Another nightclub incident in South Africa involving New Zealand sportsmen - no great surprise there, and in reality it was a 'storm in a teacup'.
However, the Jerry Collins, Lome Fa'atau fracas outside a Bloemfontein club did raise two interesting questions. Firstly, if Collins is the hard man of the
Hurricanes, why is Fa'atau seemingly physically unscathed and able to play this weekend? Surely Jerry should have done a decent job on a winger of all people; Collins' reputation has taken the hit that Fa'atau obviously didn't.
Secondly, and more seriously, what punishment fits what 'crime'? In the days following the incident we were told that Hurricanes coach Colin Cooper was "a strict disciplinarian..." having "...dropped All Blacks Ma'a Nonu and Neemia Tialata for the Stormers match in Cape Town two years ago after an undisclosed incident." And that: "Team manager Garry Carnachan described their actions as 'pretty stupid and not acceptable' and confirmed disciplinary action."
All strong sounding stuff, so when the team was announced on Friday it was a surprise to see both players in the starting XV.
To me there seems to have been a double standard in that Nonu and Tialata were punished publicly for a private incident, while Collins and Fa'atau have been punished privately for a public incident. Sure we don't know the magnitude of the indiscretion committed by Nonu and Tialata two years ago but there doesn't seem to be consistency.
The cynics among us might say that two years ago Nonu and Tialata were fringe players and ripe to be made examples of, whereas currently Collins and Fa'atau are essential members of the side, coupled with the fact that the draw for the Hurricanes gets very tough after this match.
In the end the row was nothing really and probably warranted a minor punishment which it seems they received. The only problem is that it doesn't quite correlate with the rhetoric which followed the incident.
- HERALD ON SUNDAY
