All Black Julian Savea promotes the Adidas Brand outside Wellington Court

I'm sure Adidas in Germany will be right-royally chuffed with this publicity. 

Julian Savea proves once again Violence is part of N.Z Rugby’s fabric.

‘It’s Not OK’ is an admirable New Zealand campaign against family violence. 

One of its literal poster-boys (refer above) is, or more rightly now was, Julian Savea. 

He's just been charged with giving his ‘mrs’ a slap around.  

It’s called common assault.  

Here’s what the naïve but well-meaning anti-violence group has to say on their web site…. 

In a sports-mad country like New Zealand, sportspeople can play an influential role in promoting a culture of non violence.  

The Campaign is working with sports clubs all over New Zealand at a national and local level, in partnership with family violence networks.  

Sports clubs and their leaders and players are influential in their own communities. Role models can talk to younger players and build a community of support that says no to family violence.  

It's not OK messages can strengthen efforts to improve behaviour on the field and on the sideline. 

Why the hell would any group trying to promote anti-violence go anywhere near a toxic group like rugby union given their sordid record?  

Rugby and violence in New Zealand are intertwined.  

The predictable from Steve Tew (a.k.a Spew) chief of the NZRU was “Without judging the rights or wrongs of this case, we are concerned that this is another incident involving a young player.  We need to find out whether we are doing enough to help these young men cope with the pressures of the professional game.”

Yet again it’s the ‘pressure of the professional game’ that we are to believe is the root cause of so-many players going off the rails.   

In what must be a world-breaking criminal research, the NZRFU have concluded there is a causative link between playing sport at a high level and assaulting people, getting pissed-up etc.       

The same sort of pressure that apparently doesn’t exist in any other top code like say N.Z Soccer players who by my recollection have never been involved in a single off-field incident, yet arguably play at a far higher level of sport on a global scale than any rugby player.   

The pressures of competing at The Olympics that have resulted in all those assaults by our rowers and triathletes – not!     

When is the NZRFU going to break-through its alcoholic like haze and admit “Our game has a serious problem”?  

 

It's not O.K to blame the profession 'rugby player' as an excuse for family violence.   

 

 

 

N.Z Rugby can learn something from Aussie Soccer

Fail a drugs-test for smoking a joint or two in soccer’s A-league and your contract is ripped-up. 

Just ask ex Phoenix player Troy Hearfield.  

Effectively it’s time for him to find a new job. 

This heavy-handed approach by soccer officials to drug/booze abuse doubtless accounts for the fact you hardly ever see their players in strife. 

More piss-heads in N.Z Professional Rugby than any other corporate occupation!

The consequences of their stark statement initially escaped me. 

The paragraph in the N.Z Herald Article entitled ‘Rugby’s battle with booze’ that said: 

“An Instep report says the number of rugby players seeking assistance is higher than that from other corporate sectors” 

Instep get to see New Zealanders of all demographics, professions seeking addiction help. 

Out of all their corp clients Rugby Players are number one pro-rata.  

This is indeed a sad indictment.    

Those on the Rugby gravy train, sycophantic middle-aged supporters point to the pressure of being a professional rugby player and this as being the root cause of the high number of players hitting the bottle and other harder things. 

They can’t be serious.  

Rugby Players have more pressure going on their lives than a local Police Detective? 

Rugby Players have more pressure going on in their lives that a Director of a major Company who earns twice as much as them? 

We also need to remember the Detective & Director doesn't need to remain at the peak of their  fitness to do their job. 

The last people who should be abusing their bodies to such a high degree are sports players.       

And if we wanted to measure pressure in top sport do we see Kiwi golfers or Rowers turning up in the same numbers in our court pages or at Insteps door?   

Rugby can never win the battle against the bottle until the NZRU &, Players Union admits their sport has a problem.  

Presently they are too drunk with their own importance to see the obvious.  



 

Booze and Rugby go together like Gin and Tonic

25 high-level N.Z Rugby players have sought professional help for alcohol and drug issues in the past five years.

This information comes from no better source than the New Zealand Rugby Union. 

Some of those that have gone through treatment we know like Guildford, Cowan etc the rest remain nameless – including three All Blacks. 

Many of those players that needed help went through The Instep Programme.  

An Instep report says the number of rugby players seeking assistance is higher in professional rugby circles that any other corporate sector. 

Factors cited by Neil Sorenson from The N.Z Rugby Players Union for the high rate of help being sought include; the intensity of the high performance culture, constant public scrutiny, extreme expectations that come with being an All Black and high incomes combined with a lot of free time. 

All Black mental skills coach Gilbert Enoka’s spin is "A lot of (drinking) is related to the high pressure environment." 

Both Sorenson and Enoka forget we have other sportsmen competing at a far higher level  of sporting pressure than rugby.  

For example why don’t we hear about All Whites on the booze, getting pissed and in trouble?   

The English first and second football divisions operate under a pressure cooker of intensity, public scrutiny and earning wages that dwarf the All Blacks.   

Show me a list of the Kiwi soccer players driven to the booze?  

The difference between the two footballing codes is: ‘The Culture’  

Getting pissed is the norm in rugby – it’s not in other sports.    

  

  

 

 

 

Thuggery to you and me but not The Bay of Plenty Rugby Union or The Judge

One has to feel for Bay of Plenty rugby player Simon Chisholm. 

Eight months after being punched unconscious during a senior grade game he suffers daily headaches and could die if he suffers another blow to the head. 

The player that punched him from behind in a cowardly attack was Uenuku Pieta, 22, who was playing for the Te Puna club & admitted a charge of assault with intent to injure. 

The Bay of Plenty Rugby Union has banned Pieta for this season - little more than a pathetic slap on the wrist given the severity of the on field assault.  

Chisholm can never play again and has on-going health issues.  

The Bay of Plenty Rugby Union may as well link their web site to the local soccer association given they have single-handily gifted the code a new crop of children.  

Patently The Bay of Plenty Rugby Union cares little for player welfare given a thug like Pieta will be roaming its playing fields in a little over 12 months.  

Now to the second point stemming from this case; namely the weak sentence.  

Mealy mouthed Judge Louis Bidois sentenced Pieta to a paltry 200 hours' community work on a charge of assault with intent to injure and ordered $500 reparation = piss all in other-words.  

What Judge Bidos is saying is to Kiwis with his weak sentencing is: assaults on a sporting field are different to those out in the public.  

You can do what you like on a sporting field and suffer next to no ramifications.    

What would I and most Kiwi's have expected to happen here? 

One: A Life Ban. 

Two: 12 months jail and reparations in five figures.   

Footnote: Back in 2007 here’s what The Bay of Plenty Times had to say about  Judge Louis Bidois “Returning to his roots, Judge Bidois was also welcomed home to Poututerangi Marae in Te Puna on Sunday - the home marae of his Pirirakau hapu of Ngati Ranginui” Te Puna? That name sounds familiar?

 

  

Former All Black Captain carries a knife for protection?!

17 centimetres is about 6 inches long.  

That’s a big enough knife to cause some serious damage, especially when the owner gives the reason for concealing the weapon as “It was for my protection.” 

‘Protection from what’, pray tell Mr Jerry Collins ex All Black captain? 

 

Wild animals wandering the streets of Hamamatsu? 

You are twice the size of most Japanese blokes, so why the need to carry a weapon to defend yourself in a Department store of all places?  

Collins has already found-out the hard-way the Japanese tolerance of law-breakers is way harsher than in New Zealand. 

This ex All Black Captain is now in jail awaiting trial.    

His family and manager say it this incident is out of character – really?   

Really truly?

Oh yeah...notice how the gutless media in N.Z fail to portray Collins correctly as an former Captain of their precious AB's?   

Up-Date (Friday 22^nd) Is Japan now on par with Soweto or Detroit in the crime stats?  Could this explain why former All Black Captain Jerry Collins reportedly needed to carry two obscenely big knives into a food court?