Rogues, Hypocrites & Dissembling Villains
By Rich Walker July 23 2002
Scarcely in the chequered history of that bastion of consistency and sincerity, the Rugby Football Union, can it have managed to give a display so spineless as last night's caving to media hysteria over Martin Johnson's punch on Robbie Russell.
By Rich Walker July 23 2002
Scarcely in the chequered history of that bastion of consistency and sincerity, the Rugby Football Union, can it have managed to give a display so spineless as last night's caving to media hysteria over Martin Johnson's punch on Robbie Russell.
Like me, most of you are probably heartily sick of the constant accusations, arguments and general carping about this incident. Suffice it to say that Johnno shouldn't have punched his opponent who shouldn't have been grappling with him, the referee probably got it wrong and that punches are not unheard of in our sport. Unfortunately the esteemed and respected individuals charged with administering the game are far too self-important to see that.
Special Treatment
Perhaps first some related facts: Thus far this year we've had Northampton's Mattie Stewart found guilty of punching (and kneeing!) but unpunished. A Newcastle player who has not been charged after receiving a yellow card for repeated punching. Olivier Magne has received a three week ban for stamping on an opponent's head! Craig Quinnell recently landed a haymaker, was sinbinned and has faced no further action. The difference between these incidents and Johnno's punch? The parasites of the British media. They weren't interested in the others.
So the issues I do want to raise are those around consistency of approach, media influence and the unsuitability of Robert Horner to hold office.
Right then our boy has been banned for his actions. There are plenty of people within the game, both Tigers fans and those none believers who follow the false faiths of other clubs, who feel that a three week ban is a minimum penalty for his crime. If that's the case can we expect every other such transgression to be dealt with in the same way? I suspect not.
A witch hunt
The entire thrust of what appears to have become a witch-hunt has been that Johnno's act was caught on camera and was unacceptable from a player with his profile. I can accept that neither justice nor the welfare of the game is served by having a double standard for certain individuals.
How can a player be supposed to perform at the highest level of the game, whilst having to consider whether his actions conform to an individual, nebulous and completely spurious code? The simple fact is that this is impossible. In the game of Rugby Union more than in most sports absolute conviction and commitment to a course of action are necessary. Hesitation and second thoughts are a recipe for failure.
Caught on camera
As for the fact that it was caught on camera - how is it that a player can be punished for an act that would normally have received no further sanction simply because he was unlucky enough to be on Television? Will this encourage players to save up their frustrations for un-televised matches? Quite frankly this is a ludicrous state of affairs.
An analogy: A mugger jumps on an innocent passer by and beats him and steals his wallet. The police obtain an ID from a number of witnesses but because the crime was not captured on CCTV they take no action. An intolerable state of affairs which would never be acceptable. Now I do not wish to compare a sporting infraction with a serious crime but the point about consistency is nonetheless valid.
Which brings me to the media. There have been numerous articles in the press and reports on television and radio over the last two weeks villifying Johnson. I, for one, have never seen so many articles on rugby. Most of them have been, as notable for their inaccuracy as for their ill-informed lack of balance.
Media over-reaction
Certainly the BBC has never shown such interest in anything but divball before! Would they have been interested had their been no television pictures? If it had not involved the England captain? What about if it had been a good news rugby story? How many in depth articles have we seen about Tigers' dominance of domestic rugby? Or how about the fact that England now head the world rankings?
The fact is that the media jackals like a bad news story. They cannot stand a British winner. Nothing fills them with such glee as to knock those who have the temerity to achieve success. Hence the News of the World's joy at it's set-up of Lawrence Dallaglio.
In the RFU the media have found their perfect target. An organisation as incompetent and hypocritical as it is gutless. The fact that they managed to drive the RFU to this course of action serves simply to provide self-validation for their existence. The doyens of the press sit and think smugly to themselves: "We brought about change".
Johnno a role model
As for Robert Horner, I have never heard such a dissembling, deceitful, self-satisfied, pompous fool. His quote on the news this morning was that "no attention had been paid to Martin Johnson's position as England captain. His punishment had been neither reduced or increased because of his position."
How clever of him to completely forget to mention his own role in this matter. A role which was based entirely on his perception of Johnno's actions as England captain. The fact is that Horner took action to bring Johnno before the disciplinary panel solely, on account of that position.
The punishment itself is irrelevant. The decision to bring the charge is the point here. One man decided that he should take it upon himself to make a special case of an individual player. He, in his wisdom, had already made the decision that Johnno should be treated differently.
The hypocrisy of a man who has the gall to stand up before the media and pontificate without even a semblance of appreciation of his own role is quite staggering. The only person to bring the game into disrepute here is this man. His unsuitability for a job, which should entail a scrupulous honesty and consistency, is manifest. He is simply a further disgrace to a wholly discredited organisation.
Precedent set
I have heard that the ban creates a dangerous precedent. That all players must now be banned for punching. Well I suppose if we lived in a world where the RFU employed people with spines that might be so. But I see no prospect of Mr Horner taking this course of action again. Not until either his sense of self-importance, or his fear of the press surface again.
I, for one, am simply saddened to see the game I love cheapened and made ridiculous by this appalling combination of cowardice, double standards and media intrusion.
Date: 22/2/2002
Special Treatment
Perhaps first some related facts: Thus far this year we've had Northampton's Mattie Stewart found guilty of punching (and kneeing!) but unpunished. A Newcastle player who has not been charged after receiving a yellow card for repeated punching. Olivier Magne has received a three week ban for stamping on an opponent's head! Craig Quinnell recently landed a haymaker, was sinbinned and has faced no further action. The difference between these incidents and Johnno's punch? The parasites of the British media. They weren't interested in the others.
So the issues I do want to raise are those around consistency of approach, media influence and the unsuitability of Robert Horner to hold office.
Right then our boy has been banned for his actions. There are plenty of people within the game, both Tigers fans and those none believers who follow the false faiths of other clubs, who feel that a three week ban is a minimum penalty for his crime. If that's the case can we expect every other such transgression to be dealt with in the same way? I suspect not.
A witch hunt
The entire thrust of what appears to have become a witch-hunt has been that Johnno's act was caught on camera and was unacceptable from a player with his profile. I can accept that neither justice nor the welfare of the game is served by having a double standard for certain individuals.
How can a player be supposed to perform at the highest level of the game, whilst having to consider whether his actions conform to an individual, nebulous and completely spurious code? The simple fact is that this is impossible. In the game of Rugby Union more than in most sports absolute conviction and commitment to a course of action are necessary. Hesitation and second thoughts are a recipe for failure.
Caught on camera
As for the fact that it was caught on camera - how is it that a player can be punished for an act that would normally have received no further sanction simply because he was unlucky enough to be on Television? Will this encourage players to save up their frustrations for un-televised matches? Quite frankly this is a ludicrous state of affairs.
An analogy: A mugger jumps on an innocent passer by and beats him and steals his wallet. The police obtain an ID from a number of witnesses but because the crime was not captured on CCTV they take no action. An intolerable state of affairs which would never be acceptable. Now I do not wish to compare a sporting infraction with a serious crime but the point about consistency is nonetheless valid.
Which brings me to the media. There have been numerous articles in the press and reports on television and radio over the last two weeks villifying Johnson. I, for one, have never seen so many articles on rugby. Most of them have been, as notable for their inaccuracy as for their ill-informed lack of balance.
Media over-reaction
Certainly the BBC has never shown such interest in anything but divball before! Would they have been interested had their been no television pictures? If it had not involved the England captain? What about if it had been a good news rugby story? How many in depth articles have we seen about Tigers' dominance of domestic rugby? Or how about the fact that England now head the world rankings?
The fact is that the media jackals like a bad news story. They cannot stand a British winner. Nothing fills them with such glee as to knock those who have the temerity to achieve success. Hence the News of the World's joy at it's set-up of Lawrence Dallaglio.
In the RFU the media have found their perfect target. An organisation as incompetent and hypocritical as it is gutless. The fact that they managed to drive the RFU to this course of action serves simply to provide self-validation for their existence. The doyens of the press sit and think smugly to themselves: "We brought about change".
Johnno a role model
As for Robert Horner, I have never heard such a dissembling, deceitful, self-satisfied, pompous fool. His quote on the news this morning was that "no attention had been paid to Martin Johnson's position as England captain. His punishment had been neither reduced or increased because of his position."
How clever of him to completely forget to mention his own role in this matter. A role which was based entirely on his perception of Johnno's actions as England captain. The fact is that Horner took action to bring Johnno before the disciplinary panel solely, on account of that position.
The punishment itself is irrelevant. The decision to bring the charge is the point here. One man decided that he should take it upon himself to make a special case of an individual player. He, in his wisdom, had already made the decision that Johnno should be treated differently.
The hypocrisy of a man who has the gall to stand up before the media and pontificate without even a semblance of appreciation of his own role is quite staggering. The only person to bring the game into disrepute here is this man. His unsuitability for a job, which should entail a scrupulous honesty and consistency, is manifest. He is simply a further disgrace to a wholly discredited organisation.
Precedent set
I have heard that the ban creates a dangerous precedent. That all players must now be banned for punching. Well I suppose if we lived in a world where the RFU employed people with spines that might be so. But I see no prospect of Mr Horner taking this course of action again. Not until either his sense of self-importance, or his fear of the press surface again.
I, for one, am simply saddened to see the game I love cheapened and made ridiculous by this appalling combination of cowardice, double standards and media intrusion.
Date: 22/2/2002
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