Hit Parade: Michael Jones claims Union is Soft, Wants Son to play League

All Black legend, Samoa coach and Patrick Swayze lookalike, Michael Jones, is well know for being a religious man; so religious that he has turned down the opportunity to play in career-defining games which are to be played on a Sunday. But it's a muscular christianity that he obviously follows, after comments about the attitude of Rugby World Cup Ltd. to foul play during the tournament.

"If it carries on this way, I'll be telling my son to go play rugby league," he told The Times, "It's part of our DNA, the way we were wired up, to tackle hard, and unfortunately you can't afford to tackle too hard now."

Hence Brian Lima coming back in to face England and hopefully put the jitters on Olly Barkley. Lima's entry off the bench in Samoa's game against the Springboks was short and not particularly sweet - he's a big man who tracks passes and loves to hit receivers high on their blind side - but he got it wrong, gave himself a comedy concussion and narrowly avoided a citing because he'd missed the head and got the chest. The only player who got cited after the Springbok game was Schalk Burger; Tonga ended up with 13 players. So what's Jones whingeing about?

There's a fair chance that this sort of puff piece to the print media is a way of deflecting criticism from Jones' management of Manu Samoa so far. Two games played and only 22 points scored, with 78 conceded. A loss to Tonga, over whom Samoa have always had the knock. Selecting Gavin Williams at full back and giving him orders to play a tactical kicking game just hasn't worked out. Now, Manu Samoa have no chance but to mix it, throw the ball around and try to maximise their advantages, ie. pushing defence to - and maybe past - the limit of the laws and spirit of the game.

Looking at the citing process so far, it has been fundamentally inconsistent. The first round of matches produced some citings and a few bans - one spear tackle, one trip, one high tackle - but since then, nothing bar a couple of sendings-off (one of which Samoa benefited from) have appeared on the radar. Lima's intent should have been enough to get him a warning; Gareth Thomas' cheap shot on Berrick Barnes needed a ban. But nothing. So, you've got to ask the question: unless it's purely tactical, why the whinge from the the antipodean press and Polynesian coaches?

Maybe there is a bigger taste in the south for the sort of mentalism which surrounds the Willie Masons of the sporting world; fair enough. You pay your money and of course, you can make your choice about which game you want to watch. Union, league or WWE. But it's a short step from the uber-butch king hit culture to having corn rows put in, giving props to your Gs and dogs and greeting every big hit with a "brrrrap, brrrrrrrrap!".

Peace out, broes...