The England 'scandal' bandwagon: is it ruining the world cup for anyone else?

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I am unbelievably sick of the ‘scandal’ surrounding the England team. I think it's criminal that the English media can get away with this spin and fabrication, and - what's more - sickening that they should actively seek to bring down their own team. There hasn't been a single slice of genuine wrongdoing in my opinion, yet half the world (including my mrs - who got wind of the 'scandal' via heat magazine!) are now firmly on the 'England are a bunch of ill-disciplined, immoral miscreants' bandwagon, and that's before you even look at the often insanely over-the-top, doomsday analysis of our performances:

• Bungee jumping: so what? They’re grown men. They’re in the adventure sports capital of the world. They physically can’t train all the time. It’s not just that I have no problem with it, I actually think it’s a good idea and Johnson should be commended for letting them go!

• Lawes ban: Shouldn’t have been a ban IMO. Accidental and harsh - even if it was a ban, it certainly wasn't cynical foul play, and doesn't warrant the moralising.

• The mad midget weekender: They had over a week off, they went for some beers. The bar manager said they were good as gold. Zara Phillips said that bird who kissed Tindall’s head (sex crime?!) was an old friend. Case closed. No scandal.

• Armitage’s ban: Again, massively unlucky. If it’d been spotted during the game it would have been a penalty and a talking-to. I’ve seen much more malicious high tackles receive much more lenient sanction.

• ‘Harassing’ the hotel maid: Transparently overblown. Some rugby lads make sexual innuendo to a fit bird – STOP THE PRESS!! The fact that the world “only realised how upset the female had been by the incident” several days later – after an apology had been made and everything was sorted – should tell everyone everything they need to know about that invented ‘scandal’.

• Tuilagi’s shameless advertising infringement: The best yet. The guy has been wearing the same gum shield for over a year!! He had no idea – something that the IRB have acknowledged! As soon as he realised, he coloured-in the sponsor's name. But the bandwagon is in motion: just another disgusting chapter in the ‘ill-disciplined England’ saga.

I would be tempted to say that the IRB and New Zealand are being anti-English, but the truth is that 90% of it is our own media's doing!! There is nothing in the world I hate more than a moralising journalist: in my mind it's principally akin to a self-righteous murderer, or a feminist naughty person. It's a world cup - something every fan looks forward to, and a cause of celebration. I buy the paper wanting to get into the action, read the latest news, the pre-match hype, the analysis......and instead I have to read speculation about whether Mike Tindall got a kebab on the way home from his night out or not.

I'm emigrating.

It worked.

Give that man a biscuit and a glass of creamy milk.

So easy to misconstrue. So hard to get it back.

Mmm, these slippers are comfy.

Gibson wrote: It worked.

Give that man a biscuit and a glass of creamy milk.

So easy to misconstrue. So hard to get it back.

This is why I love you man.

for Van the Man for 10m plays of Brown Eyed Girl on US Radio

Gavin Henson and The Eejit Tannettes
Brian O' Driscoll and The FullOfIts
Mike Tindall and The Royal Scams.

Beats arguing. Or does it?

Some England players done wrong on Tour, but their very own press hunts them down and crucifies them for it. The very same same press, who will laud them - if they make their 3rd RWC Final in-a-row (and they can) The real problem runs deeper.

Who reads these papers/online articles? Who feeds it all?

Loving your work Gibbo

Gave up reading them papers when it became obvious I has no chance with Samantha Fox

Cymroglan wrote:Gave up reading them papers when it became obvious I has no chance with Samantha Fox

Just so you know Cym, I still have a Sam Fox pillowcase

This comment is brought to you by Waxo. The only answer to those difficult topiary challenges.

Yes this is taking the sheen of things for me.

They get absolutly hammered after a terrible win to the point Tindall one of the main leaders can't even remember when he went home, England coaches cheat, Three players lure a girl into their room then ask for a bl*wj*b, youngs shouts his mouth off about loving to put the scots out the tournament then has the worst game i've ever seen him play and worst of all Johny wilkinson can't kick his goals.

I really havent taken any notice of the "scandals" to be honest.
If they wanna throw dwarfs, play around with blondes, flirt with hotel maids, wear their official England gum shields or anything else that's their business.

It hasnt ruined the tournament for anyone, in fact it has probably helped england because no one in england is actually talking about rugby! So the pressure is in fact off on the field.

The English media are hurting their own teams chances IMO. They create 'scandals' where none exist. During a World Cup the media should be doing all it can to spin stories to reflect their teams in a positive way.

Above all else I find the notion that England were 'bad' in the pool stages absurd. They had a dreadful disciplinary problem - however they have conceded only 1 try in 4 games (better than any other team), won every match including two massive banana skins in Argentina and Scotland. They have scored a very comfortable 18 tries. Discipline aside whats the issue?

I think the English media want to see their own team fail. People will read scandals or articles about why their team failed and they sell papers. How many Suns,NOTWs and Mirrors were sold last Summer when everyone had the stories behind the Soccer teams failure?

Its funny isn't it Thomond.

I have no doubt that with ROG and Trimble both having spoken publically about wanting to be in first team, that were they English the media would have spun some 'disharmony in the camp' nonsense.

Similarly O'Callaghans remarks about the Irish team attracting a certain "type of fan - probably one after a few drinks" went down a treat in Ireland. If an English player said that some newspaper would spin it to make it offensive.

Thomond wrote:I think the English media want to see their own team fail. People will read scandals or articles about why their team failed and they sell papers. How many Suns,NOTWs and Mirrors were sold last Summer when everyone had the stories behind the Soccer teams failure?

Really? I question whether that is their intention but you are right that the by product is that england's campaign becomes something of a media joke which is not helped by their naivety

I think the camp have mishandled the media by closing ranks quite so vehemently, a bit of humility, at least about the girl, might have kept the hounds off. I also think individuals, especially Haskell and Tindall, have discredited the entire camp.

No Gatts. I think you are missing the main point man. It is inherent in the English psyche to behave like this. Always has been. Always will be.

It's just like the Paddies. We exaggerate and minimise - everything to the max. To suit our purpose. Clueless sometimes, but we mean well.

As for the 2nd division English Welsh? Well... every picture tells a story.

It just is.

What i said before

I actually think its quite funny, this tabloid pressure is what the Welsh squad go through EVERY time they play in Wales.

England are put in the goldfish bowl of NZ rugby for a couple of weeks and their players/fans/coaches/wives panic like Ben Youngs behind a scrum

Englands attitude to the Scandals is appalling.

More apologies and action taken by the RFU and less excuses if you want respect from the other nations.

I think the media bandwagon blowing every minor incident involving an England player into a scandal is taking a little bit of enjoyment out of the World Cup, but I won't give a stuff if we win.

The only person to have let himself down in my mind is Haskell. Possibly Ashton and Hartley for getting involved in the first place, but if Haskell hadn't had escalated the situation with his comments no-one would have cared in the slightest.

Fact is we've navigated a fairly tricky group with relative comfort and come out top and with 4 wins. I fancy us against France who's real problems are on the pitch, and I wouldn't bet against us making another final right now.

But but but ITV and the press are just catering towards their largest target audience...

Now where have we heard that argument before ?

There's little reason why the British press should back an English team, it's run in the large by an Australian, American, Russian, Zambian & some Scots, with writers from all over the English speaking world.

They'll write about the English to maximise sales, but they don't have to be nice to do that. People like bad news as much if not more than good.

I'm talking more about the written media. ITV's coverage hasn't been too bad from what I've seen, most of the focus is around the rugby. But in the papers (both physically in the newspapers and on the web) there is far too much chatter about off-the-pitch incidents that half the time didn't even happen.

When I switch on the tv after recording the various matches,what I want to see .Is the build up to the match concerned,pundits discussing the teams involved.
Because ITV is the hosting one here in UK one expects comments on players and preperation of the uk teams thats natural.
Selections,analysing opposing teams weaknesses etc.that naturally includes England.What I am not interested in is hearing about anything but
that.Not ball tampering,boys night outs,bungee jumping,white water rafting.posing for gay pride or whatever.
Thats the teams business not the publics,all i want to watch is the Rugby,the rubbish I could read in the press if I could be bothered.

Well you guys might be getting it up in the north but I've hardly noticed here where all the rugby is. Too much going on to worry about that rubbish.

I'm sure I remember a time when the BBC focused on the game, rather than all this gutter-press off-field trash, but I might have been imagining it.

It's just a British Press thing.....apparently sports don't sell papers, sportsmen/women do.

"It's just a British Press thing"

you would be suprised what the rest of the worlds press is like.

i think its just a 'press thing'

France is a comparable country in regards to rugby and economy- Look at there media- jeas - obviously there team deserves it- but all the same - its filled to the brim in regards to rifts and arguments among the team rather than actual rugby

maestegmafia wrote:Englands attitude to the Scandals is appalling.

More apologies and action taken by the RFU and less excuses if you want respect from the other nations.

#

Their attitude is spot on imo. Treating these "scandals" for what they are. Complete non stories, blown out of proportion by a headline hunting showbiz journo's. It seems your ther only one wanting some kind of respect mm...

TheGreyGhost wrote:

• ‘Harassing’ the hotel maid: Transparently overblown. Some rugby lads make sexual innuendo to a fit bird – STOP THE PRESS!! The fact that the world “only realised how upset [money grabbing b*tch] had been by the incident” several days later – after an apology had been made and everything was sorted – should tell everyone everything they need to know about that invented ‘scandal’.

I'm dismayed that you've put the word harassing in ironic quotes, and have labelled the victim a "bitch". I think this is why there is so much sexual assault in the world and so few prosecutions.

If anybody in my company had such a substantiated claim of sexual harassment leveled at them. (to the point where they admitted culpability and appologised), they would be summarily fired with no compensation.

The fact that this sort of behaviour is being supported by "fans" and the victim is being mocked, is frankly sickening.

You should be thoroughly ashamed of yourselves.

Hmmm, wel,l whilst I agree with the sentiment, the introduction of plurals is quite uneccesary when quoting an individual - unless your intention is to make it look as though there's widescale support for this amongst England supporters?

TheGreyGhost wrote:I can't help but think it's a shame that rather than going to their room to get back her walkie-talkie, it would have been far funnier in retrospect if she'd called the police and had them arrested for theft.

"England players loot hotel" would probably have been more in keeping with their cultural background, perhaps.

But then I suppose she had no idea that these buffoons would turn out to be buffoons of the desperate sexual predatory variety.

Maybe they should've just been eaten by the locals - in keeping with their cultural background?

As far as I can see, some of the England players went out one night near the beginning of the tournament and got peed and made a bit of a Holly Wilaboobie of themselves.

Unprofessional? Yes. Naive? Yes. Scandalous? No.

The sport section in most media is just a themed extension of the celebrity gossip pages, I'm sure if they could get away with it, they would do away with results altogether and just publish gossip.

TheGreyGhost wrote:Fact is that three players were involved at the time, not one. Don't try to (again) minimise the situation.

The rest of the team have stood by their men, so it does call into question the ethics of the entire squad. As I've said, any credible international organisation would immediately fire employees for such a transgression. Especially as it was committed while representing the organisation, and not in their free time (which would have been bad enough). Make no mistake they have brought all of the England team, and the country, as it's representatives into shame.

And the Angles, the Saxons and the Normans - you forgot those, and as the Normans were infact French, your statement regarding the other Quarter Finalists being of particularly good behaviour is (by association) incorrect.

Rollmeister wrote:The gum shield thing wasn't just England. A Samoan got fined too.

Yeah that was England.

It's getting a bit crowded on the moral high ground.

roddersm wrote:

TheGreyGhost wrote:

• ‘Harassing’ the hotel maid: Transparently overblown. Some rugby lads make sexual innuendo to a fit bird – STOP THE PRESS!! The fact that the world “only realised how upset [money grabbing b*tch] had been by the incident” several days later – after an apology had been made and everything was sorted – should tell everyone everything they need to know about that invented ‘scandal’.

I'm dismayed that you've put the word harassing in ironic quotes, and have labelled the victim a "bitch". I think this is why there is so much sexual assault in the world and so few prosecutions.

If anybody in my company had such a substantiated claim of sexual harassment leveled at them. (to the point where they admitted culpability and appologised), they would be summarily fired with no compensation.

The fact that this sort of behaviour is being supported by "fans" and the victim is being mocked, is frankly sickening.

You should be thoroughly ashamed of yourselves.

Well said GG.

Cari wrote:Nope. Doesn't bother me.

I will say that they're getting far too much coverage though. I know the Irish team went bungee jumping - one player (hasn't been named) did it naked apparently. I think those extreme sports are good for team building, and individuals confidence, so no harm there.

The media were waiting for this to happen - Tindall, married to a royal going on a rugby trip without her. They must've been rubbing their hands with glee before he got off the plane in NZ.

Spot on Cari. Couldnt have put it better myself

Breadvan wrote:It's getting a bit crowded on the moral high ground.

haha, you'd have thought there would be a bit more space with all the pompous hot air GG has let off on his moral crusade...

Despite this thread being hijacked by TGG in another one of his crusades, there's no need to feel singled out because he's sledging England again, he'll turn on the Welsh and to a lesser extent the Irish too at the drop of a hat too.

I do blame the English media. Let's face it most of the English papers are scurrilous rumour mongering hacks who love nothing more than moralising about scandals, invented or not. But I also blame the English people in general... after all they keep buying the damn papers and keeping these scum papers in business.

It breaks my heart when I buy the newspapers here... Just in the Sun the other day we got about 15 pages of Soccer (from Spurs in Europe to Rooneys love of movies and other mostly non news about soccer) and the Rugby World Cup got less than half a page buried in the middle somewhere.

Behind Darts! and Fecking Snooker!

Rugby, to my eternal heartbreak is very much a minority sport in England with a tiny percentage of media coverage. So I was dismayed to see that most of the less than half page was talking about Mrs Fecking Tindell again.

faraway wrote:

nganboy wrote:Not ruining it for me. Media stories like those are mostly w***krs. On the other hand you poms shouldn't get too much stuck on the victim thing too. For instance the idea that the IRB hate England when the first I knew about the story was that a Samoan player had been fined.

both tuilagi brothers have been fined, they use the same brand.

Frankly I think sticking Haskell in your mouth is disgusting

Breadvan wrote:It's getting a bit crowded on the moral high ground.

And yet not an Englishman to be seen.

TheGreyGhost wrote:

Breadvan wrote:It's getting a bit crowded on the moral high ground.

And yet not an Englishman to be seen.

Yes, if you had your way we would all be hearded into ghettos or sent to camps where work would set us 'free'. No room for our kind on the moral high ground is there?!

damngoodOvalball wrote:

TheGreyGhost wrote:

Breadvan wrote:It's getting a bit crowded on the moral high ground.

And yet not an Englishman to be seen.

Yes, if you had your way we would all be hearded into ghettos or sent to camps where work would set us 'free'. No room for our kind on the moral high ground is there?!

That would be treating us like the samoan rugby team

Just two pages of post and we're almost at Godwin's law. Come on, some one say it.

Cari

Was the naked irish bungee jumper Tommy Bowe?

I would say it would have been something DOC would have done.

There's little reason why the British press should back an English team, it's run in the large by an Australian, American, Russian, Zambian & some Scots, with writers from all over the English speaking world.

They'll write about the English to maximise sales, but they don't have to be nice to do that. People like bad news as much if not more than good.

Well said. The best thing is not to read the gutter press at all and the rest with a lot of salt. But those of us who care about such things are in a tiny minority and the majority of people have already concluded that Tindall was cheating on his wife and rugby players are just like football players.

It's the sort of thing that makes me want to bring back hanging, drawing and quartering especially for journalists. It is after all what they do to their victims.

westisbest wrote:Cari

Was the naked irish bungee jumper Tommy Bowe?

I would say it would have been something DOC would have done.

I blydi wish!!! I did see a picture of Tommy doing the same bungee, and he was alas, fully clothed. Boooooo! I wouldn't be surprised if it was Healy or DOC...

TheGreyGhost wrote:Just two pages of post and we're almost at Godwin's law. Come on, some one say it.

I did have to wiki that, and yes, he's right!

Breadvan - me too!

It's immutable, like rule 34.

TheGreyGhost wrote:Just two pages of post and we're almost at Godwin's law. Come on, some one say it.

You do make it so easy though dont you GG. I think Godwin put the emphasis on it being more random but with you the qualities are inherent so the point arrives so much sooner. I may be wrong about Godwin (its not something I have read up on) but I'm not wrong about your xenophobia, one only has to read a random selection of say 5 posts written by you and there it will be you cheeky little xenophobic rascal you!