No sympathy for Sergio Parisse, Wales add to their bench and George North’s Da won’t be invading the pitch again.
He’ll always have Parisse
We have the feeling that Shaun Edwards is as straight-talking a man as they come. The Wales coach is not a man to suppress his opinion and with Italy looming at the weekend, Edwards wasn’t holding back regarding his opposition’s most important man, Sergio Parisse.
The No 8 was sent off while playing for Stade Francais at the weekend for something he said to referee Laurent Cardona and a hearing tomorrow could see him banned for six weeks. Confusion still surrounds what the Italian said, if anything, but Edwards wasn’t following the innocent until proven guilty mantra.
“It’s not a surprise to me that he has been done for speaking to the referee. It’s nothing he hasn’t done before,” Edwards said to the BBC. “Last Friday we were watching the tape back from our match against Italy last year, and he came out with profanities in the referee’s ear-shot and saying what he was going to do to one of our players, so it is no surprise to me that he has been done for back-chatting to the referee.
“On that footage you can clearly hear what is said in the referee’s microphone. He was saying what damage he was going to do to one of our players.”
If Parisse does escape sanction, we bet he will have a few choice words for Edwards on the sideline.
Welsh bench pressed into action
After naming his XV for the Italy game just days after the win over France, Wales boss Rob Howley has resisted the temptation to tweak it, saying it is just reward for how they played in Paris.
He has, though, added some steel to his bench with Sam Warburton and Alun Wyn Jones available if required.
Howley will hardly need them to beat the Italians but a sharpening run out in the final 20 minutes should have the pair back in the hunt for a start in the final two games of the Championship.
North senior to stay put from now on
The pitch invasion of George North’s Da to celebrate with his son in the win over France was one of the highlights of the Six Nations Championship so far.
Sadly, the prospect of Mr North repeating the trick again is very, very slim after his family stepped in to say no more.
According to the BBC, North junior was ‘embarrassed’ by his Da’s over exuberance but even worse for the over-excited father, his wife shouted at him after the game and the Welsh wing tells us that his father has now learned his lesson.
We’re disappointed but if North scores a cracker against England, at the Millennium Stadium, in the final game of the tournament to win the Championship for Wales, then we wouldn’t be surprised to see Mr North join the celebrations again.
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