Nobody asked me, but… what was with all the faux outrage - from commentators and punters alike - when Hurricanes and All Black’s midfielder Ma'a Nonu let rip with a foul-mouthed outburst on live radio during a post-match interview.
Apparently, Nonu dropped the dreaded F-bomb seven times in a short span, clearly in an agitated state, after he'd played a star turn in the Hurricanes win over the Chiefs a week or so ago.
Nonu let loose with his stream of invective during a radio interview immediately following the Hurricanes' 33-27 victory over the Chiefs in Wellington. He had scored two tries as his side fought back from a 15-24 halftime deficit.
The bustling 2nd five eight’s after-match rant earned him stern rebukes from both the Hurricanes and NZ Rugby Union management, following outrage in talkback land about his post match interview.
NZRU General Manager of Professional Rugby Neil Sorensen said he had met with Nonu seeking an explanation for the repeated swearing during the radio interview.
Here’s an explanation for you Neil, he is just a boof-head footballer who is just not that bright. End of.
It doesn’t take an Einstein to figure that one out. And anyway, one would have thought that NZFRU had more things to worry about than a few ill chosen words by a nice, but not too clever, player caught up in the hype of a good win.
But no, this was something the patrons of our national game were going to fix and fast!
Obviously under pressure from the risk of bad press, the fish heads at NZRFU HQ decided the reputation of the national game was at stake and they had to act with haste. Nonu’s penance included undertaking a mea culpa by making a full public apology and admitting he'd let himself, the game and the youth of the country down with his choice of words in the interview.
"Ma'a and I met and discussed the incident and he acknowledges that he has let himself down on this occasion," said Sorensen.
"Ma'a has been reprimanded and will be required to undertake a community project including a school visit to talk about the responsibilities of being a Professional Rugby player."
All I can say is thank God for the NZRFU! It is good to see they have all the important stuff under control.
Obviously, sending the burly, dred-locked mid fielder out to a whole bunch of lower-decile schools to tell the kids that “swearing is not ok” is going to be the panacea to all the ills that currently confronts the game of rugby in NZ. Not!
Just how big Ma’a’s “F*^k, I am f*$king sorry kids for saying f#%k a little to f*&ken often” is going to bring the crowds back to rugby, improve the NZRFU coffers or keep our best players from heading off overseas has got me beat.
But then again I am not one of our national rugby game’s wonderful administrators. For instance, I would never have been able to come up with the brilliant idea of reinstating the exact same coaching panel who took the All Blacks to their worst ever World Cup performance for another four years so they could have another cracking at failing!
Yip the state of rugby in this country is in great shape when the NZRFU can proudly s boast about one of its stars: “Look it’s Ma’a – and there is no swearing!”
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