Northampton vs BB

[Oakboy]

The explanation of the judgement, if and when the disciplinary process moves, will be fascinating. Might the player be found to have over-reacted to his own coach's pre-match wind-up? Will the coach be sanctioned?

[Puja]

This all seems to be based on Jalibert accusing Pollock of calling BB a team of mercenaries during the week, which never happened. Lawrence Dallaglio did during a podcast which featured Pollock, but Pollock did not.

Unless the French guys speak English they won't have watched it, even if they do they still might not have done (let's face it, most of us don't like listening to Dayglo at the best of times). They'll probably have been told the young flashy flanker at Saints has been on a podcast where they were calling us mercenaries. The coaches might have even used it to fire the squad up pre game.

Yeah, it appears that the coaches decided to use it to rile the squad up for the final. Bit of a shitty thing to do to a 20 year old, especially when it's clearly gone to the extent that some of the players hate him enough to use some of their victory parade carrying a sign mocking him. I suppose it's a mark of honour that he was clearly feared enough to be targetted in that way.

I think next year's going to be massive for him. He's had such a meteoric rise, to the extent that he's probably been overpromoted by getting into the Lions, and the fact that the media have seized upon him as controversial figure means that second-season-syndrome is going to hit hard. Other coaches are going to specifically target him, both on the pitch and with mind-games, and the only thing the press will love more than constant reporting on his rise will be glorying in him failing (there's already a bunch of headlines like "Hurricane Henry blew itself out in the final").

It's going to be a test for him to deal with the sudden fame, money, and praise anyway, especially since he's broken through the barrier of recognition to the extent where casuals will have opinions about him. It'll be harder still coping with the obloquy that will come when he inevitably has a run of iffy form at some point. I hope the poor sod has a strong support network and no mental health issues, cause it's going to be hard work.

Puja

[Puja]

The explanation of the judgement, if and when the disciplinary process moves, will be fascinating. Might the player be found to have over-reacted to his own coach's pre-match wind-up? Will the coach be sanctioned?

I don't believe, "I was under the false impression he deserved a smack because my coach told me he was talking shit," is usable as a defence.

Puja

[Danno]

The explanation of the judgement, if and when the disciplinary process moves, will be fascinating. Might the player be found to have over-reacted to his own coach's pre-match wind-up? Will the coach be sanctioned?

I don't believe, "I was under the false impression he deserved a smack because my coach told me he was talking shit," is usable as a defence.

Puja

Oh come on Puja, where's your sense of adventure gone you jaded fecker

[Puja]

The explanation of the judgement, if and when the disciplinary process moves, will be fascinating. Might the player be found to have over-reacted to his own coach's pre-match wind-up? Will the coach be sanctioned?

I don't believe, "I was under the false impression he deserved a smack because my coach told me he was talking shit," is usable as a defence.

Puja

Oh come on Puja, where's your sense of adventure gone you jaded fecker

I know, I know - I'd never make a lawyer with that kind of "can't-do" attitude!

Puja

[Galfon]

The 'Pollock Calma!!!! Calma!!!!' cardboard sign does seem bizarre for a 1-cap 20 yr. old.- it took Mbappe over 50 caps to get this treatment from the Arg. WC winning crew !
It appears to be held by the Samoan back-rower Tatafu, who also did a captured throat-grab on Pollock after Poirot had done something. Bit surprised to see 'We are Champions' on the front of the bus in Bordeaux, though can see in a way why 'Vainqueur' is less widely used these days.

[Oakboy]

The 'Pollock Calma!!!! Calma!!!!' cardboard sign does seem bizarre for a 1-cap 20 yr. old.- it took Mbappe over 50 caps to get this treatment from the Arg. WC winning crew !
It appears to be held by the Samoan back-rower Tatafu, who also did a captured throat-grab on Pollock after Poirot had done something. Bit surprised to see 'We are Champions' on the front of the bus in Bordeaux, though can see in a way why 'Vainqueur' is less widely used these days.

So, are you agreeing that it's a team of foreign mercenaries?

[Adam_P]

I enjoyed the photo of one of their mercenaries doing the pulse check celebration in the changing room post-match, in full kit, having not featured in the match day 23. Full John Terry.

[francoisfou]

UBB prop, Jefferson Poirot (top name!), has copped a two-week ban for his part in the immediate post-match altercation with HP, so he’ll miss the last two rounds of the Top14 but will be available for the subsequent playoffs.

[francoisfou]

The 'Pollock Calma!!!! Calma!!!!' cardboard sign does seem bizarre for a 1-cap 20 yr. old.- it took Mbappe over 50 caps to get this treatment from the Arg. WC winning crew !
It appears to be held by the Samoan back-rower Tatafu, who also did a captured throat-grab on Pollock after Poirot had done something. Bit surprised to see 'We are Champions' on the front of the bus in Bordeaux, though can see in a way why 'Vainqueur' is less widely used these days.

There just has to be a limerick somewhere!!

[Mellsblue]

The 'Pollock Calma!!!! Calma!!!!' cardboard sign does seem bizarre for a 1-cap 20 yr. old.- it took Mbappe over 50 caps to get this treatment from the Arg. WC winning crew !
It appears to be held by the Samoan back-rower Tatafu, who also did a captured throat-grab on Pollock after Poirot had done something. Bit surprised to see 'We are Champions' on the front of the bus in Bordeaux, though can see in a way why 'Vainqueur' is less widely used these days.

There just has to be a limerick somewhere!!

It’s in Ireland

[francoisfou]

The 'Pollock Calma!!!! Calma!!!!' cardboard sign does seem bizarre for a 1-cap 20 yr. old.- it took Mbappe over 50 caps to get this treatment from the Arg. WC winning crew !
It appears to be held by the Samoan back-rower Tatafu, who also did a captured throat-grab on Pollock after Poirot had done something. Bit surprised to see 'We are Champions' on the front of the bus in Bordeaux, though can see in a way why 'Vainqueur' is less widely used these days.

There just has to be a limerick somewhere!!

It’s in Ireland

Vainqueur!