French rugby Updates : Le café du Rugby.

molloyjh

The more I read about Boudjellal the more I dislike him. Not only is he apparently looking to get rid of a coach after less than 2 months, but it's a guy who has never coached before and he still can't give the guy time. Talk about a blight on the game.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/reports-rugby-giants-toulon-on-the-verge-of-sacking-new-coach-after-just-46-days-in-charge-35035250.html

thomond2006

molloyjh wrote: »

The more I read about Boudjellal the more I dislike him. Not only is he apparently looking to get rid of a coach after less than 2 months, but it's a guy who has never coached before and he still can't give the guy time. Talk about a blight on the game.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/reports-rugby-giants-toulon-on-the-verge-of-sacking-new-coach-after-just-46-days-in-charge-35035250.html

Dominguez has lost the dressing room...

flogthebog

molloyjh wrote: »

The more I read about Boudjellal the more I dislike him. Not only is he apparently looking to get rid of a coach after less than 2 months, but it's a guy who has never coached before and he still can't give the guy time. Talk about a blight on the game.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/reports-rugby-giants-toulon-on-the-verge-of-sacking-new-coach-after-just-46-days-in-charge-35035250.html

I would ask the question why you would offer a coach with no experience the job at Toulon in the first place

irishbucsfan

flogthebog wrote: »

I would ask the question why you would offer a coach with no experience the job at Toulon in the first place

Because Mourad is both mad enough to try it with a high potential candidate as well as ruthless enough to pull the plug immediately if it looks like it wont produce immediate results.

It would be interesting if Mike Ford does take that job given rumours he lost the room at Bath

nc6000

It's also probably unlikely Toulon will win away in Toulouse tomorrow. Bordeaux, Montpellier (maybe even Grenoble) should win at home so Toulon could be in the bottom two\three at the end of weekend.

thomond2006

Big game for Bernard Jackman and Grenoble today. They are home to Brive who won at Toulon last week.

matthew8

3 red cards given at the end of the first half in a massive brawl, 2 for Grenoble 1 for Brive but Grenoble won the second half anyway en route to victory.

The fight (The attempted punch from the Brive 9 is a personal favourite, the Grenoble 1 and 12 and the Brive 23 are the ones who received the red cards):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuPv5Qc5TwM&feature=youtu.be

Buer

Some very quick reactions from Chris Farrell or he'd have had his head taken off.

French rugby is nuts. Long bans for a few lads there. Jackman will be fuming.

vienne86

matthew8 wrote: »

3 red cards given at the end of the first half in a massive brawl, 2 for Grenoble 1 for Brive but Grenoble won the second half anyway en route to victory.

The fight (The attempted punch from the Brive 9 is a personal favourite, the Grenoble 1 and 12 and the Brive 23 are the ones who received the red cards):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuPv5Qc5TwM&feature=youtu.be

That's shocking stuff. I know there are some hot tempers in the Top 14, but that is way over the top.

So Brive won. Terrible start to the season for Grenoble.

Edit: Brive won!

irishbucsfan

vienne86 wrote: »

That's shocking stuff. I know there are some hot tempers in the Top 14, but that is way over the top.

So Brive won. Terrible start to the season for Grenoble.

Grenoble won it, unless we're living in separate dimensions!

Buer

Are we talking about the match or the fight?

Swan Curry

Could have been more cards, a brive player got away with a pretty blatant attempt at an eye gouge as well

irishbucsfan

In other news Toulouse made Richie Gray player of the month and Fabien Pelous says that he on his own has turned 2nd row from a position of weakness to a position of strength for the club.

Yes, that's Richie "flubber" Gray, of clean jersey fame. If he has been transmuted into a player befitting his physical talent then he could be an interesting option for the Lions and Scotland this season.

errlloyd

So far no less than 54 points have been scored in any game this weekend.

vienne86

Big win for Toulon at Toulouse - that lifts the pressure pressure off Dominguez!

thomond2006

https://twitter.com/Murray_Kinsella/status/775041994129375237?s=09

Ugalde deserves a very long ban. No excuse for anything less.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

^Seems like a heated match...

https://twitter.com/Murray_Kinsella/status/775043837907664896

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

thomond2006 wrote: »

Ugalde deserves a very long ban. No excuse for anything less.

That's just a full on assault. There isn't even the slightest defense that could be put up for that. He literally reaches for the guys head and goes for his eyes. Viscous.

thomond2006

https://twitter.com/Max_KPM/status/775012082328694784?s=09

CatFromHue

Looks like he went back for afters a few times too

Adbrowne

That is a shocking gouge. World rugby needs to get a grip on this stuff. The game has enough physical aspects but this stuff is unacceptable

TeoReid

there has to be a point when someone on the receiving end of something like that takes the matter to the courts. a player does not sign up to be on the receiving end of someone attempting to blind them when they run onto the pitch

molloyjh

thomond2006 wrote: »

https://twitter.com/Max_KPM/status/775012082328694784?s=09

If he got banned for life I'd genuinely applaud the decision. Utterly disgusting thuggery that needs to be completely stamped out as soon as it raises his head.

Dave_The_Sheep

**** me that's bad. The way he kept on going means it was far more than just a rush of blood to the head.

BrokenMan

Should never be allowed back on a rugby pitch again. It's time to start setting precedents for this kind of assault. You do that walking down the street and you wind up in jail.

RichieRich89

BrokenMan wrote: »

Should never be allowed back on a rugby pitch again. It's time to start setting precedents for this kind of assault. You do that walking down the street and you wind up in jail.

Not the "if you do that in the street..." line again. You could end up in jail if you tackled someone in the street

pickarooney

What a cockbucket.

vienne86

molloyjh wrote: »

If he got banned for life I'd genuinely applaud the decision. Utterly disgusting thuggery that needs to be completely stamped out as soon as it raises his head.

Bang on the money, molloy - this kind of act has nothing to do with rugby.....or any sport for that matter.

iroced

molloyjh wrote: »

The more I read about Boudjellal the more I dislike him. Not only is he apparently looking to get rid of a coach after less than 2 months, but it's a guy who has never coached before and he still can't give the guy time. Talk about a blight on the game.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/reports-rugby-giants-toulon-on-the-verge-of-sacking-new-coach-after-just-46-days-in-charge-35035250.html

Don't be too naive. Mourad is a media man. You have to take everything he says with a huge pinch of salt.

thomond2006 wrote: »

Dominguez has lost the dressing room...

nc6000 wrote: »

It's also probably unlikely Toulon will win away in Toulouse tomorrow. Bordeaux, Montpellier (maybe even Grenoble) should win at home so Toulon could be in the bottom two\three at the end of weekend.

You spoke too fast . Toulon TBP win away to Toulouse.
UBB are not playing that great and Grenoble are kinda favourite to go down. Not sure they'll be that tough for Toulon. Montpellier? Depends which Montpellier... First 2 games or last 2 games?

flogthebog wrote: »

I would ask the question why you would offer a coach with no experience the job at Toulon in the first place

Domingez has potential. Has character and temper. He "studied" for 6 months alongside Laporte. I see no reason why he'd fail.
Dominguez was almost already a coach while playing. He has everything to success.

I'd say the main problem at Toulon lies in the way the staff was built. There was so much mess this summer with talks about guys who didn't want to work with others or vice versa (e.g. the Dal Maso "affair") and whatever sh*te summer useless blah blah talkings the press love so much to full their papers with... And Mourad, of course, added fuel to the fire like he loves doing.

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Because Mourad is both mad enough to try it with a high potential candidate as well as ruthless enough to pull the plug immediately if it looks like it wont produce immediate results.

He looks mad. He likes playing the madman. But I don't think he's really that mad.
And as I said above, the only reason for him to ditch Dominguez that early will lie in the reality of the mess within the staff.

Mac-Chops

Re: Gouging Incident

Took a personal interest in this one.

Just back myself from my new routine since the weekend, washing my eye out and using some eye drops to help clear what is hopefully just a minor infection.

A souvenir from my own match where I got a nice run of fingers over my "eye area" at the bottom of a ruck where I was over the tryline and had both my hands tied up on the ball getting some unseen downward pressure. Not the only thing unseen but I can live with the no try awarded part.

I've no doubt it was intentional and am disgusted that this type of sh*t is still prevalent in today's game at any level. Whatever about your few sly digs behind the ref's back (not my game either) but there's nothing more cowardly, stupid and dangerous than willingly putting your finger in to another person's eye.

/rant

Adbrowne

vienne86 wrote: »

Bang on the money, molloy - this kind of act has nothing to do with rugby.....or any sport for that matter.

Just seen retweets claiming to quote Ugalde says he "had closed fist, hopes disciplinary committee not swayed by social media"

Winters

That's pathetic. The players should ensure they are up to date on the laws of the game. Its their profession.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Adbrowne wrote: »

Just seen retweets claiming to quote Ugalde says he "had closed fist, hopes disciplinary committee not swayed by social media"

Surely though if he knows his fists were closed that implies he knew exactly what he was doing? His closed fist was rammed into the eye area of a player. Same difference?

vienne86

Adbrowne wrote: »

Just seen retweets claiming to quote Ugalde says he "had closed fist, hopes disciplinary committee not swayed by social media"

Well everyone can see the footage. He obviously knows he's in trouble, and it should be very big trouble indeed.

conf101

HAs the citing window closed by now? Haven't heard anything about a citing. He hardly got away with it?

shrapnel222

conf101 wrote: »

HAs the citing window closed by now? Haven't heard anything about a citing. He hardly got away with it?

he was definitely cited, but the hearing hasn't taken place yet

Adbrowne

shrapnel222 wrote: »

he was definitely cited, but the hearing hasn't taken place yet

any update on this.

pickarooney

The whole lot of those players were scheduled to be heard in the last week of September if memory serves.

shrapnel222

Adbrowne wrote: »

any update on this.

hearing is on the 28th or 29th of this month iirc

Dave_The_Sheep

Odd that it takes that long - is that the norm?

shrapnel222

Dave_The_Sheep wrote: »

Odd that it takes that long - is that the norm?

i think the "commission de discipline" usually convenes twice a month, and they give a 2 week timeframe for players to get organised.

thomond2006

Ugalde got 14 weeks. Given the nature of the act, I'm amazed. 12 weeks is the entry point...was that really at the lower end of the scale?!

Adbrowne

thomond2006 wrote: »

Ugalde got 14 weeks. Given the nature of the act, I'm amazed. 12 weeks is the entry point...was that really at the lower end of the scale?!

just saw that on twitter. his season should have been over at the very least IMO.

shrapnel222

thomond2006 wrote: »

Ugalde got 14 weeks. Given the nature of the act, I'm amazed. 12 weeks is the entry point...was that really at the lower end of the scale?!

definitely seems light imo. I think his "clean" record got him a small bit of benefit of the doubt. lucky boy!

vienne86

thomond2006 wrote: »

Ugalde got 14 weeks. Given the nature of the act, I'm amazed. 12 weeks is the entry point...was that really at the lower end of the scale?!

Very lenient. That was one of the worst cases gouging I think I have ever seen.

pickarooney

He showed no remorse and denied doing it. Must have worn a hell of a suit.

irishbucsfan

Mike Ford starts coaching Toulon on Monday supposedly...

molloyjh

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Mike Ford starts coaching Toulon on Monday supposedly...

As head coach? Are they doing a Munster on it or are/have they sacked Dominguez?

nc6000

molloyjh wrote:

As head coach? Are they doing a Munster on it or are/have they sacked Dominguez?

You mean is Dominguez now the Toulon lineout coach?

molloyjh

nc6000 wrote: »

You mean is Dominguez now the Toulon lineout coach?

And breakdown coach......

Saw a report earlier that suggests this is similar enough to what happened at Munster. Ford will be in charge of "attack, defence and overall gameplan". When it was suggested that Dominguez was under pressure he told the press to "stop fantasising about the sacking of Diego Dominguez". This after saying, just 2 weeks ago, that "he will have a last chance" going into the game against Toulouse. It's a mess. But then that's what you get when you decide to hire an inexperienced coach after a 10 minute conversation (“I sat down to lunch with him, and within ten minutes I knew he was the guy”).