Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: Alan Quinlan in doubt for Lions tour after alleged eye-gouge

Sunday, May 03, 2009

Alan Quinlan in doubt for Lions tour after alleged eye-gouge

Munster Flanker Alan Quinlan will wait anxiously to see if he’ll still be on the plane to South Africa later this month after TV replays showed what looked like an attempted eye-gouge on Leinster captain Leo Cullen in the Heineken Cup semi final at Croke Park yesterday.

Quinlan will now wait to see if an independent citing officer takes action against him, which will probably result in a few months on the sideline.

Neil Best of Northampton received an 18 week ban for eye-gouging earlier this season, and Dylan Hartley, also of Northampton, was out for six months in 2007 after his similar offense.

Lions skipper Paul O’Connell naturally stood up for his teammate.

"Quinny isn't that type of guy.

"He is a tough player. It is the one thing he hasn't got in his record book. If it looked bad, I am sure there was nothing in it," O'Connell said.

If consistency in citing procedures is what the rugby world is after, then Quinlan will no doubt be watching his mates take on the Springboks from the comfort of his living room.

Time: 0:35

whoope first

By Anonymous, at May 03, 2009 2:39 pm
yer hes gotta go for that... a clear eye gouge. what a dog act. doesnt matter the lions will get dominated anyway. lions are weak as piss the last few tours. they need to get some heart if they have any chance

By Anonymous, at May 03, 2009 2:39 pm
i love the way the first thing the captin says is hes not that sort of player dont they always say that.
got to be band for that lions or not disgusting dirty act no excusses

By Anonymous, at May 03, 2009 2:47 pm
He deserves to get banned and miss his opportunity. There's no place for that in rugby and I don't care who you are. Despite being a Munster fan that is disgraceful and fully deserves to be cited and banned.

By Richie, at May 03, 2009 2:47 pm
That means Crofts probably going so....

By Anonymous, at May 03, 2009 3:01 pm
A player from Perpignanin the Heineken cup got 16 week without video evidence .... only the testimony from Ospreys players.
I think he should be banned, lets see if the erc got some balls.
If hes not banned i cant wait for sa journalists to enjoy themselves should Quinlan is on the tour, let alone playing a test.......

By Anonymous, at May 03, 2009 3:03 pm
Disgraceful...absolutely disgraceful. Whatever he gets he will deserve. It makes me so angry to see one sportsman do that to another...and especailly Quinlan who it seemed had become a mature, tough pro.

By Eoghan, at May 03, 2009 3:08 pm
bye bye lions tour

By Anonymous, at May 03, 2009 3:18 pm
knew well what he was doing.... but after the match looked like he was apologising to cullen.

would the lions management pick the same squad after that match i wonder!?

By bD, at May 03, 2009 3:20 pm
That's an eye gouge, weak.
That's gotta be the lowest act in rugby, seriously, trying to rip someone's eyes?
Ban him for at least three or four months.

By Anonymous, at May 03, 2009 3:51 pm
he isn't going 2 south africa
or at least he shouldn't be

By no9, at May 03, 2009 4:22 pm
As a disappointed munster fan, he has to be dropped from the tour. Accept the consequences for your actions. Pity cus Quinnie seems like a vgood guy, and be a loss for the Lions believe it or not

By Brennie, at May 03, 2009 4:22 pm
An alleged eye gouge?! That could be in the Evil B*stard's Guide to being a B*stard on the Rugby Pitch.

He shouldn't go on tour for that. Dylan Hartley's offence last year looked far less severe (or intentional) and he got, if memory serves, almost 6 months.

Did anybody see O'Connell have a dig earlier in the match, too? Bad skills Munster...

By Anonymous, at May 03, 2009 4:30 pm
I don't see how he can get away with that. But as previous people have said, if Croft goes in his stead that isn't a bad thing.

By Anonymous, at May 03, 2009 5:10 pm
in fairness, i'd let him off. simply because it was on leo cullen, who is simply put; a total cunt. and it was soft as well, i reckon he wasn't goin for the eye. he deserves to tour. tom croft really dosen't. mainly due to being a shite rugby player, but being totally unlikeble counts against him for me too

By Anonymous, at May 03, 2009 5:13 pm
Bye Bye to Lions opportunity for Quinlan. Must say I wanted Tom Croft to go, and I think he probably will go now. Bet Ryan Jones will be pleased as well. Stupid thing to do by Quinlan, and will be really annoyed with himself. Muppit of the first order - on this evidence one that the lions could do without!

By Bard, at May 03, 2009 5:25 pm
What an idiot....deliberate and he went for his eyes. Quinlan will get a long ban. Croft will go, he is having a good game against the Blues today, again.

By Anonymous, at May 03, 2009 5:34 pm
he should be banned.
Its disgusting

By mccaw, at May 03, 2009 5:41 pm
silly stuff...

By opfazonk, at May 03, 2009 5:42 pm
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

By Prop, at May 03, 2009 5:42 pm
As a huge Munster fan I must day that is disgraceful by Quinlan and he should get 6 months ban easy. That and grabbing the testicles are the two lowest things in rugby. There is no place for it and personally I think the ban should be a year.

By Anonymous, at May 03, 2009 5:43 pm
i hate munster and im not quinlans biggest fan but i can see where o connell is coming from here. it looks bad but i cant help feeling that he grabbed his face without thinking rather than going for an intentional eye gouge. if you look at the hartley incident he actually pushes his fingers into the opponents eyes. here quinlan sort of goes across the eyes and ends up pulling at the side of his nose. potentially dangerous but i dont think it was an intentional eye gouge

By caucau's no.1 fan, at May 03, 2009 6:52 pm
is there a place on the web where disciplinary decisions can viewed?
When we see the cheap shots and such like it would be nice to find out how much of a vacation the tards received.

By Stubbs, at May 03, 2009 7:02 pm
moron

By Anonymous, at May 03, 2009 7:03 pm
wow! that's blatant, he deserves the same as best.

what a scumbag.

By goodNumber10, at May 03, 2009 7:11 pm
it was a crime croft wasn't picked in the first place..

shame this is is gunna be the reason he goes. as for quinlan you have to feel a bit sorry for acting like such a cock. he'll never live that down..

By Anonymous, at May 03, 2009 7:15 pm
Cowardice.

By Boz, at May 03, 2009 7:26 pm
it looks bad but i cant help feeling that he grabbed his face without thinking rather than going for an intentional eye gouge. if you look at the hartley incident he actually pushes his fingers into the opponents eyes. here quinlan sort of goes across the eyes and ends up pulling at the side of his nose. potentially dangerous but i dont think it was an intentional eye gouge
+++++++++++++++++++

I see what your saying. How do you prove intent? Well obviosuly we can't get inside Quinlan's head and we are not going to get a secretly taped confession! In law speak this is what we call "strict liability"....we don't have to prove intent...we just have to have evidence that Quinlan acted in a dangerous manner to the other player. In this case he clearly grabs the face around the eyes and rakes his fingers across the eye area. Gulity as charged.

By Jonathan, at May 03, 2009 7:42 pm
Gobshite. He probably didn't intend to actually gouge Cullen's eyes, but he wanted to do enough to stop Cullen challenging at the breakdown. Either way, there's no place for that carry on.
ALso I reckon Feargal has just qualified himself (by his own stated standards) for getting a fencepost shoved up his arse for his comment...

By Anonymous, at May 03, 2009 8:27 pm
he is that kind of peron quinny is a fag seriously obvious gouge ban him like to see him off the lions hes awful

By Simo, at May 03, 2009 8:34 pm
whiners !

if croft can go i will be please

By Anonymous, at May 03, 2009 9:14 pm
Blues Vs Leicester highlights
DO IT RUGBYDUMP!!!

By Anonymous, at May 03, 2009 9:34 pm
coming from a leinster fan, it looks like quinlan is just trying to grab cullens head, but he's prone to doing stupid things after getting picked for squads, like last years 6nations. He will be banned

By Anonymous, at May 03, 2009 9:40 pm
Cullen is tussling with O'Connell and Quinlan reaches in to pull Cullen off. He definetely gets the eyes, but was there malice? hard to tell from the video, but itll have a big outcome on citing decision. I say it was agouge, and Croft should repalce him in the squad. A shame as Quinlan was, for me, an inspired choice.

By Doogle O'Manahan, at May 03, 2009 9:47 pm
as a munster man who always felt quinny was overlooked for the irish caps, i was delighted he got called up to the lions, but this made me sick.

he was a marginal entry before this so they have to get rid of him now. he needs a long ban.

By jones, at May 03, 2009 9:54 pm
As a munster man I say it honestly that was terrible, we all know Quinney is a chancer but that is poor form, would hate to see him miss a lions tour after that but its up to the rugby courts to rule.

Bad form

By Patron, at May 03, 2009 10:01 pm
for everyone asking if there was malice or not behind Quinnys actions, would he have appologised afterwards had he not intended it?

A spur of the moment stupid mistake, he probably just saw red. Still, he must be banned for that, if not we've got a seriously flawed system.

Bye bye Quinlan the lion, hopefully hello Ali Strockosch - IMO the most physical no 6 in the UK,wouldn't be seen taking a backwards step against the boks.

By Anonymous, at May 04, 2009 12:29 am
Ali Strockosch is injured.

Intent or malice is irrelevant to the analysis of whether he will be cited or banned.

By Anonymous, at May 04, 2009 3:32 am
Disaster. If there's any consistency in the Rugby world, Quinlan's banned.

He would've been just the man to keep those Dutchman farmers in check in the provincial matches as well, giving 'em back a little of what they'll undoubtedly deal out.

Croft's good, but he's not going to be able to deal with the prison-rules rugby out there.

Can't the citing committee turn a blind eye (ahem) until the end of July...? I know its wrong but Lions'll every inch of the niggling dirty bastard player he is.

By Unknown, at May 04, 2009 4:13 am
for feck sake, he was only tryin to grab back his face, nottin much in it

By Anonymous, at May 04, 2009 9:29 am
Ryan Jones tours!

By toppsy, at May 04, 2009 10:33 am
a clear eye gouge from quinlan
a poor commentary from o'connell

i can understand that a captain wants to protect his teammate but describe quinlan as a clean player...

By Flooz, at May 04, 2009 10:46 am
The irish media and munster people have for ages taken delight in Quinlan's behaviour. All this "playing on the edge" crap. This is what that looks like. I don't care what the excuse is you don't put your hand near another players eye. And that looked quite deliberate

He's a dirty player and this is nothing new, it's just that he got caught.

By Third Centre, at May 04, 2009 12:50 pm
thats 100% eye gouging and no one can deny that! good 3 month ban im guessing , ryan jones replacement?

By welshno7, at May 04, 2009 12:51 pm
i dont understand people who say he was trying to grab his face, how the hell do you grab someones face with out getting either there mouth, eyes or nose so he defently knew what he was doing, should get banned for 5+ months in my opion there is no place for that in the game

By Anonymous, at May 04, 2009 1:02 pm
Eye gouging is for f-ing cowards.
I have no problem with tough tackles, rucking, I love it when they punch on, face to face.
But eye gouging is low as hell.
I've been gouged, and there's nothing worse, someone sticking their fingers into your eyes, when your trapped at the bottom of a ruck. Low as hell.

By Anonymous, at May 04, 2009 2:40 pm
just gets worse the more you see it. really gets his fingers in.

im a big croft fan and understood when the chose quinlan ahead of him - played in bigger games, has more experience and knows more of the irish lads but after seeing that hes got to be off the tour

By Anonymous, at May 04, 2009 3:21 pm
i think they should let him go lions since its near the end of his career den after that ban him for long time! from a very dissapointed munster fan!

By Unknown, at May 04, 2009 4:21 pm
Yuck, what a disgusting thing to do! Hope he is banned for 6 months + can't have that sort of carry on in the game.

Cullens eyelid was all bloody when he was talking after the match. Meant to stick his fingers in, what a weak thing to do.

By Anonymous, at May 04, 2009 7:31 pm
It'll be a 12 week suspension, that is if it is deemed gouging. Either that or no suspension at all...silly by Quinlan.

By Anonymous, at May 04, 2009 9:48 pm
hes outta the lions tour,

its come through

:(

it goes from bad to worse for munster

By :(, at May 04, 2009 10:05 pm
It's not necessarily my opinion but if it's ruled that the contact with the eyes was accidential and there was no intent, will he still get done for reckless play likely to cause injury? If so, what is the typical length of ban for that? Basically is he out of the tour regardless of whether intent is deemed to be there or not?

By Anonymous, at May 04, 2009 10:10 pm
Such a shame, great player, and at his age not likely to get another Lions chance. He'll regret that for the rest of his life.

By 1314spirit, at May 05, 2009 12:28 am
He's not that great a player, he's solid. But he's also clearly a dirty cheating bastard. He deserves whatever he gets. Eye gouging is one of the worst things you can do on a rugby field.

By Anonymous, at May 05, 2009 7:43 am
Everybody here is focusing on Quinnys Eye gouging incident !! And yes i do believe that he will miss the your and probably deserves it in fairness, But coming on here and calling him a dirty B****** is just bad sportsmanship from so called fans ! His history of playing shows that this has never happened before or anything like it !! He is a tough tough player who plays on the edge.
Another thing too that i don't see people talking of is Stanley Wright taking Jerry Flannary out with a punch in the second half at the back of the ruck !!! Why has he not being cited as Cian Healy for Filty dropped shoulder on Ian Dowling, And i know he was binned for that but definitly more action should have being taking against him... I think everybody on here aiming horrible jibes at Quinny need to look further abroad and rewind to see the seriosness of the Wright and Healy incidents again.

By Anonymous, at May 05, 2009 12:21 pm
Check his history again. He's spent half his playing career injured and some of it suspended.
Good club player's player that's it. Muppets are not required on Lions tour.

By Anonymous, at May 05, 2009 12:31 pm
Martin Corry got a 6 weeks ban after begin found not guilty, I think he can forget about South Africa.

By Anonymous, at May 05, 2009 6:14 pm
surely 'just trying to grab his face isn't really a gud thing either!

wish quinney wasnt gonna get banned but he will so.....
Tom Croft or Ryan Jones? I think either would do a fine job.

By jonesy, at May 05, 2009 6:54 pm
ryan jones should have gone in the first place, peel cusiter or blair to replace o'leary

By Anonymous, at May 05, 2009 10:12 pm
Anonymous said...
Everybody here is focusing on Quinnys Eye gouging incident !!

wtf else are you meant to focus on u pleb, the video for this board clearly shows "Quinny" as all the munster boys call him ram his finger in Cullens eye.

Maybe we should chat about the gloves he wore or the lovely weather on the day of the match.

Get a grip whoever you are, he was caught being a dirty bastard, who knows how many times he has done that and got away with it.

Good Bye "Quinny"!!!

By Kenny, at May 06, 2009 2:08 pm
Croft is better than him anyway. God is re-picking the Lions squad.

By Anonymous, at May 06, 2009 2:40 pm
Punching is one thing.
Eye-gouging is another altogether. It's far worse. It's disgraceful and cowardly. There's not really a lower act in rugby, you don't attack someone's bloody eyes. Especially not when they're unable to defend themselves, at the botom of a ruck or in a tackle. Low as it gets.

By Anonymous, at May 07, 2009 1:23 pm
he just got a 3 month ban as i predicted

By welshno7, at May 13, 2009 7:51 pm
Way to blow it....he got a 12-week ban

By lalalala, at May 13, 2009 11:04 pm