It's March, and so attention in UK rugby has turned from the 6 Nations to the run-in with the Aviva Premiership, RaboDirect PRO12 league and all other national leagues reaching their climax. Or at least, it should be.
The last few weeks have seen a spate of on and off field incidents that have brought the game into disrepute and kept the clubs involved and the disciplinary committees extremely busy.
Firstly, the off-field incidents. The news from this weekend that Gavin Henson had been suspended and subsequently sacked by the Cardiff Blues for an incident that happened on a flight from Glasgow (following the Blues defeat on Friday night) is just the latest addition to a growing list of rugby players getting themselves into trouble. Admittedly, that list is well populated by one man, Danny Care, but it does seem that there are an increased number of these things happening.
We all know that Henson is a somewhat mysterious figure with the ability to be fantastic on the pitch, but susceptible to injury and very reactive to public criticism. Can these incidents be put down to a character trait? Maybe. Thinking of the likes of Care, Delon Armitage, Danny Cipriani and Henson, they all have this mercurial quality and an ability to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
All of these (mostly drink fuelled) off-the-field incidents are one thing and as regretful as I'm sure the players are, they should be an are being dealt with by their clubs. The really important and damning incidents of late are the ones that have taken place on the pitch.
In the last week, Northampton Saints players Dylan Hartley and Calum Clark have both been cited and suspended for separate incidents for club and country. Hartley has been banned until May 14 for biting the hand of Stephen Ferris in the final game of the 6 Nations at Twickenham. With a history of violent conduct on the field (when he was suspended for 6 months for eye gouging two players in 2007) which was apparently ignored by the disciplinary committee in the assessment of this latest case, Hartley can count himself lucky for a relatively short ban.
Calum Clark's 32 week ban comes after he was found guilty (he also pleaded guilty) for hyper-extending Leicester prop Rob Hawkins' arm, breaking his elbow. A nasty injury, sure, but the circumstances make it all the more galling. Clear from the video replays of the incident, Clark clearly and in my opinion intentionally grabbed Hawkins' arm, levered it in such a way that it could only have been to inflict injury, all after the whistle had gone. The calculated nature of the incident is the most upsetting thing about it, and to me, it's premeditated way it was done that makes 32 weeks just not long enough.
Calum Clark has received a 32 week ban
Following the verdict, it was revealed that the starting point for the disciplinary committee was 64 weeks, but this was halved following a very apologetic testimony from Clark himself, where he claimed there was no intent to harm Hawkins. Somehow, "unintentional" was the verdict and the ban became 32 weeks.
An "I'm sorry, sir" just isn't good enough. This is professional sport where players are accountable for their actions and in a game as physical as rugby, should be the ones first and foremost ensuring safety on the pitch. 32 weeks is a joke, particularly when you consider at the very least 13 weeks of that is in the off-season when no rugby is being played.
There has been a lot of reaction on Twitter as well as other sites and blogs about the incident and the resultant ban, with a general consensus that the punishment is way too light. When you consider a 3 year ban for recreational drug taking (Matt Stevens), it seems completely disproportionate. Why is inflicting injury not taken as seriously as drugs in the sport?
At the very least, and this is a personal opinion of course, Clark should have been given the full 64 week ban, regardless of his remorse during the testimony. Rarely will a case be so blatant and an opportunity to make an example be so available.
With the hearings over and the bans dished out, we can hopefully now concentrate on the next few weeks of rugby with the Heineken Cup quarter-finals this weekend and league action reaching boiling point. Rugby needs it.
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