Monday, May 25, 2009
Courtney Lawes smashes Morgan Parra in European Challenge Cup Final

Northampton Saints finished off a successful season back in top flight rugby as they beat Bourgoin 15-3 in the European Challenge Cup final on Friday. Saints have now qualified for next seasons Heineken Cup, knocking out Wasps in the process.
No tries were scored in the ill-tempered match which had two yellows and a red handed out. Steven Myler kicked 5 penalties for the home side, keeping them in control of the game throughout.
French scrumhalf Morgan Parra was unfortunately injured in this crunching tackle from young Northampton lock Courtney Lawes. The Bourgoin players were clearly incensed at Lawes' being viewed as not being worthy of even a talking to from the referee. Two minutes later they took it out on Lawes, which led to the red card for punching.
Bourgoin coach Eric Catinot later suggested that the referee was a bit lost, and complained that Lawes had been just as deserving of a red card.
Dimitri Yachvili has since been called up to the French squad to replace the injured Parra, who was set to tour New Zealand and Australia in June. Yachvili will compete for a starting place with Leicester number nine and former Biarritz team-mate Julien Dupuy.
This isnt the first time we've seen Lawes crunch a Bourgoin scrumhalf. Just ask Julien Tomas.
Your verdict: Was this a late tackle, or was he committed?
Time: 01:52
Posted at 10:26 am | 91 comments
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Posted in Big Hits & Dirty Play
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Viewing 91 comments
Jacobo May 25, 2009 12:25 pm

I SCORED A DROP GOAL IN A MATCH TODAY!!!!
Anonymous May 25, 2009 12:28 pm

Anonymous May 25, 2009 12:41 pm

How could he pull out?
Anonymous May 25, 2009 12:43 pm

KingDong May 25, 2009 12:48 pm

sii May 25, 2009 12:50 pm

Melrik May 25, 2009 1:17 pm

Anonymous May 25, 2009 1:30 pm

Anonymous May 25, 2009 1:32 pm

Anonymous May 25, 2009 1:48 pm

Anyway, my verdict is big hit, no doubt about it he was commited
adrian May 25, 2009 1:57 pm

Scrum half should never drift and delay the pass. If not,could end up like Parra
Meet My Friend : Pain~
Anonymous May 25, 2009 2:23 pm

Flooz May 25, 2009 2:24 pm

But i'm not sure that the english commentators would have said "nice tackle!" if the scrum half had been from the saints, and we all know that...
No.7 May 25, 2009 2:27 pm

Anonymous May 25, 2009 2:45 pm

perfectly legal, and i'm a french rugby supporter
Anonymous May 25, 2009 2:48 pm

great hit 100% legal parra was being an arse the whole match he might think twice next time
there is a new law in town and his name is courtney
opfazonk May 25, 2009 3:22 pm

expresstrain May 25, 2009 3:36 pm

Anonymous May 25, 2009 3:42 pm

That's perfectly legal, bad for Parra, but that's life of a rugby player!
can't wait for the tour in Australia and NZ, hope we'll win a game at least...
Joey May 25, 2009 3:54 pm

Anonymous May 25, 2009 4:12 pm

Anonymous May 25, 2009 4:30 pm

Just because someone gets injured does not make it illegal.
No punishment necessary. It's rugby.
Anonymous May 25, 2009 4:34 pm

Just a crunching hit and legal at that.
Anonymous May 25, 2009 4:40 pm

Anonymous May 25, 2009 4:52 pm

It's sad for Parra but that happens in rugby. Hope he will recovery fast and be back with France.
On another subject i can t wait to see julien dupuy plays in the french squad.
Anonymous May 25, 2009 5:40 pm

It was of no sportmanship though that the Bourgoin staff were talking about a red card for this.
I'm a big Saints fan all the way from Holland so probably not 100% objective but come on it's rugby.
Anonymous May 25, 2009 6:13 pm

I don't know why you think he's portuguese... he's french, no doubt about this. He's born in france and plays in XV de France. So no, he's not portuguese.
Colin May 25, 2009 6:40 pm

EXCELLENT TACKLE!!!!
Anonymous May 25, 2009 6:46 pm

Anonymous May 25, 2009 7:14 pm

Teh Mite May 25, 2009 7:42 pm

2. http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o291/benmichaeljohnson/IMG_0201.jpg
3. http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o291/benmichaeljohnson/IMG_0203.jpg
4. http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o291/benmichaeljohnson/IMG_0205.jpg
And on the other Tackle;
1. http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o291/benmichaeljohnson/IMG_0196.jpg
Nothing wrong with either tackles. Maybe the jealous old women and Stephen Jones' of this world should have a second look before spouting rubbish.
Anonymous May 25, 2009 7:50 pm

If the hit is so hard so he hasn't even time to catch the guy, then clearly something is wrong in my opinion.
Baze May 25, 2009 7:55 pm

Of course it's late tackle. This referee is a dummy.
The refering during the H cup and the european challenge.
Like Drogba, I say "it's a fucking disgrace"
Anonymous May 25, 2009 8:30 pm

propandruckingit May 25, 2009 8:30 pm

How does anybody expect him to pull out?? The same with Hartley vs Dupuy earlier on in the season. The difference between him passing and the ball and the initial contact is about 0.5 of a second in slow motion so how does anybody expect him to pull out?
High? Well its as high as you can get without it being an illegal tackle, straight in line with the shoulders.
Shoulder Charge? Yes in essance, but only due to the fact that Parra bouced off him at such a rate, you can see him trying to wrap his arms even after the contact is made and he is flying through the air (again you have to think this all within a second or so), THE TACKLE IS LEGAL.
Amazing tackle and worth a post on here, great believer in courtney played against him and know him through all my friends that went to school with him, great work ethic and going to be one of the youngest international locks to wear the red rose.
Anonymous May 25, 2009 9:25 pm

Anonymous May 25, 2009 9:34 pm

Well yes he could have been awfully nice and decided to do that, but he was 100% committed and is under no obligation to pull out or soften the blow. It was not late.
Yes he wanted to nail him. But just because someone is shaping to pass does not mean they will. Para could have decided to hold the ball, dummy, step, kick or any number of things. So he did the defender did the right thing in wiping him out even though, with hindsight, we can see he passed the ball....but that's rugby.
Anonymous May 25, 2009 10:23 pm

Nothing wrong with it though he was totally committed
Laurie May 25, 2009 11:13 pm

Alexander May 25, 2009 11:55 pm

RedYeti May 26, 2009 1:12 am

I was so happy when Parra got smashed cause he'd been a dick all game. In my view what goes around comes around in the form of a 6'7" wrecking ball.
What is more disgusting was the Bourgoin players who attacked Lawes in a ruck after this though. The tighthead (I think) started punching him, but Lawes did not throw any back, he just covered himself, then the replacement lock (I think again) ran in and punched Lawes from behind, in the temple (a potentially deadly blow, especially from someone as powerful as a rugby player). Lawes still did not throw a punch back, and was hit again when the Bourgoin player realised one of Lawes' teammates had restrained him to stop any retaliation.
I hope that there are citings over this, because it was disgustingly dirty play from the French side, and I don't blame Courtney for smashing the Bourgoin fullback into the advertising boards soon afterwards :)
Zavala May 26, 2009 6:45 am

Anonymous May 26, 2009 6:57 am

nick_s May 26, 2009 8:30 am

It's unfortunate, but that was a pretty spot on a tackle technique-wise.
Kenny May 26, 2009 8:33 am

Neil (18 weeks for eye gouging)Best got in a scrap and got sin binned.
Dylan (12 weeks for eye gouging) Hartley grabbed boyet by the neck and swung him way.
Boyet the french diver jumped on the grpund lay there for a little while pretending to be hurt then got up and ran after the play.
Courtney Laws chasing a kick that had gone over the try line then rammed a french payer into the hoardings and got the ball in the head for his stupid unnecessary tackle.
And of course that bourgoin flanker than punched him in the face right infront of the ref and touch judge for no reason.
Murray also got loads of digs in the head for nothing.
Very entertaining to watch as a spectator, but too many scum bags on both sides is always going to give u a matche with all this in discipline.
Anonymous May 26, 2009 8:42 am

Its almost impossible to watch a game of French rugby nowadays (or to have ever watched one) without some stupid punchup kick off, and it all errupts from the smallest thing, which in this case was from a PERFECT tackle.
I think that the entire FFR should be given some form of disciplinary course or be scrapped!
Anonymous May 26, 2009 9:50 am

http://www.olympic-rugby.org/
HamishM May 26, 2009 9:55 am

Flooz May 26, 2009 10:41 am

This very interesting article from stephen jones from Times explain a part of the problem...
jt May 26, 2009 10:50 am

unfortunate for parra tho..
Anonymous May 26, 2009 11:56 am

Still he was committed and the tackle isn't illegaly high, and I would say the late wraping maybe an error and not intentional. Certainly doesn't deserve a red card, probably not a yellow even if there is an injury, but it warrants a penalty because of the tackler not wrapping with the arms properly...
It is sad for Parrra, but the match was lost already anyway.. the saddest part is that this was the last straw for a Bourgoin team that felt that the referee kept denying them their dominance at the scrum by not penalising the Saints enough.. as a result they blew their cap off..
Again very bad for french reputation and sad for Parra but clearly this tackle wasn't "murder"...
Antoine May 26, 2009 1:03 pm

As whether that takle was illegal or not, I think it was legal. But I also think there's something wrong in rugby if you can injure another player without breaking any rule. The brutality should be assessed when deciding if a tackle is legal. Because the injury frequency in rugby at all levels is really a shame, also for the developement of the sport.
And don't give me that football sissy talk.
martin-offload May 26, 2009 5:34 pm

Raw Lions Will Roar! May 26, 2009 5:39 pm

unlucky parra, he's young though so plenty more chances for him in a france shirt.
Raw Lions Will Roar! May 26, 2009 5:41 pm

Anonymous May 26, 2009 6:28 pm

number7 May 26, 2009 8:19 pm

really a hero thats how a man plays rugby keeps the head and waits for his chance
jean May 26, 2009 10:22 pm

Very very angry against that stupid butcher
Anonymous May 26, 2009 11:47 pm

It's a physical game. People get injured all the time, it's part of the sport.
Deal with it, or follow another sport.
Jesus, I can't believe you even said that.
Kyle May 27, 2009 12:35 am

Anonymous May 27, 2009 5:18 am

mike hunt May 27, 2009 11:19 am

brilliant tackle. more please.
Anonymous May 27, 2009 12:42 pm

Anonymous May 27, 2009 12:55 pm

My french compatriots make me feel ashamed, i can't believe they're moaning about this perfect tackle. Fukin faggots.
Anonymous May 27, 2009 1:02 pm

Anonymous May 27, 2009 1:09 pm

Anonymous May 27, 2009 1:28 pm

Anonymous May 27, 2009 3:30 pm

Anonymous May 27, 2009 5:03 pm

Je me fous totalement des anglais, mais au moins eux pleurnichent moins et agissent plus.
Anonymous May 27, 2009 5:37 pm

lol May 27, 2009 10:25 pm

"frenchman? Morgan Parra is portuguese!"
Actually Morgan Parra was on the born 15 November 1988 in Metz, France and he is named after the well known Irish parranoist Morgan O'Reilly.
Anonymous May 28, 2009 12:08 pm

perfectly legal tackle and good sacrifice from scrumhalf to help his team!
Anonymous May 28, 2009 1:21 pm

And he was named Parra after is Grandfather, and hes Great Grandfather. And so on.
Anonymous May 28, 2009 1:40 pm

they might feel like frenchmen but the french crowd insult them as well as the colleagues any time things go wrong
Anonymous May 28, 2009 8:59 pm

Anonymous May 31, 2009 7:52 pm

hes gotta go out with yellow cos its 2 infringments in half a second
Anonymous September 28, 2009 7:31 pm

Flooz October 26, 2009 5:17 pm

but each time, i watch a rugby contest with sky. It's terrifying how the commentators are biased.
they say "big hit" with a so orgasmic tone as parra was on the ground with his shoulder broken... i can swear they would say "murderer or malicious" if the same tackle was from a french player.
a season to forget for the french in terms of referring and stupid commentators
Anonymous May 24, 2010 9:17 pm

JA1 December 22, 2011 4:41 pm

one could say that lawes Parra-Lysed the number nine!!
Anonymous February 21, 2012 4:00 pm

















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