Poacher turned gamekeeper

The irony of this column by Richard Loe is not lost on us. He was, after all, one of rugby's tough nuts, and wouldn't survive in today's environment where ever contact situation is scrutinised from every angle. He really has become poacher turned gamekeeper. But he raises a very valid point - check this out:

Jimmy Cowan's "Hollywood" that got Ma'a Nonu sent off on Friday night got up my nose a bit - and I wonder if the lawmakers need to have a look at it.

In football, they call it 'simulation' when footballers fall down in the penalty area or in general play and try and win a penalty or a free kick for their team.

Some people call it gamesmanship. I call it irritating when people like Jimmy Cowan get up afterwards, are clearly not hurt, and then start laughing about what he's got away with.

It changed the Hurricanes-Highlanders game. Nonu shoulder-charged Cowan, who was going for the ball, and it was a penalty. But that's all it was - and marginal at best.

Cowan went down as if he'd taken both barrels from an over-and-under shotgun. He lay there, face down, until Nonu had been sent off - and then got up grinning. It was a real p***-take.

I thought Nonu was hard done by and his first yellow card was also tough.

We agree. Nonu was the victim of a team caution on his first yellow card, and it is even debatable that he had committed a penalty offence. But teams have played enough under the refereeing of Australian Stu Dickinson to know that he is a pedant who sees things differently to most.

Having been yellow-carded though, Nonu would have known that he was walking a tightrope, and his shoulder-charge on Cowan was dumb. For that, there was no excuse. But we reckon that Cowan's actions should be scrutinised as well.

He was well aware of Nonu's tightrope act, and he milkeed the situation for all it was worth. He wasn't injured, even though he was playing dead. As soon as the red card had been brandished, he rose Lazarus-like, fully healed, and grinning like a Cheshire cat. Loe's use of the term "p***-take" was bang on.

There, right there arises a further irony. Cowan has good reason to know how whistle-happy Dickinson is, and how quickly he goes to the pocket, as they say nowdays. At Eden Park last year, he was sent off by the same referee for a supposed late tackle that was without venom, malice or intent.

There is no doubt whatsoever in our mind that Cowan pulled a fast one on Friday night. Unfortunately, Stu Dickinson will have seen the video by now; let's just keep our fingers crossed that the Australian whistleblower isn't involved in an All Black match at the business end of Rugby World Cup.