Phil Vickery suspended for leg trip vs the USA

Vickery should have been sent off. Given how badly England played they should be thankful that did not happen.

If he'd brocken the guys leg he'd have a much longer ban, I think he got off lightly with 2 match ban.steve

I can't believe this has been blown up into a "kick", it's a trip, NOT a kick. The obvious comparison is christophe Dominici, who only got a one match ban, and his trip was no less important than this one. Any chance of seeing Henry Tuilangi running over the Springbok backrow?

plain cynical play.. it was a professional foul.. england was really luck to escape a sin bin a even possibly a red!!!

I'm going to take the stance that every one else does when they see their country man commit an offence: Vickery lost his footing, he was unbalanced. Emerick's momentum caused him to trip over Vickery's leg.A two match ban is well over the top for a tiny tap on the shin. Is Emerick a soccer player in disguise? He went down like he'd been shot.

How can anyone even think that could be a red???Especially when you debate over a spear which could break someone's neck being a yellow!!

Yeh, anyone who says that deserved a red is a total idiot. Yellow yes (it was cycnical), red no.

Before you accuse Emerick of embellishing... Neither player wears shinguards, it it was shin on shin.Cynical play indeed. That's why it's being punished.The messed up part is the X "matches" versus Y "Weeks".Why did the Disc. Comm. selectively apply weeks versus matches in different cases? Does anyone have any info regarding this?

The insane part is that the referee's miss of the trip effectively reversed the call, and stole 3 pts from the Yanks.Emerick was shaken up by the hit, and thus did not release the ball.Perhaps somewhere down the line, the IRB will allow the TMO to weigh in on foul play occuring anywhere on the field.That being said, no one wants the game further constipated by long stoppages. Again, perhaps the TMO may only weigh in if under referee's request.This would allow for on-the-field punishment of foul play, and not just the capricious, schizophrenic, and arguably hypocritical rulings by the Disc. Comm.

word around the campfire has it that vickery intentionally committed this foul to get of captaining this pile of dogshit posing as the english rugby team. smart move, i reckon .

Now Vickery doesn't have to play in the bloodbath which is right around the corner. All the guys on my rugby team who are English were willing to take bets on the England US game but you mention England South Africa and there is a mysterious car payment or rent that needs to be in the middle of the month. LOL. SA 32 ED 13

should of been a penalty try really, i'd like to seen what had happened if vickery didn't make the trip.

Penalty try? Do you know anything! The incident was about 30m out and there were still 3 or 4 defenders left to beat.If he hadn't been tripped he probably would have got smashed by the English defence or fumbled his pass.

yeah ok maby vickery should have been booked but i think i two match ban is seriously over the top like a few have said it is a professional foul just like colapsing a maul is which happens in nearly every game or slowing the ball up ok you may get rucked out but it can prevent trys all the same. Vickery thought he was the last man so did what he could to prevent the try at the most it should have been a yellow maby a red and a penelty try.

i fuck the english team

definetly a penalty try.

Come on guys. Let's try and be grown ups and keep the childish language off this site.Personally I can't see what all the debate is about with Vickery. Of course it as a trip, an instinctive reaction and almost certainly with no malice towards Emerick, but deserving of a ban. Lucky not to get a yellow card as well. Let's face it, Vickery's put his hand up and admitted it was such. Maybe last world cup he might have got away with a one match ban, but this time round the IRB and toughening up on these things.The ironic thing is I think Vickery's not really deserving of his place in the team and Ashton hasn't the balls to drop him. Now his hand has been forced and we might be a stronger because of it. The guy I really feel sorry for is Burger. Great player and a shame to see him singled out fro the match against Samoa. The tournament need players of his class, and I was glad to see his ban reduced (but still a bit relieved he won't be playing against us this evening!!!)

I agree with the guy above (and I'm Scottish) Vickery deserved a yelow for not controlling his reaction, but that's all it was.Berger did nothing wrong at all. He was going for the ball.

might aswell give them fuckin shin pads. that US centre is a lil bitch. and the pom is a total douche for tripping lol

he'll be glad not playing in the 2 games england hav been s*!t anyway.the cheaten c!*t

what the fuck is wrong with referees in this world cup??? the referee was right there and he didnt even do anything about it...first it was a big fucking mistake in the Samoans game against SA and now this...I feel sorry for these small teams...fuck the refs

Emerick could have got through and it would have resulted in a try for the USA except Vickery, the fat lump missed the tackle and threw his leg at Emerick. Defintely a red, pure intention to cut down Emerick.He's lucky it was only 2 matches.By the way a trip is falling over someone's leg, Vickery swung his foot at Emerick's shin, that's a kick. By the way, a kick is 9/10 times deliberate though in fairness Vickery may have just thrown out his leg so he didn't land on it awkward;y but a spear can be caused by someone moving so fast, the other player tries to dump them and the just end up landing badly, in this case it wasn't with the specific intent of killing Barclay, unlike Umaga and Mealamu's on O'Driscoll a bit back...

In the old days 'hacking' was legal. It's actually a skill that can be perfected with practice. I'd love to see them bring it back; it would certainly liven things up.

First of all were not playin fucking soccerso i dont why u all sayin he should be sent off! jesus pull ya fuckin heads ine-mail me @captain.cockerz@hotmail.comif ur goin to respond to this comment cuz i aint comin bak to this video

Vicks is past it now, he is hanging by a thread in the england team, let alone the captaincy.