List of controversial Aszar Rugby Cup matches: Difference between revisions

= Murder of Tulrulis Kiunat =

''ARC 1932 Semi-final; Turl Arla Rugby Club vs Lunstschatra Rangers (match conceded to the Rangers)''

By far and away, '''1932-TARC-LNCR-3''' stands uncontested as the most infamous match in ARC history. It was the culmination of a three-years long rivalry between Turl Arla and the Rangers, centering around long-standing personal grievances between TARC scrum-half Lókka Jazulra and LNCR hooker Tulrulis Kiunat. The two exchanged words and occasionally blows over the course of the championships, often not even during a match day. On November 12, 1932, Kiunat scored a controversially awarded penalty shortly before half-time to bring LNCR to a 21-19 lead, and allegedly taunted Jazulra about it on the way back to the changing rooms. Enraged by this, Jazulra hid a switchblade in his boot; when play resumed, he approached Kiunat from behind, retrieved the knife, and slit his throat. Since murder was not explicitly banned in the ARC rulebook at the time (it was amended later, and nicknamed "the Jazulrule"), Kiunat was [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penalty_card#Red_card red carded] for "dangerous high tackle". He was later found guilty of premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison. Aru Jamat, the TARC coach, immediately fired Jazulra from the team and conceded the match to the Rangers, who went on to lose the grand final 15-26 to the Svigrun Soldiers. Turl Arla Rugby Club's reputation was permanently tainted, and it deregistered from the ARC three games in to the 1933 championship, citing low morale and hostility from fans. Oterszan United, who narrowly missed promotion to the ARC in 1932, took their place and went on to place thirteenth.

 

== Introduction of the Headcount Rule (1926) ==

''ARC 1926 Week 5; Oterszan Crows 58 - 39 Lantirdais United''

Before 1926, although the ARC said that teams should be made of fifteen players, with a further eight to wait on the sidelines as substitutions, it never set out any penalty for having more than fifteen players on the field. As such, during the second half of '''1926-OTSC-LTDU-1''', Crows coach Taren Akrosra sent all eight substitutes onto the field simultaneously. With such a large numbers advantage, they managed to score five tries before the referee was able to convince the Lantirdais manager that there was nothing that could be done about the situation, at which point he retalliated by sending all eight Lantirdais substitutes onto the field as well. After news of this broke, the next two weeks of matches across Aduraszna were effectively played 23-a-side until the ARC managerial board finally instituted the Headcount Rule. However, the 23-a-side matches proved to be so novel and popular that teams would occasionally host "Headcount games": friendly matches played in the off-season where the fifteen player limit was raised to a pre-agreed number, typically from 20 to 35. One match between the Crows and the Daukran Dek Warrior Cats had ninety players on each side, mostly made of volunteer fans, and was described by one commentator as "the funniest waste of professional rugby players' time since they invented the bronze medal final".

 

== Malicious use of the Headcount Rule (1928) ==

''ARC 1928 Week 28; Faisluns 1st XV 29 - 3 Lantirdais United''

During '''1928-F1XV-LTDU-2''', Lantirdais United realised that the Headcount Rule meant you could request a headcount whenever it looked like your opponents were about to score. This tactic was used successfully three times, costing Faisluns an estimated 19 points, but the referee eventually caught on to this tactic and simply ignored the Lantirdais players' headcount requests. Realising what was happening, Faisluns coach Rusrun Zhailmera sent an extra three players onto the field. Lantirdais requested a headcount twenty further times over the remainder of the match, but to no avail. The rulebook was later amended such that any request that does not reveal extra players would result in a yellow card for the player who asked for the count, and a penalty for the opposing team.

 

== Malicious use of the Headcount Rule (1942) ==

''ARC 1942 Week 21; Oterszan Crows 7 - 0 Oterszan United''

78 minutes into '''1956-OTSC-OTSU-2''', the Oterszan Crows set for an historic defeat of 7-85. Three Crows players banded together and kidnapped United substitute Kelkaletsz Val from the sidelines and threw him onto the pitch. As he was getting up, a co-conspirator demanded a headcount, and since Val was technically on the pitch at the time, United's score was wiped to zero. The Crows successfully stalled the remaining two minutes of play and were controversially allowed to keep their win on the record, since there were few eyewitnesses and, it being 1942, no further proof beyond he-said-she-said. The incident was only confirmed as real and not simply urban legend in 1995, following the publication of one of the Crows players' memoirs, ''Cheeky & Sneaky''.

 

== Headcount Rule following a mass brawl (2003) ==

''ARC 2003 Elimination Final 1; Vasri'ia Communist Party Reserves 0 - 156 Rikevaarland United''

Early in the second half of '''2003-VCPR-RKVU-3''', a dangerous high tackle from Rikevaarland right prop Reile is'Tordalen sparked a brawl between the teams. All but three of the VCPR substitutes ran on to the pitch to join in. The fight went on for three minutes before it was eventually broken up, and Kurandian referee Stephen Marzen made the controversial decision to dole out thirty-five red cards: one for each player on the pitch. Rikevaarland captain Arrus Leie then requested a headcount; with five extra players clearly on the field, the VCPR's 28-10 lead was wiped away. This started a second, shorter, brawl that led to the suspensions of five VCPR players. With half an hour still to play, the managers were forced to send on the only players who could still compete in the match - the substitutes: three for the VCPR (since five had been red-carded) and all eight for Rikevaarland, who scored an average of just under one try per minute, resulting in the biggest defeat in history in an ARC play-off.