Re: congrats Wales

Rob Stradling wrote:
BrritSki wrote:

It certainly deserved a citing and if he gets a ban I certainly won't be complaining. The worst outcome for England would be no ban :(

For an Englishman, Wilko enjoys a unique position in the hearts and minds of Welsh fans. Something beyond respect, and dangerously close to open admiration. On the BBC Wales "Scrum V" program, the pundits agreed that, if it had been any other England player, we'd be baying for his blood.

Instead, most of us accept that it was an ugly accident and that's that. Perhaps if we'd lost, or if Moody had made the same tackle, we might make a little more fuss. JW's column for "The Times", however, has been poorly edited - in it, he denies *responsibility* for Thomas' injury, which is ludicrous. What it should say is "I didn't mean it", which most would believe.

What was more glaring was in the game yesterday when the TMO clearly told the ref there was a head-*** and all he gave was a penalty.
Unbeleivable !

Agreed. You could hear the unease in Chris White's voice when Rolland asked "So, a penalty?", and he incredulously answered "At LEAST a penalty!"

Henderson's spotless record would probably mollify any ban, but he should clearly have gone.

A recurring problem with TMOs is their lack of the power to go beyond the strict remit of the questions asked. If Henderson had been carded, Scotland would have been entitled to ask why Damien Traille should get away with the punch which enraged him in the first place, just because it didn't happen "in-goal".

I watched that several times on my recording and finally got one angle which on slo-mo looks like a slap to the chest rather than a punch to the head.
The initial reaction to the hit was instructive - he barely twitched and his initial comments to the ref seemed mild too. He only seemed to react when Traille said something to him, presumably along the lines of "Vous pouvez liftez ma chemise apres le match, petit connard".
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