Who is the real racist here?
It is becoming a fast-growing fad in an ever more apologetic world. If you disagree with somebody and he is of a different racial classification, just call him a racist.
For many, with a cockeyed and delusional sense of self-entitlement, it is often a convenient and readymade excuse when you don’t want to explain your own shortcomings. Just blame the ‘racist’!
We saw a perfect example of this when Samoan midfielder Eliota Sapolu Fuimaono, who by his own admission had been imbibing from the fruits of the vine, launched another rant on the social network Twitter.
Fuimaono, who accused World Cup officials of ‘slavery’ and ‘apartheid’ in a previous brain explosion, on Saturday accused Welsh referee Nigel Owens of being racist and biased in an expletive-filled Twitter rant.
“I can understand the hate!! Haha good luck u racist biased prick,” tweeted the 30-year-old. (To read the full article, click here!)
This begs just one question: Who is the real racist? Bringing race into the equation shows exactly his frame of mind. He doesn’t see it as a rugby matter, or an issue between rugby people. He simply sees whites who are deliberately placing him at a disadvantage because of his skin colour.
It is a sad state of affairs that people like Mr Fuimaono can’t get that chip off their shoulders and just accept that sometimes you are indeed wrong.
Now back to real rugby…
Places in the quarterfinals of World Cup 2011 are still in the balance in all but one of the four pools going into Sunday’s final day of action.
Pool A:
The only pool where the two quarterfinalists are certain is Pool A, where New Zealand have already clinched first place ahead of their match with Canada at Eden Park on Sunday. France will play England in the quarterfinals at Eden Park next Saturday, October 8, while New Zealand are awaiting the result of Sunday’s game between Argentina and Georgia before they know their first opponents in the knockout stage.
Pool B:
Scotland’s loss to England on Saturday means that Argentina need only one point from their match with Georgia at Palmerston North on Sunday to clinch second place in Pool B. With England the unbeaten leaders after their four pool matches, the highest Argentina can finish is second. Scotland will be watching the Sunday match anxiously: they will take second place in the event Argentina fail to take a point against Georgia.
Pool C:
Ireland’s Pool C clash with Italy at Dunedin promises to be the day’s cliffhanger, with Australia having already clinched one of the quarterfinal spots. Ireland need to avoid defeat by Italy on Sunday to be certain of progressing to the quarterfinals. Italy will be certain of qualifying for the knockout stages (finishing in second place in the pool) if they beat Ireland, as long as the Irish fail to gain two bonus points. If Italy win but Ireland gain two bonus points, Ireland will win the pool.
Pool D:
Unbeaten South Africa have already clinched first place in Pool D, and Wales will join them in the quarterfinals by taking at least one point against Fiji in Sunday’s pool finale. Samoa have a slender chance of progressing – but Fiji would have to beat Wales by at least 39 points, score four tries and restrict Wales to fewer than four tries, or beat them by 38 points, score at least six tries more than Wales and restrict Wales to fewer than four tries. Fiji can only progress by beating Wales by 85 points, scoring four tries and restricting Wales to fewer than four tries.
Seen in New Zealand:
The game in numbers:
– 3: Australia conceded three tries against Russia, something they had not done in a RWC match since the 1987 bronze final against Wales.
– 5: Adam Ashley-Cooper scored his fifth try of RWC 2011 against Russia, tying him with England’s Chris Ashton for the tournament lead after 34 matches.
– 10: Australia’s Drew Mitchell scored his 10th career RWC try against Russia to move level with David Campese and within one of Chris Latham’s team record.
Great overall(s) support for Canucks:
Support for the Canucks has not gone unnoticed by the players at RWC 2011. Skipper Pat Riordan said he could not believe how many people had made the trip from Canada and how many Kiwis had embraced the team.
“It’s been amazing the whole tour,” he said. “I saw about 30 guys from a place called Port Alberni, a small logging town on Vancouver Island, at the Japan game and they had the full overalls on and the wool lumberjack jackets. They must have been sweating pretty bad.
“And there’s a bunch of guys from another club cruising around in Mountie suits. Everybody I’ve talked to in the team is just blown away by the support we’re getting.”
No welshing on fines by Dragons:
Self-policing seems to be the Welsh team’s thing. Team management have put it in the players’ hands to deal with any misdemeanours, and apparently there are some players with a bit of a dictatorial streak.
“The fines committee are pretty switched on to things like drinking when we shouldn’t, getting in trouble, not using these social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook,” says captain Sam Warburton.
“If anyone puts something up that they shouldn’t they will get fined depending on what it was. They can be quite severe.”
But, thankfully, various Welsh charities can benefit from the national team’s misbehaviour, says Warburton.
“There’s a decent kitty there now and normally we donate quite a lot of it to charities back home. I’m not sure what we are going to do with it yet, but I think there’s quite a few pounds there now.”
Tribute to the Tuilagi brothers:
