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A SECTION of the Twickenham crowd at last Saturday night’s Test between England and New Zealand has come under fire for allegedly directing homophobic abuse at openly gay referee Nigel Owens.
English rugby fan Keith Wilson wrote to UK paper The Guardian after the match, revealing his disgust at the slurs directed at Owens.
“As a lifelong rugby fan, a straight man in his 60s, I could not believe that a bunch of men half my age watching a rugby match in the 21st century could be capable of hurling such nasty, foul-mouthed, racist, homophobic abuse at an openly gay match official,” Wilson wrote.
“My equally disgusted son is in his 30s but next to him, hearing this vitriol, was a little boy. I felt ashamed.
Wilson suggested that alcohol was a contributing factor to the offensive behaviour occurring in sections of the crowd.
“I did speak to the men after the match, but they were not in a fit state to engage in sensible discussion. I suspect that if it had been in a football match they’d have been thrown out,” Wilson wrote.
“There was a time when you could trust rugby supporters to take alcohol into a game and behave like grownups.
“The time has come to treat rugby louts like football louts — no alcohol in the ground, zero tolerance to bigots.”
Writing for The Guardian, Robert Kitson argued that while some of the abuse directed at Owens could have been spurred by frustrations at his refereeing performance, such an incident is yet another example of the changing values of professional rugby.
“Could it be that the conduct of those who watch and play rugby union — and the fundamentals of respect upon which the sport is based — is changing before our eyes?” Kitson asked.
Last weekend’s internationals provided numerous examples of unsporting conduct off the field at rugby fixtures.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/sport/rugby/w...-1227120493721
Sorta makes the English supporters on this webpage who incessantly bag Kiwi supporters every opportunity they get look a bit ordinary.
Wests Scarborough 1st Grade juggernaut has played finals rugby each and every year since its inception and continues this remarkable feat yet again this season and unbelievably it's still rolling on and as an added little circle jerk for the masses Wests actually hold the record for the current longest unbroken finals record.
Not a surprise coming from English sports fans.
Ding ding... seconds out.... here we go!
Great game, Fucken battled right through to the 80!
Is it still PC to say nothing?
Or by asking that am I not PC?
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My thoughts go to out Nigel Owens! The louts should have been dealt with! How brave was Wilson? This Is RUGBY for heaven'S sake! The Plonkers should have been publicly humiliated and thrown out!
I don't think Planet Rugby could have used a more innapropriate image for such a sensitive article
Mistake?... it think not. But definately a classic
http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,2...562201,00.html
Last edited by WFDom; 15-11-14 at 03:47.
Great game, Fucken battled right through to the 80!
I thought this one was almost as bad...
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Japan and the Pacific Islands for Aussie Super 9's!
Let's have one of these in WA! Click this link: Saitama Super Arena - New Perth Stadium?