Monday, February 20, 2012
Bath and Gloucester get to know one another in mass brawl at the Rec
Gloucester beat Bath 14-11 in muddy conditions in what was a typically fiesty West Country Aviva Premiership derby at the Rec on Saturday. The tone was set early on, with two players being sent to the sin-bin to cool off after a mass brawl erupted.
Young replacement flyhalf Ryan Mills kicked the winning penalty late in the game as Gloucester picked up an away win over their rivals. Played in rain and mud from the onset, this was always going to be an old school battle up front and that's exactly how it started out, with the big guys sparking things off, then the rest of the players joining in.
Gloucester's lock Jim Hamilton and Bath's lock Ryan Caldwell appeared to exchange words after the scrum, possibly about something that happened there that can't be seen on camera. It resulted in Caldwell and his locking partner unleashing on Hamilton, and it went downhill from there.
Punches were thrown from more than a handful of players, although it was difficult to see how many actually landed. In the end referee Wayne Barnes and his assistants agreed that yellow carding just Hamilton and Caldwell was the best way to deal with the altercation.
On the way to the sideline it looked as though it could kick-off again, but common sense prevailed. Off the ball niggles continued throughout the game though, but this was biggest of them.
Check out the related posts below the video for more mass brawls from the archive
Posted at 10:04 am | 19 comments
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Related Posts
Fight Night in France - Agen vs Biarritz mass brawl
Multiple suspensions - Perpignan vs Bayonne mass brawl
The Reds vs Highlanders brawl from the weekend
Another crazy rugby brawl in Romania
Toulon vs Stade Francais fight in the Top 14
1995 RWC Battle of Boet Erasmus - South Africa vs Canada
Posted in Big Hits & Dirty Play
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Viewing 19 comments
Colombes February 20, 2012 2:34 pm
are we in the france southwest? ... oh wait!
RedYeti February 20, 2012 1:34 pm
Fettsack February 20, 2012 2:24 pm
The ref's attitude is right though: it's impossible for him to see everything and he acts with authority binning both teams since a lot a people where involved.
Fighting in rugby is the week way to get your frustration out. Good players get it out by putting bit hits and running hard. That said I don't think it's a big deal if professional players fight a little, as long as it stays on the field. Once the players have been yellow carded they should leave in silence, there's a reason why it's called the "sin bin".
Pretzel February 20, 2012 2:32 pm
Btw, how many red cards can referees issue in a game? Is there a certain number before a team has been deemed for forfeit or something...
For instance... could we actually get 9 players sent off on one team or something?!?! or would the referee turn around and that's it folks...
Btw as for this video, look at 0:09 the gloucester player who got jumped by the bath players is the first COMPLETE player (where we can see all of him) he is also wearing the muddiest kit...He seems to run but looking over his shoulder... now I wonder if he did something to set the second rows off? blocking them or something?!?
Not saying it was justified but it seems odd as it was seemingly unprovoked...
I'm with Fettsack, let a bit of a scrap go ahead, sort the players out involved with some yellow cards and get back on with the game... I am sick of reds for a scrap!
gustyguest February 20, 2012 7:35 pm
Pretzel February 20, 2012 8:09 pm
Quite interesting imo, I only wondered because I remember being younger and playing some sort of football game on the playstation and basically hacking out players legs and getting red carded, but once you got 4 players sent off i think it was a forfeit.... No idea if that is the case in a real football match (not that I give a hoot personally) but as I said, I wondered if rugby had a similar process...
gezza82 February 20, 2012 3:04 pm
Pretzel February 20, 2012 5:34 pm
gezza82 February 21, 2012 12:10 am
jarrowlad February 20, 2012 4:26 pm
Fondze (newcaslte falcons player) at weekend threw only 1 punch at armitage (London Irish) and recevied a red. Happy days !!!???
There was a lot more punches thrown on this clip.
GraceOfBod February 20, 2012 5:20 pm
GraceOfBod February 20, 2012 5:20 pm
filth February 21, 2012 12:49 am
Stefan February 21, 2012 9:57 am
In general I'm all for just showing them the cheese and getting on with the game after a scuffle, but just so long as we don't see it every week from the same players!
cheyanqui February 21, 2012 7:04 pm
But the two guys (#1 Blue, and I think #2 Red) who came into the human masses throwing punches were IMHO more egregious.
If Barnes were determined to only give one card to each team, it should have been to those guys. However, in the heat of a moment, and at eye level (vs from cameras up above), there is little way for the ref to see them jump in.
To use hockey logic -- the 3rd man into a fight deserves worse sanction than a simple 1v1 dispute.
stroudos February 21, 2012 7:14 pm
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