Dylan Hartley

[hugonaut]

Eye gouging and biting aside(which imo should be punished a lot more severely) the rest is just PC window dressing, a few weeks for a bit of handbags? It should be more tolerated, if two enforcers want to go at it, let them be, like hockey or like rugby league used to be in the 90's before the safety police got involved. Do we want a totally sanitised game, like yankball or soccer?

Ah! The good old days? You really want to see the sort of thuggery that went on then?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egGQ1l7rulo

Or :-

"Canterbury v Lions 1971
The Lions were cutting a swathe through New Zealand ahead of the Test series, and something had to be 'done' to slow their progress before the first Test. Cue one of the bloodiest, most premeditated assaults in rugby history from Canterbury which resulted in Scottish prop Sandy Carmichael, Irish prop Ray McLoughlin and Irish No 8 Mick Hipwell being invalided off the tour, as well as leaving Irish flanker Fergus Slattery with concussion and without two teeth."

Or more recently :-

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/i ... -1.2106242

Handbags? Really? I despair of people like you.

Ray McLoughlin broke his thumb punching some Canterbury lad in the head in that game, in fairness.

Sandy Carmichael took an absolute pasting in that game, the photo of his face in the aftermath is pretty infamous [here: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/10/ ... 06x439.jpg ].

By all accounts he was a gentleman and took rugby for what it was, i.e. a game. There was no doubting his toughness, because he went the full 80mins with 5 fractures in his cheekbone. It was a dirtier game back then though and it was expected that you would settle scores outside the laws on the pitch.

[The Doc]

Hartley out of the World CUp

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/rugby-union/32931690

[Flash Gordon]

I think he's an absolute scumbag to be honest and I really don't know why they keep picking him but a 4 week ban for this is a joke. It was absolutely nothing.

[Vamos los azules]

Having heard Alan Quinlan talk about how hard it was for him when he missed the Lions through his own stupidity, you do have to wonder what it might do to Hartley mentally to have put himself out of the Lions and now this.

Lancaster really was left with no option though. England can't risk including a suspended player in the squad in a pool as tough as pool A.

[Donny B.]

“You would hope Dylan learns from this" - Stuart Lancaster.
Well he didn't learn from other other five bans he served, but maybe the sixth one is the charm!

[Logorrhea]

Yeah. Its sad for Hartley as I'm sure he is absolutely gutted. I'm pretty sure he rejected offers from France to stay with the Saints and push for his world cup place. To throw it away at this late stage over what was a mickey mouse incident must be heart breaking for him. I mean if he stamped on someone like Huget did then I'd be celebrating his demise, but that head-butt was nothing really.

Having said that, hes a violent f*ckin idiot and hes used up all his lives already. No one to blame but himself.

On one final note. Fair play to Lancaster. That's twice now he's been given a nightmare scenario and hes made the right decision very quickly. Hard not to respect that man.

[Donny B.]

“I am now investing all my time on four high-quality hookers" Lanscaster's something of a dark horse isn't he, but you can't help but admire his honesty!

[Peg Leg]

Yeah. Its sad for Hartley as I'm sure he is absolutely gutted. I'm pretty sure he rejected offers from France to stay with the Saints and push for his world cup place. To throw it away at this late stage over what was a mickey mouse incident must be heart breaking for him. I mean if he stamped on someone like Huget did then I'd be celebrating his demise, but that head-butt was nothing really.

Having said that, hes a violent f*ckin idiot and hes used up all his lives already. No one to blame but himself.

On one final note. Fair play to Lancaster. That's twice now he's been given a nightmare scenario and hes made the right decision very quickly. Hard not to respect that man.

Hard to disagree with any of that

[Flash Gordon]

“You would hope Dylan learns from this" - Stuart Lancaster.
Well he didn't learn from other other five bans he served, but maybe the sixth one is the charm!

He's an idiot but do you really think what he did warranted a ban?

[Lamb of BOD]

“I am now investing all my time on four high-quality hookers" Lanscaster's something of a dark horse isn't he, but you can't help but admire his honesty!

or his stamina...

[simonokeeffe]

It was like when Julian White punched Mal, just because he didnt floor the guy doesnt mean its ok, didnt even appear to be any non verbal provocation, think missing a RWC game is what forced Lancaster's hand

[LeRouxIsPHat]

The fact that he'd already left out Tuilagi is what forced his hand IMO.

[fourthirtythree]

Yeah. Its sad for Hartley as I'm sure he is absolutely gutted. I'm pretty sure he rejected offers from France to stay with the Saints and push for his world cup place. To throw it away at this late stage over what was a mickey mouse incident must be heart breaking for him. I mean if he stamped on someone like Huget did then I'd be celebrating his demise, but that head-butt was nothing really.

Having said that, hes a violent f*ckin idiot and hes used up all his lives already. No one to blame but himself.

On one final note. Fair play to Lancaster. That's twice now he's been given a nightmare scenario and hes made the right decision very quickly. Hard not to respect that man.

Hard to disagree with any of that

Yup. And as Flash said: he's a Tosser and an idiot but this does not warrant a ban. It was nothing.

[Peg Leg]

Yeah. Its sad for Hartley as I'm sure he is absolutely gutted. I'm pretty sure he rejected offers from France to stay with the Saints and push for his world cup place. To throw it away at this late stage over what was a mickey mouse incident must be heart breaking for him. I mean if he stamped on someone like Huget did then I'd be celebrating his demise, but that head-butt was nothing really.

Having said that, hes a violent f*ckin idiot and hes used up all his lives already. No one to blame but himself.

On one final note. Fair play to Lancaster. That's twice now he's been given a nightmare scenario and hes made the right decision very quickly. Hard not to respect that man.

Hard to disagree with any of that

Yup. And as Flash said: he's a Tosser and an idiot but this does not warrant a ban. It was nothing.

He's a victim of his own making.

[fourthirtythree]

Well yes, but they were judging the person here, not the incident. The incident is nothing.

[Donny B.]

“You would hope Dylan learns from this" - Stuart Lancaster.
Well he didn't learn from other other five bans he served, but maybe the sixth one is the charm!

He's an idiot but do you really think what he did warranted a ban?

There wasn't much impact in the headbutt but it was still dirty play so yeah.

[paddyor]

Does someone have to get injured before dirty play carries a ban? Haven't seen the incident but yeah probably judging the player:
Gouging
Throwing digs
Calling the ref a cheating c@nt
Etc

[neill_m]

Only misses the Fiji game in the rwc. Nothing to stop him being called into the squad for the pointy end of the tournament if injuries happen. Unlike Manu, who likes to allegedly "chat" to taxi drivers and female police officers and is banned until January 2016.

[leinster4life13]

I realise the irony, but in 15-20 years time if we were both on the sideline watching our sons play against each other and you clapped and cheered when your son kneed mine in the head for slowing down the ball then I would literally want to kick the living sh!t out of you. What an abhorrent view.

Again, I realise the irony.

I would think your son would learn pretty quickly not to slow down ball, or rather, to slow down ball but not leave his head exposed, and you would learn a lesson in keeping your composure on the sidelines and not being a helicopter parent

As a player I never go in for violence(outside of an odd high or "mistimed" tackle), but I have been on the receiving end of a few digs, gouges, headbutts knees etc, and tbh the only thing that caused me to lose it and retaliate was the gouging which is a seriously scary thing, a few punches or knees thrown in the heat of a ruck or maul dont do any damage, it looks spectacular, but a big hit would hurt more. There needs to be a realistic view here, Hartley got banned for nothing here, the game is in danger of ruining itself in its zealous quest to appeal to the concerned parents of the world.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

I agree to an extent about punch ups in that I don't particularly care myself but can still totally understand why the authorities don't agree. Defending a knee to the head is absolutely ridiculous though, no matter what the circumstances.