But the question that Britain has been asking in recent years is, should these matters be left to rugby? At what point does violence on the playing field become a judicial matter? At what point do we ask whether the high numbers of assaults on a Saturday night are nurtured by unpunished violence on the field of play.
I think there are many myths and assumption surrounding the issue of violence in sport. I think one myth surrounding this problem is that the people committing these acts of violence on the sports field shouldn’t be criminally convicted because they are doing such things in a controlled environment. I personally think this statement is false. I think that apart from sports such as boxing or MMA athletes should be held accountable
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Packer talks about the journey he has been on and of not putting his kids in that position again. He seems to talk rather less about his victim.
But Packer comes from a shockingly permissive culture, and by that I mean rugby league. Bashing people is almost part of the sport. Is it any wonder that after a few drinks some of that behaviour spills out onto the streets.
11 years ago a player stamped on another player's head after he had scored a try. Judge Beatrice Bolton said, "If one were to look at it in strict law, every week, week in, week out, in clubs up and down the country, offences of assault are committed by rugby players. That bruise was the sort that happens within the rough and tumble of a rugby match and is neither here nor there. I am flabbergasted that the Crown Prosecution Service wished to continue with this."
She continued to the jury, "Do players normally go to the police as a result of a foul or a stamping? This happened in a game of rugby, which you and I saw from the beginning and witnessed behaviour that I hope you don't see too often elsewhere but see all the time on the rugby