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Darren Walton
March 22, 2015, 5:42 pm
Accusations of homophobic slurs have overshadowed the NSW Waratahs' commanding Super Rugby triumph over the Brumbies at Allianz Stadium.
NSW's 28-13 victory reignited their title defence and bumped the Brumbies off the top of the competition ladder, but David Pocock's sensational allegation to referee Craig Joubert late in the spicy derby marred the Waratahs' celebrations.
Pocock allegation mars Super clash
A vocal advocate of same-sex marriages, Pocock approached Joubert twice in the final 15 minutes, upset at what the referee deemed to be "pretty aggressive comments" from the Waratahs.
Joubert asked NSW vice-captain Michael Hooper, deputising for skipper Dave Dennis - who'd been replaced - to have a word with the Waratahs.
Pocock, though, was not satisfied and Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham later said the ACT franchise would investigate the matter.
"Obviously it's going to come out in the next couple of days," Larkham said.
"We haven't had a chance to chat to everyone about everything that happened out there but we will investigate it further."
Larkham suspected the allegation was made against one player.
"But I didn't hear it and I wasn't on the field ... and I certainly didn't hear it," Larkham said.
"It was reported as that. We'll have to talk to individuals and see what the process is."
Waratahs coach Michael Cheika said he was reluctant to comment until he had all the facts in front of him.
"The way I see it is like this: if there's an issue, it will come to light," Cheika said.
"When it comes to light, I'll make my position clear on it.
"I know that it's a big thing about speculation; it's something that fills a newspaper, but I'm about seeing what really happened and then making a comment."
Allegations of slurs aside, Brumbies skipper Stephen Moore said he didn't consider any of the "banter" to be out of the ordinary in the niggly encounter.
"It's always like that," Moore said.
"I think off the field there's a lot of guys out there that are quite good mates.
"You know, Michael Hooper and 'Whitey' (Brumbies halfback) Nic White used to live together for a couple of years so they know each other pretty well and there was a bit of banter out there.
"But I think it was all in the spirit of the game, and that's the way it goes out there and I didn't see it as an issue."
The accusations overshadowed the importance of the Waratahs' win.
Had they lost, the titleholders would have fallen 14 points adrift of the Brumbies in the Australian conference.
The Brumbies, who dropped to second behind the unbeaten Hurricanes, and Waratahs are the only Australian sides in touch with the leaders after the Melbourne Rebels and Western Force suffered gutwrenching defeats in round six.
The Rebels squandered a golden opportunity to score successive wins for the first time since 2013, conceding a 78th-minute try in a 20-16 loss to the Lions at AAMI Park on Friday night.
After opening the season with a shock win over the Waratahs in Sydney, the Force have now lost five straight after being sunk by a last-minute penalty in a 25-24 defeat to the Bulls in Pretoria.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sp...s-super-clash/
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What the f@ck is he on about? That's been said countless thousands of times in the heat of battle. Outdated? Sure. Hurtful. Likely only if a gay player was the unwitting target. If he feels strongly against that he should take the offender to task either on the park or at full time. But running to the ref? Bullshit! Make your political statements away from the game. You look like a tool Pocock.
"It's always like that," Moore said.
Pulling bigoted shit up is not making a political statement..
It's just what good people do (despite the flak they get)..
If you don't get what Pocock was on about, sit down with a few of your gay mates and get them to explain.
cheers auss...
fabricarti diem punc
I'm with pocock on this one.
It's not ok to attach negative connotations to someone's sexuality. Even in the heat of the moment.
Let's just take this to the NH, what happens if a player was doing it in a game reffed by Nigel Owens? It would be immediate sexual harassment
So what of that Reds guy a few years ago in the team huddle talking about playing the Force the following week.
Lets rolls these (what sounds like counts with a mouthguard in) next week.
What law does that come under?
were we f@&ked in the end?
If so, I would contend that his premise had merit.
C'mon the![]()
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I agree very strongly with that. Pocock should have definitely taken the player to task. What I strongly disagree with is his taking it up with the referee. We don't know who the target was. But let's imagine the bloke is gay but has chosen to keep it to himself. Who's hurt then? By making it official he's possibly put someone in a very uncomfortable position. If he's done this at the target's request, however, I'd support his action 100%.
If it's what it looks like we disagree.
"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David
I just heard Cheika say that if it is true then he would "Man Up" about it. Sorry just my warped sense of humour.
Yeah I dunno, it's a tough one.
To complain like he did makes him sound like a whiny (dare I say it) bitch, but to say nothing is an implied endorsement of it. I personally don't know which reaction is right.
It's clear from the vision I saw that Pocock certainly looked like a whinger when he was complaining, he didn't look strong and in control, which would have made this whole thing a lot easier to take.
C'mon the![]()
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From what I can gather, he didn't even hear it himself and his main concern was that "there could be gay players out there".
So on that basis Gigs, you can't go calling him a whiney little bitch - a transgender person might read your comment and feel offended.
"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David