Hore, Thompson premeditated plan by Kiwi management

i'm sure if you practiced your internet skills you could probably find some examples from within the last decade.

I think we all must understand that the All Blacks are the most marketable team in the world. Even fans of teams they beat would hate to see the All Blacks lose a player to a red card - it would rob them of a once in a life time experience of witnessing a great team. Rather than bemoan the All Blacks lack of contrition, we should celebrate their success. They give more than they take.

Agreed Beau. The 2 worst ( among many) would have to Dick Loe and big bad Colin meads who probably committed the grubbiest act ever perpetrated on a rugby field. Namely, twisting Ken Catchpoles leg so severely that it tore the hamstring off the bone and ended his career. Not only was Catchpole lying at the bottom of a ruck, he was the smallest man on the field. Meads reward? He was knighted.

Oh, too precious.

I see what you did here. Trying to create controversy in search of a negative reaction. Sad.

It appears the entire All Black squad has come down with a mystery bug sourced back to Cardiff. In an echo of 1995, were the All Blacks deliberately poisoned by irked catering staff in the host city?

Great idea. How many penalties did the All Blacks give away against Wales in the last twenty minutes for slowing the ball down? The whole All Black should be cited for that

Ha! Do you remember Byron Kelleher pulling a hammie during the Haka and having to sit the game out? That's one of my favourite moments in sport.

5 Weeks for that !? What a rubbish decision. Davies was deliberately running obstruction and Hore whilst reckless and inaccruate was clearly singularly focussed on swatting him out the way and joining the ruck. The IRB needs to clamp down on cynical spoiling, and perhaps reintroduce rucking to prevent the opportunity for this kind of unfortunate incident to occur. For example, watch England play. How many times do you see a ball slowing penalty every time the opposition get into their 22? In the world cup it was metronomic. 8 penalties and a 35 minute yellow card later it magically stopped. It's an obvious game management ploy to restrict scoring opportunities in multiples larger than 3. The refs need to get tough on the kind of cynical and obvious nonsense of the variety Bradley Davies was guilty in this incident. Perhaps introduce citings and bans for deliberate cynical play alongside those for foul play. If guys thought their antics would be caught on video later, they'd be less inclined to do it.

See what I did there?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uI9OaIbaxeU#! 1:35 - There is the little punch/dig he gives before putting his foot on him. Fist is quite clearly clenched and is forced into Alasdair's neck/upper back possibly head. Not saying it would have done any damage but there was intent. He obviously decides to put his foot on him after the fist doesn't work.

But we can still call them convicts right?

Yeah but Brial's hand came off second best!

Huh? Did you see the price of eggs!

I'd fathom a guess the seagulls aren't following Kiwis because they are following you Funk that almighty chip on your shoulder was the true cause of the lunar eclipse. Would you like some salt with that almightly hypocritical self righteous chip son?

If the judiciary would just bugger off and let the players exact revenge next time around then foul play would disappear.

Now why would one go and sabotage a attacking opportunity where 5 points is up for grabs like that? And if a player goes off his feet it is a penalty no matter who have done it. So your situation might be impossible since your team is carrying the ball and for one of your players to do it he needs to seal off (illegal) go off his feet (illegal) or use his hands in the ruck (illegal). My point I am referring to if the ball comes out slow there is hands on the ball and the referee tell them to leave it where they do but that 1 seconds is a lot in rugby. They organized their defense quickly and the rules state that you cannot use your hands in the ruck. So they do not get penalized but warned which is totally incorrect

Beau, fair enough point, but in Andrew Hore's case, 1 incident in 11 seasons and 240 odd games doesn't make him one of rugby's biggest thugs either. I'm not sure why the context around Bradley Davies makes his actions excusable. You could see the intent in Davies actions and they where intended to hurt. Just because another Welshman got hit in an attempted counter ruck doesn't lessen the intent. It was so far off the ball , you could see what he was trying to do and Davies was aware that there could only be one outcome of his actions But likewise you can see the intent in Hores actions and he intended Davies to feel the hit. Although I don't think Hore would have been aware of the outcome. So which ones worse? Do you judge the crime on the result? or should it be the intent rather than how the receivng player is after the incident

Or Michael Brial on Frank Bunce in Brisbane in 1996 - pure assault with no pretence of rugby about it whatsoever

You can't - it's only All Blacks who can be thugs :)