Ex-Wales star hastily deletes post slamming rookie's 'kick in the teeth' selection
Former British & Irish Lion and Wales international back row Ross Moriarty has publicly lambasted one of Warren Gatland's selections, implying that it diminishes the sanctity of the Wales badge.
Moriarty took to social media after Wales' 20-9 win over England in their Rugby World Cup warm-up in Cardiff to express his discontent over the selection of Taine Plumtree for a Wales cap, despite the back row having played just six professional games.
Twenty-three-year-old former New Zealand U20 loose forward Plumtree featured off the bench against England, having just signed for Welsh URC side Scarlets this June. Moriarty clearly wasn't impressed that the son of former All Blacks coach John Plumtree had been fast-tracked into the team, having never played for a Welsh side and having just six appearances for Super Rugby outfit the Blues.
"'Must be a kick in the teeth to the back rowers who play in wales [sic] and moved back to wales [sic] to see lad who played 6 professional games get a cap for wales [sic] really takes the mick out of the passion for the badge" Moriarty posted in a reply to a picture of Wales' new cap on Instagram.
Moriarty's remarks have added fuel to the ongoing speculation about the nature of his relationship with Warren Gatland's Wales management and his exit from Welsh rugby.
Earlier this year, the 28-year-old, who was on the periphery of Gatland's Rugby World Cup plans, formally opted out of Wales' selection altogether.
Moriarty returned to Wales in 2018 from Gloucester and made 54 appearances for the club, earning 35 caps for Wales during his tenure at Rodney Parade. However, recent frustrations over his national team prospects and Welsh rugby in general seemingly pushed him to leave Dragons in April in order "to explore opportunities overseas" - namely with new club Brive in France.
Notably, Moriarty's sister is married to Cardiff flanker Thomas Young, who also returned to Wales with the hope of earning test honours. Unfortunately for him, Young also found himself surplus to the national team's requirements after just four caps, the last of which came in 2021.
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All of these media pundits always miss the obvious whenever they analyse what is ailing or assisting the game. Rugby always has contentious points for debate when picking apart individual games and finding fault with itself. All this focus and scrutiny on “speeding up the game”, “high ball in play” etc is all contextual to the fan. As a tv viewer, if you’re absorbed into a game, regardless if your team is playing or not, more ball in play time and action are all byproducts of the contest. A good contest subliminally affects your memory in selectively remembering all the good aspects. A poor contest and your brain has switched off because its a blowout and the result is never in doubt or it’s a real chore to watch and remain engaged throughout. The URC, Top 14 and English premiership are all competitions that feel like there’s real jeopardy each week. The dominance of Super rugby by NZ teams was unhealthy from a sustainable interest perspective. You can’t fault those teams or the players, but the lack of competitions won by SA and Australian teams long term was always going to test the faith and patience of die-hard and casual fans from those regions. SANZAR took their eye off the fans and fans voted with their feet and subscriptions. They were so concerned about expanding their product they forgot the golden rule about broadcasting live sport. Viewers tune in more when there’s an atmosphere and a true contest. You need to fill stadiums to create one, host unions need to do more to service ticket buyers, and this year proves the other, there’s more interest in Super rugby this year only because more games are competitive with less foregone conclusions. All these micro statistics bandied about, only interest the bean counters and trainspotters.
Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
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