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Tonga sub Fine learns fate after his red-carded clash with Smith

(Photo by Dan Mullan/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

Replacement Tonga back Viliami Fine has been banned for three weeks following his red-carded strike on Marcus Smith in the latter stages of last Saturday’s 69-3 win by England at Twickenham. The Tongans went on to concede four tries after Fine was red-carded by referee Craig Evans. 

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While Fine, the Otago-based winger, will now miss the upcoming Tonga matches versus French Barbarians this weekend, against Romania on November 20 and one other match to be determined by the player club schedule, the unscathed Smith has been included as the starting out-half in the England team that will take on Australia this Saturday.  

A World Rugby statement following the disciplinary hearing for the soon-to-be 24-year-old Fine read: “The independent disciplinary committee was chaired by Roger Morris (Wales), joined by former international Lawrence Sephaka (South Africa) and former international referee Donal Courtney (Ireland).

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“They heard the case, considering all the available evidence, including multiple broadcast angles and submissions from the player and his representative.

“The player admitted that he had committed an act of foul play worthy of a red card. Having reviewed all the evidence, the committee deemed that the player had struck his opponent with the upper part of his arm, that the strike was not a powerful strike and that there was no injury whatsoever to the other player.

“On that basis, the committee applied World Rugby’s mandatory minimum mid-range entry point for foul play resulting in contact with the head. This resulted in a starting point of a six-week suspension.

“Having acknowledged mitigating factors including the player’s clean record, his early and complete acceptance of his guilt, his timely apology to his opponent and the helpful and engaging manner in which he had approached the disciplinary process the committee reduced the six-week entry point by three weeks, resulting in a sanction of three weeks.”

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Jfp123 32 minutes ago
France push All Blacks to 80th minute in narrow Dunedin defeat

So, you think top rugby players’ wages ought to be kept artificially low, when in fact the forces of “demand and supply” mean that many can and indeed are commanding wages higher than you approve of, and even though players regularly get injured, and those injuries can be serious enough to cut short careers and even threaten lives, e.g. Steven Kitshoff.

.

As far as I can make out your objections amount to

1) they’ve sent a B team, which is not what we do and I don’t like it. Is there more to it than that? You haven’t replied to the points I made previously about sell out Tests and high ticket prices, so I take it reduced earnings are no longer part of your argument. Possibly you’re disappointed at not seeing Dupont et al., but a lot of New Zealanders think he is over rated anyway.


2) The Top 14 is paying players too much, leading to wage inflation around the world which is bad for the sport.

Firstly, young athletes have a range of sports to choose from, so rugby holding out the prospect of a lucrative, glamorous career helps attract talent.

Above all, market forces mean the French clubs earn a lot of money, and spend a large part of that money on relatively high wages, within a framework set by the league to maintain the health of the league. This framework includes the salary cap and Jiff rules which in effect limit the number of foreign stars the clubs employ and encourage the development of young talent, so there is a limit on Top14 demand. The Toulon of the 2010s is a thing of the past.


So yes, the French clubs cream off some top players - they are competitive sports teams, what do expect them to do with their money? - but there’s still a there’s a plentiful supply of great rugby players and coaches without French contracts. The troubles in England and Wales were down to mismanagement of those national bodies, and clubs themselves, not the French


So if you don’t want to let market forces determine wage levels, and you do want to prevent the French clubs from spending so much of their large incomes on players, how on earth do you want to set player wages?


Is the problem that NZ can’t pay so much as the Top 14 and you fear the best players will be lured away and/or you want NZ franchises to compete for leading international talent? Are you asking for NZ wage scales to be adopted as the maximum allowed, to achieve this? But in that case why not take Uruguay, or Spain, or Tonga or Samoa as the standard, so Samoa, a highly talented rugby nation, can keep Samoan players in Samoa, not see them leave for higher wages in NZ and elsewhere.

Rugby is played in lots of countries, with hugely varying levels of financial backing etc. Obviously, it’s more difficult for some than others, but aside for a limited amount of help from world rugby, it’s up to each one to make their sums add up, and make the most of the particular advantages their nation/club/franchise has. SA are not the richest, but are still highly successful, and I don’t hear them complaining about Top14 wages.


Many, particularly second tier, nations benefit from the Top14, and anyone genuinely concerned about the whole community of world rugby should welcome that. England and NZ have laid down rules so they can’t make the most of the French competition, which is up to them. But unlike some NZ fans and pundits, the English aren’t generally blaming their own woes on the French, rather they want reform of the English structure, and some are calling for lessons to learned from their neighbours across the channel. If NZ fans aren’t satisfied, I suggest they call for internal reform, not try to make the French scapegoats.


In my opinion, a breach of standards would be to include on your team players who beat up women, not to regularly send a B team on the summer tours for reasons of player welfare, which in all the years you’ve been doing this only some of the pundits and fans of a single country have made a stink about.


[my comments here are, of course, not aimed at all NZ fans and pundits]

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