Anyone seen Ashton getting owned in the yawnion by one of the Tuilangi boys...The union press have been going mental about it (probably because Ashton is the current golden boy) and apparently Tuilangi is lucky to get away with a 5 week ban (reduced from 10 on appeal).

Personally, it reminded me of Fielden-Mason - Ashton gives Tuilangi a shove after a late tackle then gets put firmly back in his place.

[url=http://www.tuxboard.com/manu-tuilagi-se-prend-pour-un-boxeur-avec-chris-ashtonSee about 2.30 onwards in this[/url the (third) punch is an absolute peach

he went looking for more trouble after taking a tackle off the ball, oh boy he got it (and then a cuddle from his team mate after)
five week ban, there is only one game left this season right?

Was that the one who was brought up as a daughter?

An absolutely boneshaking smack on the side of the head. The slow-mo makes it look even worse.

Its a good example of how referees and their assistants work and should work together more often, ok so in replay Ashton doesn't land the punch that the ref assistant thought he saw but actually you can see at normal speed how the TJ from his position thought he saw Ashton raise a punch in retaliation - a fact that the commentators seem to miss.

Its also a great advert for the game of Rugby in both codes, a tough game where refereeing decisions, wrong or right, are accepted without tears, tantrums and mobbing the ref either by players, managers or the baying mob of fanatical (dangerously fanatical) supporters.

More than one game left for him to potentially miss.

That isn't rugby, of either code. Tuilangi should have been off during the game, and got a significant ban.

The op seems to think the attack was justified,says a lot about him.The player should have got a ten game ban carried into next season.

The referee was unsighted given that it happened behind him while play was progressing, his assistant thought he saw retaliation as Ashton was stood behind Tuilangi from his point of view at the moment that Ashton lifts his arm (to defend himself as it transpired), the other assistant had most of the other players between him and the incident - who would make the decision to send the player off ?

If you are suggesting trial by video ref at the scene of the incident then we are straying into (almost) unprecedented territory, the discipline committee made the correct decision in the end and thats how it always will be.

Agreed. How McLaren can call that good officiating is bewildering. It was disgraceful actions, and both the player and the match official should get long bans.

You have just rubber-stamped your classification of School Idiot.

Tuilangi should have been sent off and be looking at a lengthy ban. Stuart Barnes was going nuts about how the ref and touch judge could keep Tuilangi on the pitch. It would appear that the RFU disiciplinary committee is as bizarre as its RFL counterpart when using a shove after a late tackle as mitigating circumstances for assualt. Interesting that a 5 week ban allows Tuilangi to be available for England.

Good. It is better than any self respecting parent justifying what you did.

So as a parent I can handle that childish comment. But as a fellow one, you should be ashamed.

Go back and read what I said and then review the video and consider what the referee and TJ saw in normal speed without the benefit of replays and mock outrage, then consider what the referee did next and the conversation that he had with his assistant.

Then tell me how you would have done it differently given that your back was turned to the incident throughout it.

To be fair to ashton he did much better than fielden. He took 3 good shots and was still on his feet. Fielden wentdown like a sack of S?!t after one blow, and was not the same player for years!!!

I have always been a proponent of VRs being able to review such incidents live during the game.
In this case though, it's up to the officials to see these things.

Both propositions are an ideal world situation though - in a disciplinary hearing you have the benefit of distance from the event, isolation from what has gone on in the game as a whole and the benefit of several opinions as well as (and probably just as important), legal submissions and the submission of evidence/expression of remorse from the players involved as well as consideration of previous record.

You can't squeeze all of that into a video van and come up with an instant and robust conviction can you and even if you could you would leave the code(s) open to potential legal responses afterwards.

Personally I don't expect a referee to be able to spot off-the ball incidents, I expect him to follow the play, maybe theres a case for the assistants to be watching the wider picture but in RL we see so many times how a referee (some more than others) will be very reticent to use his assistants in any other roll than to mark where a ball went into touch.

And if they don't see them as they are behind play like this one should the officials face long bans for not seeing them, like Gotcha says?

A long ban for not seeing something that happened behind him?

Don't be so bloody silly.

Some people talk out of it, maybe we should expect referees to see out of their a[irs[/ies ?

at least one of the officials did see the incident though, otherwise why were the yellow cards produced

I was gonna say the same.

3 punches like that, especially the third, I'd suggest most people would be on the floor after that. You can see how much of his weight Tuilangi puts into it. My uncle is a boxing coach and he's always said to me that the sign of a real good kid in the class is the ability to take a punch far more than it is to give one. You can improve strength, and punching technique with practice, but a natural ability to stay on your feet when somebody is smacking you in the head certainly helps!

Stop stating the bloody obvious here.

Wheels did his usual bunny hop into the dirty stuff without thinking, and McLaren latched on to the support.

The fact you saw the obvious without emotion is irrelevant.

bill shankley was once having a go after a game at referee jack taylor for missing something. i'm sorry, taylor said, my mind was on an operation i,m having next week.
hope it's not serious said shanks.
no, said taylor, i,m having eyes put in my f**king

He saw his version of events from approx 30/40 feet away, what he thought he saw was retaliation and a punch swung by Ashton whereas in fact it was Ashton raising his arm to defend himself presumably against another punch. The TJ saw enough to tell the ref to yellow card both players for throwing punches, he presumably did not see enough detail to stand Tuilangi in the dock and try him for a vicious assault.

In the real world thats what happens, maybe the TJ was distracted by the ongoing play, RU does not have convenient breaks in open play - thats the real world and thats why such incidents are often dealt with by the discipline committee and why the match officials cannot be held responsible for every action that takes place on the field within the 80 minutes of play, they do their best - how many "On Report" incidences do we have in SL every week ?

In Gotcha's La-La land of kneejerkery its always the referees fault and Gotcha can always do a better job what with the power of the eyes in the [iar[/ise.