Claassens angers Caveman
22 Dec 2008
Sébastien Chabal has accused Michael Claassens of deliberately kicking him in the face during Sale’s Premiership loss to Bath.
The Frenchmen, who was sent to the sin-bin for swinging a punch at Claassens in the first half of the game, insists he was provoked by the former Bok scrumhalf at a ruck near the Sale line. A furious Chabal left the field with a red mark clearly visibly on his cheekbone.
“I can accept people pulling my hair, but I cannot accept a kick in the face,” said Chabal. “I could have been badly injured. He did not kick me strongly, but he did it. I hope he will be banned for a few months. Because it is really, really bad. We will cite him, because it is not normal.
“He kicked me on the face and for that I jumped on his back, but I didn’t touch him at all. It is not acceptable. I did not punch him. I don’t know why I was sin-binned. I didn’t punch him. Maybe it was for aggression or something.”
To add to Chabal’s frustration, Bath went on to win the game 24-20 to move into second place on the Premiership log. London Irish are top after thrashing Gloucester 42-12.
221 Comments
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22 Dec 2008, 22:16 pm
#200 Hurricane:
a win is a win, there’ve been a couple of times in the past few years where SA have lost out to a last minute individual performace from NZ.
I believe if SA play to their potential, as they did against oz, not england, we would beat NZ, in fact we’d walk away with it.
i cannot explain it, but if they do hit their straps, anything is possible.
we saw scraped **** dished out against wales and scotland and then record win v oz and england, biggest slapping ever at twickers was it not?
22 Dec 2008, 22:24 pm
# cab:
For sure Cab,i have no doubts that SA playing to their ability will beat any team not just NZ on the day.But if NZ pulls out one of those blinders at the same time i dont know what would happen.But its the consistency of NZ that makes them better.
As for the English game,yeah sure good win but just cos you beat England does not mean anything when comparing to NZ
22 Dec 2008, 22:26 pm
#202 Hurricane:
yes, it would be very interesting to see SA v NZ both playing to their best on neutral territory with a neutral ref like wayne barnes.
22 Dec 2008, 22:33 pm
#203 cab:
Yes Wayne Barnes would be good,no penalties and we can play offside all day and even get away with a few grid iron passes for the win
22 Dec 2008, 22:37 pm
#204 Hurricane:
ha … when are you guys going to admit u were beaten by a better team?
22 Dec 2008, 22:42 pm
#205 cab:
We were beaten by a team that was better on the day,how is that.
But maybe you could come around and actually admit that NZ is the better team at this point than SA,going on the facts from 2008
22 Dec 2008, 22:44 pm
#205 cab:
As for the better team,Laporte himself even said the All Black team was better than France after the match but hey what does he know
22 Dec 2008, 22:45 pm
#36 cane: this just in.
stuff.co.nz/4801645a11.html
22 Dec 2008, 22:47 pm
#206 Hurricane:
we were beaten 2-1 in a series with a new coach with 2 games played in NZ.
i believe if SA, after their win against england, had played NZ at twickenham, we would win.
i thought england looked more likely to beat NZ, while SA seemed to coast.
so no, i do not think NZ are a better team at this point.
looking forward to 2009 3N when all will be resolved. no excuses this time please.
22 Dec 2008, 22:57 pm
#209 cab:
lol Cab stop it now,what makes you think NZ would let SA away with with what England did.Again just cos you beat England does not mean you would have beaten NZ.We have won 3 Tri Nations in a row and even still that isnt good enough for you.
As you say 2009 Tri Nations is when it will all be resolved but looks like 2006,2007,2008 seem to have been forgotten by the nice SA people.As for excuses,read your first line again,lol.
22 Dec 2008, 23:00 pm
Anyways of the topic.
I had some very nice SA fudge,the best fudge of have ever tried.And just had some Armula,or something like that,its a drink,not bad but the fudge was so creamy.A work colleague here is SA,his wife just comeback from Holiday there,all sorts of goodies.
22 Dec 2008, 23:10 pm
#210 Hurricane:
yes, but we have won 2 RWC’s. who are the current world champions Hurricane?
It pains me to remind you of this.
PS: Yes, some bladdy great fudge in SA, england makes nice fudge too, but hard to beat the SA stuff. Amarula is a very popular creamy liqueur in SA, its made from the amarule fruit, the fruit is sometimes eaten by ****** and elephants after it is fermented, they get totally pissed, worse than herschelle gibbs.
22 Dec 2008, 23:23 pm
#212 cab:
Cab,SA = World Champs.
NZ = #1 team in the world.
I have no problems with this.Its the way it is,rather have it this way than England #1 and RWC holders so i think we are on a win here.
Yep,i am now a fan of SA fudge,love the comment about Herschelle gibbs.lol
23 Dec 2008, 00:41 am
#24 jean-jacques:
Well then he had periods on this day or something.
23 Dec 2008, 09:21 am
#214 Predawn: had his period… well that’s interesting
23 Dec 2008, 11:47 am
#184 Hurricane: LOL
23 Dec 2008, 11:48 am
#153 Big Hit: That red mark could be from anything really… Im sure most players have a red mark somewhere within minutes of a game starting… maybe it was from the handbags with Harrison?
23 Dec 2008, 11:57 am
#210 Hurricane: The Tri Nations has become NZ’s competition. Winning creates a habit of winning, and for various reasons, NZ won a few titles and this has become increasingly common. So I agree, at the moment, NZ is the #1 ranked team in the world.
But that does not mean empirical proof that they are the best in the world. Bok fans will always believe our team is the best (which it is
) and Aussies will always believe they are the best.
NZ had the best platform for the Tri Nations – same coach, mostly same squad etc. it was only McCaw’s injury that was a factor.
SA had a similar squad, but the total change of coaching and management – especially to guys inexperienced at international level was bigger shake up. Then the changes to the squad, and the wholesale change of gameplan totally interrupted the run the Boks had from the World Cup.
I agree with Cab #209 cab: that the Boks looked much better during and after the win against England, and Im worried now that momentum will be lost by the time the Boks reconvene next year – after Super 14 etc.
But based on results this year, no one can really say NZ isnt the best team – a Tri Nations title and Grand Slam proves that.
I WISH the Boks had had a Grand Slam tour this year – we would’ve got it.
Why are we not doing Grand Slam tours anymore? We are letting NZ catch up with their last 2, yet we are not extending our record of them???!
23 Dec 2008, 21:16 pm
#218 bokfan1:
Hey Bokfan
Totally agree with your post mate,people on here think its hard saying SA are the world champs,i have no problem with this,ok a slight problem but liveable
Anyway what i am getting at is that SA have had a number of chances to say to NZ that “Hey we are the best” by beating us in the tri nations but in the last 3 years you guys have come dead last.Even though you are the world champs we have this thing to say that you are not better than us.
And i agreed with Cab,you guys did improve through the year,but so did we.So head to head cos thats all we have to go by at this moment NZ are on top.
About the grand slam,i dont know why you guys didnt play that one more game,Grand slam for SA was in the bag,especially if you played Ireland after England.But if you played Ireland after Scotland then you guys might have made a meal out of a snack
24 Dec 2008, 06:39 am
The Kiwis blow hot and cold though but they are the most respected team in world rugby for their no nonsence rugby style (I’ll forget the game in Japan which was boooooooooring) but they just don’t seem to win the games that matter..and that is what peope remember a team for. No world cup trophy means your reputation as the best in the world is up for serious debate.
The Super 14 will be very very interesting.
24 Dec 2008, 11:10 am
#219 Hurricane: Hey mate – yeah its a bit of a issue of pride for both SA and NZ fans to stand by their teams, but credit should be given where its due too.
Of course you cant expect anyone in SA to formally say to NZ, hey, you’re the best this year, and I have read a few SA posters on here congratulating the Kiwi guys. I think the SA fans should take it as a compliment that the Kiwi guys/fans/posters want that recognition from us
Good point about playing Ireland at those times… I wish we had played Ireland after England…
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