Controversy & England

Controversy seems to stalk England as Manu is fined £4,800 for wearing a sponsored gumshield. And now the ever present Guscott wades in.

Is this all just media hype? Is Guscott right to criticise?

Enquiring minds need to know....

I dont know if guscott should have spoken out. It seems as though its not really helping our campaign. Maybe he should have left his opinions to himself untill after the world cup- offcourse then its not news worthy, and the papers wont care as much.

Wow I thought you were joking about Manu! Nope!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/oct/04/rugby-world-cup-manu-tuilagi-mouthguard?newsfeed=true


Once the media have got their claws in........

Well there you go, no racism the English get treated the same as the samoans ...oh...

The OPRO mouthguards are good

Hang on a minute ... he had coloured in the sponsors name with a marker pen so it couldnt be read and they still fined him? Jesus.
Pity the weathers just turned or we could have a BBQ for him.

Apparently theres a lot of people been fined for this. Its just the Englnad player who makes the headlines

Samoan who plays for England. Double trouble

aucklandlaurie wrote: The OPRO branded mouthguards are good

To save you a few $NZ

Samoa were charged for branded mouthguards too I think

Surely it is a branded mouthguard not a sponsored mouthguard?

And every team have been wearing branded shirts.

Griff wrote:Samoa were charged for branded mouthguards too I think

Only Manus brother

That Manu Tuilagi fine is ridiculous, would anyone have noticed him wearing a branded mouth guard?

Its the RFU thats bringing the sport into disrepute with petty fines like this.

It is ridiculous, he's even coloured the logo in and they've fined him a big chunk of cash. The IRB need to look at themselves if this is all they've got to do.

IronMike wrote:That Manu Tuilagi fine is ridiculous, would anyone have noticed him wearing a branded mouth guard?

Its the RFU thats bringing the sport into disrepute with petty fines like this.

It wasn't the RFU that fined him was it?

nathan wrote:

IronMike wrote:That Manu Tuilagi fine is ridiculous, would anyone have noticed him wearing a branded mouth guard?

Its the RFU thats bringing the sport into disrepute with petty fines like this.

It wasn't the RFU that fined him was it?

Yeah but youre forgetting teh "its always Englands fault " rule

It's another none story.

I can only assume that the Tuilagis purchased their gumsheilds from the same sports shop in Leicester... now what is it's name? No... you can't advertise it on here!

I personally find it all absolutely hilarious....

Rugby players drink beer... Shocker!

Woman fan kisses Tindall on forehead in public... Outrage!

Two players get one match suspensions for very minor offences that the refs couldn't be bothered with penalising at the time.... Hang them both!

Rugby player makes "suggestive comment" to a woman... Who promptly sells her story to papers.... Castrate him I say!

Good God... Ashby RFC did all of that and more just Saturday morning pre match while in the warmup. Don't recall any cries for executions to be held that day.

If these outrageous crimes commited by those evil english bast4rds are the best the papers can drag up then they really are desperate to find some shoite to sell.

Now imagine if you will the French team... Parra admits to 3 way with two buxom beauties in Dunedin, while drinking white wine and handgliding on day off.

The french papers would be outraged.... that he was drinking White Wine when everyone knows that it is Red Wine with Love Making & Handgliding.

Metal Tiger wrote:
Two players get one match suspensions for very minor offences that the refs couldn't be bothered with penalising at the time.... Hang them both!

Rugby player makes "suggestive comment" to a woman... Who promptly sells her story to papers.... Castrate him I say!

I thought that Haskell stole the maids Walkie Talkie and subsequently refused to return it unless she gave him a "aussie kiss", whilst he, Ashton and Hartley stood around wearing towels, when she came to his room to get it. That's pretty pathetic if it's true.

Tindall was found to have lied to Johnson, when CCTV footage showed he wasn't in the hotel when he had claimed to be. Hardly the bahaviour of a senior player and captain.

It sounds like a few players have been taking the p*ss with the freedom Johnson has bestowed upon them.

I can only assume that the Tuilagis purchased their gumsheilds from the same sports shop in Leicester

This is the quote from the BBC Website;
"We always wore the same mouthguard, mine is the England one from the under-18s, but it's not allowed in the World Cup," added Tuilagi.

So Manu has been wearing the same one for the last two years (given to him by the RFU) with no trouble. Someone tips him off that he's in trouble because someone has noticed the logo in the first game and so he covers it with marker pen. The fine for wearing it in the first game is dished out and that's what has hit the headlines. It's pretty stupid and looks like the IRB are trying to rake in as much money from the tournament as possible, probabley why everyone is getting cited and big punishments are getting handed out, increase the revenues with fines.

It sounds like a few players have been taking the p*ss with the freedom Johnson has bestowed upon them.

Sounds more like Tindall was a bit peed and forgot in which bar he was at what time, more than I can remember when I've been on tour. Hartley, Haskell et al were just being immature morons and have been given a deserved slap from Johnno I don't doubt.

Spot on Metal. Unbelievable that the Mirror sent a showbiz journo out after the Queenstown bar "incident" just to dig some dirt up. More infuriating is the idiots who post,phone and text in to the radio and papers, agreeing with the outrage...

roddersm wrote:
I thought that Haskell stole the maids Walkie Talkie and subsequently refused to return it unless she gave him a "aussie kiss", whilst he, Ashton and Hartley stood around wearing towels, when she came to his room to get it. That's pretty pathetic if it's true.

Tindall was found to have lied to Johnson, when CCTV footage showed he wasn't in the hotel when he had claimed to be. Hardly the bahaviour of a senior player and captain.

It sounds like a few players have been taking the p*ss with the freedom Johnson has bestowed upon them.

rodders - I have a couple of questions about your post...

Did Haskell refuse to return the walkie talkie unless he got that aussie kiss? I thought the two were unrelated.

As I understand it, Hartley was the only one wearing a towel as he had just come out of the shower. Are you suggesting the 3 england players all showered together in the hotel room?

Where was it reported that Tindall had lied to MJ? I never saw that and can't find a reference to it.

Perhaps you can elaborate on some of these claims or supply some corroborating evidence?

roddersm wrote:
It sounds like a few players have been taking the p*ss with the freedom Johnson has bestowed upon them.

If this were a bunch of Munster boys on a night out in Cork you wouldn't be the slightest bit interested.
It would be all "That's Grand & High Spirits on the Craic" If you all want to get on your high horses about nothing news then that's your perogative. Most rugby fans have seen & done worse themselves on a night out, and almost always meant in good humour, so before you get too high and mighty try taking a spot of advice from the good book...

"Avoid Templebar as it is built specifically to fleece tourists"

Davie wrote:

roddersm wrote:
I thought that Haskell stole the maids Walkie Talkie and subsequently refused to return it unless she gave him a "aussie kiss", whilst he, Ashton and Hartley stood around wearing towels, when she came to his room to get it. That's pretty pathetic if it's true.

Tindall was found to have lied to Johnson, when CCTV footage showed he wasn't in the hotel when he had claimed to be. Hardly the bahaviour of a senior player and captain.

It sounds like a few players have been taking the p*ss with the freedom Johnson has bestowed upon them.

rodders - I have a couple of questions about your post...

Did Haskell refuse to return the walkie talkie unless he got that aussie kiss? I thought the two were unrelated.

As I understand it, Hartley was the only one wearing a towel as he had just come out of the shower. Are you suggesting the 3 england players all showered together in the hotel room?

Where was it reported that Tindall had lied to MJ? I never saw that and can't find a reference to it.

Perhaps you can elaborate on some of these claims or supply some corroborating evidence?

The Tindall "lieing" thing came to light when the second video surfaced. He was out later with the lass than he'd told people. Hardly suprising he'd lie about it though, doubt he wanted it getting back to Mrs Tindall.

Why wouldnt the england players shower together? And fif they were wouldnt this excuse them form any suggestions that the sexual harssment of the female worker was serious?

Davie wrote:
Perhaps you can elaborate on some of these claims or supply some corroborating evidence?

I'm not making any claims. They can be found very easily on the internet. I couldn't give a monkeys whether they are true or not or who showers with who in the England camp .

Considering an Irish player will soon be up in court for an alleged extremely serious offence all this rather pales.

Still, some people want to make a big thing of it when something minor happens with another team. Strange, isn't it?

Well, so far we have:

Tindall being out a bit late with an old friend - less to this one than meets the eye.

Ballgate - A little bit stupid, but I wouldn't be surprised if other teams / kickers have tried the same and just haven't been caught.

Gumgate - a real mountain from a molehill. How the ? can Manu get fined for wearing a gumshield originally provided by the RFU?

The only one I think is anything of a story (especially given the issues last time England toured NZ) is Haskell's comment to the maid - really stupid and immature, but was dealt with behind closed doors long before the story broke in the media. I do wonder how much involvement Max Clifford has had in placing the story into the papers.

I dont know enough about the Brands alleged indicretion to comment, but the fines for Manu and Alesana bordered on hilarious.

Manu had worn the same mouthguard the week before and they hadnt even noticed, thats how good the advertising was, oh wait, its cause he had already coloured it in to make sure he WASNT advertising.

Plebs.

Yeah, its not as if he was pixxed up driving a golf buggy down the M4 at 3 am in the morning looking for a burger with fries

Metal Tiger wrote:
INow imagine if you will the French team... Parra admits to 3 way with two buxom beauties in Dunedin, while drinking white wine and handgliding on day off.

The french papers would be outraged.... that he was drinking White Wine when everyone knows that it is Red Wine with Love Making & Handgliding.

yes...and he would be sent to the guillotine if the wine he was drinking was from New-Zealand!

I think it is amazing that the reaction of you lot, the England fans, on here is always the same.

When Buggies were stolen, Mike was held down on the floor outside McDonald's etc etc etc, we all acknowledged it, disapproved of it called who ever was involved an idiot and move on.

You lot immediately take the defensive, make pathetic excuses and accuse others of doing far worse.

England's world cup off the field has massively distracted from anything decent they have done on the field. Unfortunately they have done little to impress on the field either.

The England team and Management team should be bending over backwards to stay out of the headlines right now. I think their fans should have a far more stern appraisal of them too.

mystiroakey wrote:I dont know if guscott should have spoken out. It seems as though its not really helping our campaign. Maybe he should have left his opinions to himself untill after the world cup- offcourse then its not news worthy, and the papers wont care as much.

Is Guscott not meant to be a journalist?? Therefore, he is meant to give his opinion surely................

Comfort wrote:I dont know enough about the Brands alleged indicretion to comment, but the fines for Manu and Alesana bordered on hilarious.

Manu had worn the same mouthguard the week before and they hadnt even noticed, thats how good the advertising was, oh wait, its cause he had already coloured it in to make sure he WASNT advertising.

Plebs.

Odd - you say you don't know enough about it to comment. Then go ahead and comment.

If you'd read this thread you would see that he WAS fined for the week before - not the second week when he blocked it out AFTER he'd found out it was apparently against the rules.

Davie wrote:

Comfort wrote:I dont know enough about the Brands alleged indicretion to comment, but the fines for Manu and Alesana bordered on hilarious.

Manu had worn the same mouthguard the week before and they hadnt even noticed, thats how good the advertising was, oh wait, its cause he had already coloured it in to make sure he WASNT advertising.

Plebs.

Odd - you say you don't know enough about it to comment. Then go ahead and comment.

If you'd read this thread you would see that he WAS fined for the week before - not the second week when he blocked it out AFTER he'd found out it was apparently against the rules.

Comfort wrote:I dont know enough about the Brands alleged indicretion to comment

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2044295/Annabel-Newton-England-rugby-stars-apologise-female-hotel-worker.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

although my spelling of indiscretion was attrocious.

and apologies for not being able to totally devote myself to reading the whole thread and being in work....

Comfort wrote:although my spelling of indiscretion was attrocious.

and apologies for not being able to totally devote myself to reading the whole thread and being in work....

Sounds like you're in the wrong line of work if it gets in the way of 606v2

Let's get down to the real controversy here....

I've just noticed that there doesn't appear to be an emoticon for France on this forum! Racism I say!

England
Wales
NZers
Ozzies... oh sorry... wrong icon, it should be
SA
Scottish.... if not a little racist itself!
Irish... bit of a sterotype?

Even that staunch fan of all things NH... TGG... gets his own icon

But no French?

Maybe they can use

Maybe Mannu should keep his mouth shut in the future - Can we get one of those for Gatland as well

away for a French emoticon?

Yeah, no French emoticon and yet we have

Here's the french one

The French icon should be a nice big coq.

Hartley standing around in a towel?

Mixed messages anyone.

Buy today’s Daily Mirror where we expose the perverted behaviour of England rugby starts…the posh rich fools

Also make sure to look at page three man those baps are big. And if you lonely we have sold 3 plus pages of advertising to um ‘massage parlours’.

Still those English rugby players filthy sex mad boys.

gcBlues wrote:Hartley standing around in a towel?

No one should be subjected to that *shudder*

Davie wrote:
Where was it reported that Tindall had lied to MJ? I never saw that and can't find a reference to it.

Perhaps you can elaborate on some of these claims or supply some corroborating evidence?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/england/8801963/Rugby-World-Cup-2011-Mike-Tindall-apologises-for-misleading-fans-about-going-to-second-bar-with-blonde.html

Yes, it wasn't a lie.

He realised his "initial recollection may have been inaccurate" and adjusted it later when overwhelming evidence must have jogged the correct recollection back to his consciousness.

TheGreyGhost wrote:Yes, it wasn't a lie.

He realised his "initial recollection may have been inaccurate" and adjusted it later when overwhelming evidence must have jogged the correct recollection back to his consciousness.

Eh? I bet Tindall was thinking the exact same words the morning after....

Metal Tiger wrote:It's another none story.

I can only assume that the Tuilagis purchased their gumsheilds from the same sports shop in Leicester... now what is it's name? No... you can't advertise it on here!

I personally find it all absolutely hilarious....

Rugby players drink beer... Shocker!

Woman fan kisses Tindall on forehead in public... Outrage!

Two players get one match suspensions for very minor offences that the refs couldn't be bothered with penalising at the time.... Hang them both!

Rugby player makes "suggestive comment" to a woman... Who promptly sells her story to papers.... Castrate him I say!

Good God... Ashby RFC did all of that and more just Saturday morning pre match while in the warmup. Don't recall any cries for executions to be held that day.

If these outrageous crimes commited by those evil english bast4rds are the best the papers can drag up then they really are desperate to find some shoite to sell.

Now imagine if you will the French team... Parra admits to 3 way with two buxom beauties in Dunedin, while drinking white wine and handgliding on day off.

The french papers would be outraged.... that he was drinking White Wine when everyone knows that it is Red Wine with Love Making & Handgliding.

lol nice one

My theory is that if England were vaguely entertaining on the field, the media would stop being so fascinated about the things they do off it.

Sad when they're so boring that even Tuilagi's mouthpiece and Tindal's borderline extramarital affairs are the most interesting thing about them.

Could be right there GG, could be right. Would be nice to think so.