British & Irish Lions

[Jürgen4PM]

[quote author=Judge Jules link=topic=27836.msg755904#msg755904 date=1229608924]
Didn't see it, but that's exactly what a Lions skipper needs to be willing and able to do. Especially in South Africa.
[/quote]

It really did kick off mate. They both had hold of each other right in front of the ref and Cudmore smacked him with a uppercut, O'Connell just looked at the ref and then the tool smacked him again. After the second blow PC takes matters into his own hands and picks him up and dumps him to the the ground where in which he gets in 3 good unanswered punch's.

Red card for the Canadian
Yellow card for O'Connell

When they were both walking off after being shown the cards i honestly thought it was going to start up again, the CA scrum half did a great job of coming in and pushing them apart.

 

[bryndaloo]

O'Connell should have definitely walked too.

 

[Judge Jules]

By the letter of the law maybe, but it sounds as though the provocation was pretty extreme.

 

[Jürgen4PM]

O'Connell let him hit him once without retaliating and then looked to the ref to step in and sort it out, once the guy decided to have another pop at him, O'Connell simply defended himself. The ref got it spot on.

 

[Jürgen4PM]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj5esCwtTDE

 

[bryndaloo]

Retaliation - Red Card.

There's other ways of defending yourself than pinning someone to the floor and puching him in the face several times.
Any other ground than Thomond Park, O'Connell would have walked. The Ref bottled it.

 

[Rosco]

That's why I've always said he should be Irish captain too.

The first time I ever heard about O'Connell was in an interview with a notorious Munster tough nut by the name of Mick Galwey. Galwey was asked who was the toughest player he ever played against, and he said O'Connell was. O'Connell was virtually unheard of at that stage (Age 19) and was only on the fringes of the Munster team

 

[Jürgen4PM]

[quote author=bryndaloo link=topic=27836.msg756582#msg756582 date=1229684912]
Retaliation - Red Card.

There's other ways of defending yourself than pinning someone to the floor and puching him in the face several times.
Any other ground than Thomond Park, O'Connell would have walked. The Ref bottled it.
[/quote]

Well it seems that the ERC don't agree with you either (unless they held their meeting at Thomond Park As well).

 

[Judge Jules]

[quote author=Rosco link=topic=27836.msg756590#msg756590 date=1229685091]
That's why I've always said he should be Irish captain too.

The first time I ever heard about O'Connell was in an interview with a notorious Munster tough nut by the name of Mick Galwey. Galwey was asked who was the toughest player he ever played against, and he said O'Connell was. O'Connell was virtually unheard of at that stage (Age 19) and was only on the fringes of the Munster team
[/quote]

I remember Galwey. If he said that about O'Connell when the lad was only 19, that speaks for itself.

 

[doctor_mac]

Yes Galwey was a good lad. O'Connell still seems a bit short of the intensity he had a few seasons ago, when the Irish second row all looked like world beaters. On his day he's a ferocious competitor.