Italy vs All Blacks
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Actually I think on this occasion the All Blacks wearing rainbow laces is appropriate and a great gesture.
Last week in Cardiff, Gareth Thomas, a former captain of the British and Irish Lions, a Welsh legend and a much respected opponent was attacked in the street for no other reason than his sexuality. He was a victim of a hate crime.
The All Blacks are wearing rainbow laces in solidarity with Gareth Thomas and all other people who face discrimination and violence for who they are. Well done, the ABs.
@sparky Agree 100% A measure of the man -
Former Welsh rugby player Gareth Thomas has issued a heartfelt response to the All Blacks' announcement that they will wear rainbow laces in Saturday's Test match against Italy at the Stadio Olimpico.Thomas, who had already thanked the French and Welsh rugby administrators, quickly responded via his own Twitter account.I wish I could put in words what this means.
https://t.co/1z7yTwVelt
— Gareth Thomas (@gareththomas14) November 23, 2018"I wish I could put in words what this means," Thomas said.
Thomas posted a video on social media the day after the attack, thanking the police and revealing that he had opted to deal with his attacker using restorative justice.The former full-back said he chose to talk to the perpetrator, a 16-year-old boy, about the harm he had caused, "because I thought they could learn more that way than any other way".
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Nope not me,
FFS politics and homosexuality should keep right out of sports. I don't agree with this. Let rugby be rugby without turning it into a human right campaign for every group.
I certainly agree that Sport and Party Politics shouldn't mix. Generally I loathe PC virtue signalling too.
Last week's attack on Gareth Thomas makes it different though. Gareth has been a great friend to New Zealand Rugby and is a personal friend of some of the All Blacks coaches and players. A Rugby legend who is attacked and abused in the street deserves the support of one of the world's most famous Rugby teams.
I am glad that Gareth isn't badly hurt. Hopefully the kid who attacked him will learn from the incident, do a bit research about Gareth and what a hard bastard and a fantastic player he was on the Rugby field.
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Nope not me,
FFS politics and homosexuality should keep right out of sports. I don't agree with this. Let rugby be rugby without turning it into a human right campaign for every group.
@nightmarehitter .........and we've been here before - 1981 I believe?
