Wales stars row
Warren Gatland is championing creative tension in the Wales camp as opposed to false harmony. The Wales coach applauded the sight of two of his senior backline operators – Dan Biggar and George North – engaged in an on-field spat against Fiji.
Biggar took exception to North keeping the ball on the pitch rather than kicking it out of play to the first half with time up and Wales penned in their own 22 – and let him know about it in no uncertain terms. It looked like dissension in the ranks but Gatland was all for it.
“I don’t have a problem with that,” said the Kiwi. “It’s about making people accountable. There’s nothing wrong with players challenging each other. We want that. For me peer pressure is huge. Those sorts of criticisms aren’t personal. We talk about it being a point of care. It’s about the team and individuals getting better. We need to be comfortable with being able to be critical.”
Biggar, Wales’s Mr Angry, was unrepentant afterwards.
“I’ll make zero apologies for that. I think I must have told everyone the same thing at some point including myself to be honest!” he said. “For me we’ve grown a little bit in that department as a team. We’ve grown to not so much enjoy confrontation but embrace it for what it is. We have to set standards and be accountable and I hope that brings good parts out of people as well as myself.
“That’s certainly not the first and it probably won’t be my last before my time is up.”
Global showpiece marred
Rugby union’s head contact headache is in danger of marring its global showpiece.
While the clampdown on high tackles is a well-meaning attempt by tournament organisers World Rugby to tackle the blight of concussion and its long-term consequences, the uncertainty and inconsistency it has brought with it is messing with the minds of players and fans alike.
Even Television Match Officials seem uncertain about which incidents to bring to the on-field referee’s attention.
England’s Tom Curry was sent off against Argentina in Marseille after a bunker review following his collision with Juan Cruz Mallia yet Chile’s captain Martin Sigren saw only yellow against Japan for a parallel incident. Meanwhile South Africa’s Jesse Kriel escaped any sanction at all for a head on head clash as he tackled Scotland’s Jack Dempsey.
As former Scotland captain John Barclay put it: ‘’The game is refereed – whether you like or it not – that is a red card. The fact it wasn’t seen or reviewed is inexcusable.”
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Jones the pantomime villain
Eddie Jones, hero worshipped by the Japanese public at the Rugby World Cup four years ago, is revelling in his status as the pantomime villain of France 2023.
The former England coach, now back with the Wallabies, was booed every time his face appeared on the giant screen during Australia’s victory over Georgia in Paris but the reception was water off a duck’s back to Jones.
“Obviously I’m not popular, mate, but at least it’s consistent,” he said. “You either want to be popular or unpopular, so at least I’m consistently unpopular. I can deal with that.”
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