Martin Clark

@ProgressiveRug 1/2 Dreadful case and situation. For those ref bashing, a few comments. 1. Read the ruling IN FULL. 2. Duty of care in rugby is EVERYONE'S responsibility, not just the referee. 3. Insight into the expert witnesses. They were both the best in the business. ....

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@seledka_vodka @narindertweets .... and, have the government figured out the cost to the public purse of private schools claiming vat back on all of their capital development projects in past and future years. They invest quite a lot in education projects. Another element of 'face palm' that rises from this.

1. You noticed! Woohoo! 2. Ridiculous argument. Financial services and banking are businesses, yet they’re VAT-exempt in the UK, just like burial and cremation services. Should we start taxing these too? Why? 3. No evidence yet since the event hasn't occurred. Surrey schools are already raising concerns. Feel free to experiment with your own children (if you have any, I don't know), but leave mine out of it. 4. How much and for what? Don’t bother answering - I know you’re clueless. You haven’t really delved into the details. 5. Again, how would underprivileged kids benefit from this policy? No need to respond. We know you’re unaware, uninterested, and even if you were, comprehension would elude you. For your enlightenment (pun intended): - We’re already spending £60bn on state schools. Additional cash from VAT on private school fees is a mere drop in the ocean. - We employ 470k teachers in the state system. Extra teachers hired with funds from independent school VAT wouldn’t make a dent. This policy is nothing but a class war act. No need to white-wash it (see what I did there?).

1. We aren't in the EU. Lol 2.a private school is a business and should be taxed as such 3. There is no proof parents will leave private schools en masse and flood state 4. State schools urgently need the money. 5. It is not middle class parents being punished but poor kids in state schools.

@nedboulting Brilliantly done 🙌

@brianmoore666 Politicians (mainly the conservatives) have taken the piss out of the electorate since Boris got involved with Brexit campaigning..... until respect for the electorate returns turnout will be low.

I'd be interested in your views on the low turnout figures so far posted.

@CharlieFelix Very interesting piece. With womens rugby on the rise, there is the opportunity for the RFU to get that model right early on. I'd be interested to see what you uncover there.

Long-read on player payments down English rugby union’s pyramid. A fascinating, often murky subject. 💬 Swirling gossip 💷 £300 per game at level 8 🤝 A £6k transfer fee at level 5 🛏️ ~£10k in cash under a bed 🤠 “More than the Wild West” telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/20…

@ladbible Those m&s pigs.

Name a worse sweet

@CharlieFelix For the second time in 7 days..... What A Game!!!

psst France-England U20 is a slobberknocker.

@char1iewatts @gingerarab look at this. I thought this was a dream when I moved there in the 00's...... but we did this a few times to get to M'field (in the mid 90s?). Good Times.

Forget the underground. Bring back the Bristol Flyover

@APCOAUK @CitizensAdvice At what point does receiving repeated, false Penalty Notice claims from APCOA Parking UK become harrasment? Granted, it's once a year, but you should be able to cancel repeated false flags with minimal human effort.

@ryanwilson89 The blind side flanker and 8 had released their bind from the scrum, thus they were no longer in the scrum and had to retreat to the off side line. They didn't do so and the blindside flanker was in an offside position when he moved to play the ball and score the try. Simple.

Completely disagree… I think Glasgow were robbed here. So many little intricacy’s but the fact the ref goes looking for a reason not to award the try is the most frustrating…. If this was a home game for glasgow it’s a try…

@SamLStandsUp @will_owen9 It's more 'usual' when a defence rules & creativity is low. With the 6N near we may see it a lot more with ENG. For me there are other instances in the game where people in front of the ball play a part when they are/should be out of the game e.g. protecting the box kick catcher.

@ClarkClarkmac @will_owen9 Is there a real concern here? For me, the fundamental issue is that people are highlighting this because they think it happens all the time, yet this period of play has become so significant because it's so unusual. That's the incoherence of it.

This clip has done the rounds today, and I think it's important that instead of assuming it's just "boring rugby", we make an active attempt to discuss why the teams are kicking and what they're trying to achieve. Here's my interpretation & analysis of that kicking battle. (1/2)

@SamLStandsUp @will_owen9 Yep, a good but not hugely interesting dual. The 5m law is not the problem... it's the 'retreat to be 10m away' element of the law that is the issue. Change that to 20m and could you solve the problem? It would also penalise poor up and unders which are a coach (and fan) killer!!

@will_owen9 There's some brilliant kicks in there as well. Bath get within a gnats quaver of getting it over the top for a 50/22 on a few occasions.

@CharlieFelix I've not watched the game yet but will happily Ffwd through that passage of play when i get there. Dull. Pat Lams thoughts on calling a mark between 22 and 1/2 way line were interesting.

Bath very in tune with the Dupont loophole that states you can advance from an offside position once a catcher has travelled five metres. When Will Muir finally does get a charge-down, though, Gloucester benefit from the ricochet. Please can we close the loophole? It's trash.

A NEW WORLD RECORD! 🤩 Harlequins are proud to announce the Club has broken the World Record for attendance at a Women's Club match for the third year running 👏 📲 bit.ly/BigGame15World… #COYQ #HARvGLH #BigGame15

Amateur rugby but make it elite 💪 @winchesterRFC are in great shape after winning promotion to Level 6 and taking on 35 new players in the process, allowing them to field four teams in total. Tap below to read more 👇

#SuellaBraverman being given a spoof ‘D*ck of the Year’ award by the ‘lovely’ Left. Now just imagine the outrage and meltdowns from the same Leftists if Conservatives had done the same thing to Shabana Mahmood. #LeftistHypocrisy

Robert De Niro’s full statement on Trump. Please read and let me know your thoughts: I’ve spent a lot of time studying bad men.  I’ve examined their characteristics, their mannerisms, the utter banality of their cruelty. Yet there’s something different about Donald Trump. When I look at him, I don’t see a bad man. Truly. I see an evil one. Over the years, I’ve met gangsters here and there. This guy tries to be one, but he can’t quite pull it off. There’s such a thing as “honor among thieves.” Yes, even criminals usually have a sense of right and wrong.  Whether they do the right thing or not is a different story — but — they have a moral code, however warped. Donald Trump does not. He’s a wannabe tough guy with no morals or ethics. No sense of right or wrong. No regard for anyone but himself — not the people he was supposed to lead and protect, not the people he does business with, not the people who follow him, blindly and loyally, not even the people who consider themselves his “friends.” He has contempt for all of them. We New Yorkers got to know him over the years that he poisoned the atmosphere and littered our city with monuments to his ego.  We knew first hand that this was someone who should never be considered for leadership.  We tried to warn the world in 2016. The repercussions of his turbulent presidency divided America and rattled New York City beyond imagination.  Remember how we were jolted by crisis in early 2020, as a virus swept the world. We lived with Donald Trump’s bombastic behavior every day on the national stage, and we suffered as we saw our neighbors piling up in body bags. The man who was supposed to protect this country put it in peril, because of his recklessness and impulsiveness. It was like an abusive father ruling the family by fear and violent behavior.  That was the consequence of New York’s warning getting ignored. Next time, we know it will be worse. Make no mistake: the twice-impeached, 4-time indicted Donald Trump is still a fool. But we can’t let our fellow Americans write him off like one. Evil thrives in the shadow of dismissive mockery, which is why we must take the danger of Donald Trump very seriously. So today we issue another warning. From this place where Abraham Lincoln spoke — right here in the beating heart of New York — to the rest of America: This is our last chance. Democracy won’t survive the return of a wannabe dictator. And it won’t overcome evil if we are divided. So what do we do about it?  I know I’m preaching to the choir here.  What we’re doing today is valuable, but we have to take today into tomorrow – take it outside these walls.   We have to reach out to the half of our country who have ignored the hazards of Trump and, for whatever reason, support elevating him back into the White House.  They’re not stupid, and we must not condemn them for making a stupid choice.  Our future doesn’t just depend on us. It depends on them. Let’s reach out to Trump’s followers with respect.  Let’s not talk about “democracy.”  “Democracy” may be our holy grail, but to others it is just a word, a concept, and in their embrace of Trump, they’ve already turned their backs on it.  Let’s talk about right and wrong.  Let’s talk about humanity.  Let’s talk about kindness.  Security for our world.  Safety for our families.  Decency.  Let’s welcome them back.  We won’t get them all, but we can get enough to end the nightmare of Trump, and fulfill the mission of this “Stop Trump Summit.”

@HCM_mallen @AndyGoode10 @WorldRugby @rugbyworldcup Yep, the red cards in fhe first 2 games of the tournament disappear for the next 20+ games and then return in fhe final. Inconsistency will kill the game.

@AndyGoode10 The red card decision was correct. I think the question that @WorldRugby and @rugbyworldcup needs to address is why didn’t we have the same level of TMO scrutiny throughout the tournament? If we had I think we may have had different finalist.

Kiwi’s will hate this but the red card for Cane is completely the right call, shoulder to head, upright in tackle therefore always illegal, with force and no mitigation. Just because it’s a World Cup Final you can’t tackle like that

@WayneBarnesRef Very well deserved. Enjoy it. 🙌

It is the greatest honour of my career to be given the responsibility of refereeing a Rugby World Cup final 2023.