jamesliveinhope says...

With you up until you started on the English again.

Wayne Barnes did not see the incident, he said so on microphone. He asked the opinion of Dave Pearson who did see it and is a also referee on the IRB panel who advised him that it was a yellow. A poor decision, but not Barnes' poor decision.

All you will do is stir up the All Back trolls who still feel that he was responsible for them not winning RWC in 2007 and everything bad that has happened to them since. Cue 2 pages of Barnes slagging.

The Laidlaw try was not a try because he didn't touch the ball. How do we know? because the TMO said so. I watched it in real time and thought it was a try, I watched the TMO replays and thought it got less and less conclusive the more he watched it.

You state "The ball, as you can see in the slowest-motion replays, ceased to move forward at the moment Laidlaw made contact with it"

Just a quick reminder - rugby balls aren't round like footballs

That means that they don't roll very consistently. My reading was that "The ball, as you can see in the slowest-motion replays, ceased to move forward at the moment that Laidlaw was about to make contact with it."

From that point, Laidlaw's momentum mean't that he was moving in the opposite direction to the ball and I cannot see (and I presume that you watched the same replays that I did) him actually make contact with the ball.

I note also that you fail to mention the hauling back of Youngs who was prevented from grounding it himself in doing so.

The issue

Posted 10:08 07th February 2012

jontheref says...

Trying to be contreversial?

laidlaw "scored a try"?

Dream on.

Qoting the law does not change the facts.

he didn't score.

I was supporting Scotland, so don't accuse me of bias!

They had the chances to win, but did not take them.

Posted 09:20 07th February 2012

thegeneral says...

"hand or hands"..... interesting one does thumb and forefinger constitute pressing down with hand?

Personally didn't think there was downward pressure. I thought Laidlaw touched the ball but only the side and didn't get downward pressure.

Posted 09:00 07th February 2012

dannyc28 says...

Laidlaw tackled Youngs before getting to the ball so whether he grounded the ball or not is irrelevant.

England do look fragile. Scotland opened us up with ease and that is worrying considering where they are in the world rankings. We need to improve very quickly otherwise we are going to be in for a hiding soon enough.

Our club game needs to change. It is not producing good enough players. Too many clubs is diluting the quality, The risk of relegation is so great that the rugby played is constantly restricted. Only a few clubs are sustainable so whats the point in having two divisions of so called professional teams, just about all of them will never make a profit and rely on sugar daddy's. Have a top flight league of 8 clubs where the best talent play against each other week in week out. No threat of relegation but rather qualification for either Heineken or Amlin cups and of course the title of top club in England. Central contracts for the Elite squad players. People will still come to watch. I regularly go to Quins and I believe the majority of spectators are there to watch rugby, see the best players and have a crack. They do not care for relegation scraps. Having 8 decent teams playing quality heads up rugby surely is better than having 12 average teams scrapping in the mud every week. It will make the game stronger in both playing standards and financially and lay the foundations for a better England team. It clearly works in the Southern Hemisphere and Ireland & Wales are really starting to show signs of real quality from it.

Rugby is not football. English football is hampered by an archaic league system which Rugby Union really does not need to fall into the same trap, otherwise we are in for another 20 years of mediocrity whilst we watch our Celtic cousins disappear out of sight,

Posted 07:43 07th February 2012