Should the whole of the Scotland team be punished?

Question

In the light of the alleged choking of Ronan O'Gara in the Scotland Vs Ireland match yesterday, should whole teams be punished if individual players can not be identified for illegal/dangerous conduct?

Answer 1

I would have thought that the performances put in over the last two weeks were bad enough but a cowardly act such as this must be punished and if neccessary all must take the blame.

Answer 2

Makes a change that it was not the Irish doing this!

They like to choke and gauge eyes themselves!

Answer 3

Yes I agree, they nearly killed our best player. During the game the Scots played very dirty and rough, and once went for O'Gara inwhich O'Driscoll had to stop them.

The player who choked O'Gara was Nathan Hines, who according to players and managers on the pitch, choked O'Gara until blue. Now we have a good chance of winning, (because of the shocking outcome of England/France).  

I feel Hines should be banned from rugby for aleast a month, because the match was over and he wouldn't leave O'Gara alone.

Answer 4

Yes, that way they may think twice, they wouldn't want to face the wrath of the whole team.

Answer 5

fishhooking, eye gouging, choking and any other dangerous play should result in serious punishment if not for individuals then for whole teams

Answer 6

Rubbish! "nearly killed our best player" i dont think so its like BOD on the lions tour all over again "tana umanga nearly killed me" I ask yie!

I was at the game and had a pretty good veiw of the incident. it looked like a high tackle and nothing more. Its a sport where sometimes dangerous play happens. In a Glasgow V Muster game 2 years ago our tighthead got caught in a tackle which resulted in the player fitting on the field for 5 minutes and he was in a bad way. Pleased to say hes fine now but the glasgow support did not over react citing that the munster team should be punished, and neither did the player in question.

If the referee at the time did not punish the player / team more seriously than a penelty then thats it. fair enough high tackles are dangerous  but it was dealt with at the time.

Answer 7

Yes. No porridge for a week!

Answer 8

Shame there is apparently no video evidence, but yes the team must all take the blame.

It was a frustrating game to watch, but I thought sportsmen were supposed to have sporting behaviour, even after such a tense game.

Glad they lost too.

Answer 9

If there were "no incidents of foul play" found, I think it would be very difficult to punish anybody. At the end of the day, it is a challenge to see what happens in a ruck, regardless of whether you are watching it on TV, watching at the stadium, or in the ruck as a player.

It is also possible that freakish things can happen, and (although I may be seriously rebutted for this) it is possible that the choking incident was an accident, and it is also possible that it could have been caused by another Irish player.

And how about those incidents when it is possible to identify a player for reckless conduct? O'Driscoll, I mean you, ya skallywag.

Answer 10

Yes they certainly should - they need to know that it is unacceptable

Answer 11

Whats past is past.

Ronan o gara was being roughhoused the whole match,thats what had brian o Driscoll freaked out in the first half,they only showed the replay once but there were full force digs being thrown at o gara and o Driscoll got punished for it,go figure.

Still i suppose o gara got his own back by scoring a try,

There should be punishment for managers who tell their team to single out players for treatment,look at what happened brian o Driscoll when he was touring with the lions.

.

Answer 12

Yes - they should be - let the culprit know he has let down his whole team. Might think twice next time.