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The fallout over Darcy Swain’s hit on Quinn Tupaea has continued with the Wallabies lock branded an “absolute coward” by a former All Black who is still an active player in France.
Lima Sopoaga tweeted his disgust over Swain’s Bledisloe Cup cleanout on Tupaea at the time of the incident and doubled down in the wake of news that Tupaea would nine months after serious ACL damage, putting his World Cup in doubt.
Swain was banned for six weeks for the clearance – although some swift thinking by Australian selectors means he’ll serve half of that on the Australian A tour of Japan that kicks off on Saturday. Australian A coach Jason Gilmore confirmed Swain didn’t travel to train with the team in Japan, staying at home instead.
The injury to centre Tupaea has angered many in the NZ rugby community and Sopoaga made his feelings clear on social media.
Meanwhile, Ireland’s Bundee Aki has copped an eight-week suspension for a brutal cleanout while playing for Connacht.
The centre was given his marching orders for a dangerous shoulder-to-head clearout on Stormers wing Seabelo Senatla on the hour mark of their United Rugby Championship clash on Saturday.
Before leaving the field, however, Aki remonstrated with the referee about the decision so his dissent was factored into the length of his suspension by the judicial officer overseeing the process.
Aki will miss at least five URC rounds for his province and two of three Ireland Tests in November, but could return to face the Wallabies if he completes the head contact process coaching intervention.
Aki’s challenge on Senatla was declared “reckless” by the judicial officer and fell within mid-range on the scale of seriousness but his arguing with the official carried an entry point sanction of 10 weeks.
The judiciary took into account his poor record.
“The Player’s previous suspensions for red cards in 2019 and 2021 for foul play involving head contact, as well as his suspension and warning for previous conduct relating to interactions with referees, were considered aggravating factors, which the Judicial Officer decided warranted a further two weeks of sanction,” the judiciary found.
Kiwi British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland says he’s never noticed such low public morale in his homeland than during the All Blacks’ run of defeats this season.
The All Blacks hit their lowest ever world ranking following the 26-10 defeat to the Springboks in Mbombela and it seemed that Ian Foster was days away from losing his job. New Zealand Rugby held firm and Foster was able to turn it around.
Writing in the UK Telegraph , Gatland described public reaction towards Foster was ‘complete turmoil’.
“In all the time I have been involved with rugby, I have never seen a head coach under that amount of pressure and scrutiny. In New Zealand, there was complete turmoil,” Gatland wrote.
“The vitriol levelled at the coach and squad on social media was completely alien and over the top for a nation that has always been regarded as the heavyweights in world rugby. Never before has public morale in our national team been so low.”
The All Blacks finished their nine Tests so far this year with a 5-4 record but that could have easily become 4-5 without the intervention of Mathieu Raynal in Melbourne.
(Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
Gatland said the losses to Ireland, South Africa and Argentina could be taken as a positive for the team building towards the World Cup.
“New Zealand needed this wobble before next year’s World Cup. It shouldn’t necessarily be viewed negatively – in fact it is a huge positive for New Zealand Rugby and healthy for the wider game,” wrote Gatland.
“Such is the volatile nature of Test rugby that you can post 20 or 30 points on a team one week and then get hammered by them the next. It is fantastic to see international teams that are capable of beating each other if they get their strategy right on the day.”
Gatland said he thought an All Blacks dip was on the cards after the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
“I sensed a slight reluctance to talk about anything new or look at what teams in the northern hemisphere were doing,” Gatland wrote.
“That certainly rang true when the All Blacks lost to France 40-25 last November, in what was a dress rehearsal for the opening game of the 2023 World Cup. Only recently has there been a shift – players have started to be more receptive to the new ideas and philosophies that have infiltrated the camp in the wake of recent coaching reinforcements.”
“But the real acid test will be their showdown against England at Twickenham in November. That will be a very good indication of where both teams are a year out from a World Cup.”
The record attendance for a women’s Rugby World Cup match will be broken when the tournament begins in New Zealand on 8 October.
More than 30,000 tickets have been sold for the opening matchday at Eden Park, with organisers hopeful they can push towards the 50,000 capacity.
The tournament kicks off with three games at the venue – including a massive test for the Wallaroos against New Zealand, who they never beaten.
England play Fiji and South Africa play France in the other matches at Eden Park on the 8th. The previous record is 20,000 set at the 2014 World Cup in France.
Lawyers representing World Rugby will have a first meeting on Saturday (AEST) with the legal team representing 215 former players who are claiming they are suffering brain injuries as a result of playing the game, The Times reports.
The players have launched a legal claim against World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union and the Welsh Rugby Union, claiming they have developed neurological disorders such as early onset dementia.
The players include Steve Thompson, a member of the England team who won the Rugby World Cup in 2003, and the former Wales captain Ryan Jones.
The Times says lawyers representing World Rugby’s insurers have requested the meeting but are not expected to make any kind of offer regarding damages. The meeting is touted as a fact-finding mission before an extended legal case.
World Rugby has said the number of cases filed in the proceeding is 139. Its chief executive, Alan Gilpin, has insisted that dealing with head injury risk is its “number one priority” but also suggested last month that there may be an attempt to “use the media effectively to recruit more players into that [legal] action”.
That was denied by Richard Boardman, of Rylands Law, who said there was no targeted recruitment campaign.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.