Bath
