Listen Pat, Piutau's punch was not in self-defence!

After Tuesday evening’s Premiership match between Bristol and Northampton, Pat Lam decided to have his say about the three-match bans handed out to his captain, Siale Piutau and Worcester’s Andrew Kitchener following their recent punch-up.

- COLIN BOAG

He’d obligingly set this up pre-match by saying he’d have more to say after the game, and not surprisingly BT Sports trailed this extensively, encouraging us to stay with their coverage to hear what Lam would say. The following evening Worcester’s DoR, Alan Solomons, had his say, and the incident between Piutau and Kitchener was extensively replayed, giving us the chance to make up our own minds.

In a nutshell, Lam’s view was an emotional one, while Solomons, formerly a partner in a Cape Town law firm, was clinical and based on what he saw as the facts. Lam started by telling us about Piutau the man, and it was yet another of those rugby moments we’ve got used to over the years: a player gets a ban for an act of violence, and colleagues spring to his defense telling us he’s not that kind of player, despite the evidence showing that on at least one occasion that’s exactly what he was!

Lam claimed that Piutau had been ‘attacked’ by two players and that while under common law he would have the right to defend himself, in rugby a player isn’t allowed ‘to strike back’! He then had a whinge about Kitchener not being charged for swearing at the referee – I listened to the interview with nothing short of incredulity!