Elbows and Punches Herald Collapse of Hurricanes Season?

Is this it?  Is this the start of the Hurricanes annual season collapse as it has occurred every other year?  I awoke today to news that punches were thrown (and some reports also include the throwing of an elbow between team mates before the round even gets underway!  Lome Fa’atau seems to have gotten on the wrong side of hard man Jerry Collins and copped an elbow to the face at an after match function following the Hurricane’s loss this round.  Apparently the fight was broken up inside the bar, however Fa’atau was understandably livid and the boys had another crack outside the bar.  Not so good for team discipline, but at least the other players that were there came together to pull them apart.

Also on the bright side, it seems no member of the public was involved this time, and also there is no complaint from the owner of the establishment where the incident occurred.

However, of concern for Wellington fans is the conflict within the team with two games to go in the Republic before they return home. After last weeks surprise loss, this can’t be good for team building, especially now that captain Tana Umaga is out of the picture, probably for the rest of the competition.

Coach Cooper has left open the question of whether or not the two will be suspended for this weeks game, preferring to leave it until the team is announced on Friday.  Given past suspensions of Tialata and Nonu after their brief foray into team boxing, it seems that consistency would dictate that the two ought to be suspended for this round.  It is, however, clearly a discretionary matter and will be dealt with internally.  

This is exactly the kind of attention that a team on the edge can do without.  It will either make or break their season depending on how the team responds to the incident and adverse publicity.  The media machine has latched onto it and now all the references to role models and hobby horse preaching will get underway in earnest.  For reports on what happened, click here and here and here!

I find it hard to believe that professional athletes engage in this sort of conduct after matches.  This is the kind of thing you would expect at schoolboy level, not at Super 14 level.  Surely these guys can keep whatever grievance they have against each other under control and behave in a civilized manner.  I am guessing that alcohol will have had something to do with it and I would like to know what team management is doing again allowing this sort of thing to go on in the Republic.  Why do these things happen with such frequency over there?  It is about time that team management took a guiding role and influenced these players in their choice of unwinding after the game.