The Guardian, AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
As rugby misdemeanors go, it hardly ranks alongside illegal drug taking or deliberately kicking opponents in the head. Or, come to that, having England players splashed all over the tabloids for drunken antics in a dwarf-throwing bar.
However, on Thursday the Rugby Football Union (RFU) was forced to suspend two of its coaching staff after an investigation found they smuggled Jonny Wilkinson’s favorite ball on to the pitch during a World Cup match with Romania so he could use it for place-kicks.
Rugby regulations state the ball used to score a try must be used for the subsequent conversion, where the ball is kicked between the posts for an extra two points, but during England’s match in Dunedin the team felt one of the eight numbered match balls used during the game was superior to the others for kicking.
Dave Alred, England’s kicking coach, and Paul Stridgeon, the conditioning coach, were duly banned from attending today’s crucial group game against Scotland for attempting to switch balls twice without the referee’s knowledge.
Officials said: “We accept the RFU’s assurances that it will abide by both the laws and the spirit of the game going forward. However ... any similar breaches in future will be dealt with severely.”
England are deep into a World Cup and about to play the biggest game of head coach Martin Johnson’s tenure. Victory over Scotland would put them through to the quarter-finals, but they have now twice made the headlines for the wrong reasons during the tournament.
Officials have already had to defend the conduct of captain Mike Tindall after colorful details of a squad outing to a nightclub in Queenstown emerged. The London-based Sun tabloid alleged that Tindall, who recently married the Queen’s granddaughter, Zara Phillips, was seen flirting with “a gorgeous blonde” while enjoying a “dwarf-throwing contest.”
Tindall was a spectator at the “Mad Midget Weekender” along with a number of other squad members, but a team official insisted the night out had the management’s blessing.
On the ball-switching incident, Wilkinson said his “dignity and integrity” were intact. He has struggled with his kicking game in New Zealand with a success rate of 50 percent, way below the form that made him the team’s high-scoring talisman in previous tournaments.
Should Wilkinson start missing his kicks against Scotland, the absence of his long-time kicking guru Alred fwill also be seized upon as one of the possible explanations.
If it were to coincide with England bowing out of the World Cup — which would happen should they lose by eight points or more — Johnson would be doubly furious.
However, if England even think about blaming Alred and Stridgeon for a substandard performance it would be a case of drowning men clutching at straws. William Hill bookmakers has them as 7-1 on favorites to win the match. Scotland are 4-1 against.
Should England win, it is safe to assume “Ballgate” will barely rate a mention. Go out and it will be a central plank of evidence for the verdict that this World Cup campaign has been disastrously mismanaged.
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