Rugby is a sport all about physicality. Never mind the uncontested conversion kicks, which only occur after all the scrums and tackling leading to the 5-point score. And nothing says you played a barbaric and physically demanding sport like proving your toughness in a fight. Enter Pote Human, head coach of Major League Rugby’s Houston SaberCats. Human was visibly infuriated after opposing coach Oliver Richardson talked in an allegedly intense way to his players during a water break, so Human charged onto the field to verbally spar with Richardson. Any human, including Human, knows what’s coming next. They’re coming to blows. Well, whatever you call the open-hand, wind-up, sort-of-connected slap from Human was next.
The hilarity of the 63-year-old Human, a longtime rugby player, and head coach, instinctively throwing a love tap at Richardson instead of a fist is off the charts. In the heat of the moment, it’s an odd decision. Playing Monday morning quarterback from the incident which took place last Sunday, it’s hysterically terrible. I’m not sure Human or anyone else could even recreate that motion. Was it a bunch of fake bravado that Human was so mad, he threw a lackluster slap? Of course the flimsy strike drew a crowd to separate Richardson from Human, but not before Richardson threw a normal-looking punch at Human’s face. Both Human and Richardson were ejected from the game and given a six-week suspension, a fine and required community service from MLR for the confrontation.
How on Earth can anyone take Human seriously after that slap? If he ever gets into a fight again, know that he’s losing because the long wind-up, plus lack of delivery, looked more like an inexperienced professional wrestler than anyone who’s actually been in a real fistfight before. And after he’s made a career as a player and head coach in a barbaric sport, you’d expect much better. And Human didn’t. I’ll be laughing the rest of the day at his swing and follow through.