Talk:Martin Johnson (rugby union)

Obvious bias in this article
I have moved the paragraph on the "ireland issue" to the bottom of the article. Irrespective of it's bias it does not belong at the top of the article. It is a small side point and as such it's place is at the foot of the article.

217.22.84.253 (talk) 08:05, 17 April 2008 (UTC)

There is an obvious lack of objectiveness about this article in the following quote...

"....The only downpoint to this season was Johnson's perceived snub of the President of Ireland at the pre-kick off presentation. This was caused by the Irish trying to disrupt England's pre-game preparation by messing them around. Johnson was instructed to the wrong part of the red carpet, and then told to move. Johnson refused to rise to the occasion and so the Irish team lined up on the grass, and the Irish president had to walk on the grass to meet them."

All italisized words are my emphasis for illustrative purposes.

Firstly, the snub was not merely "perceived" - here the author is clearly trying to downplay an incident which has caused a major controversy in an attempt to turn the reader's opinion against the Irish.

"messing them around" - is a remarkably poor use of English; a colloquialism that is appropriate on the pages of Wiki. When the author mentions "caused by the Irish", who are they referring to? The Irish spectators? The Irish team? London Irish rugby club? The Irish Times? Again, poor use of English (language). According to BBC's web report on the match, Johnson "refused to move his players from the left-hand side of the pitch where the Irish side customarily line up." (Full Article) The BBC accept that they know where Ireland line up by their choice of words. It is also worth noting that Martin Johnson has played at Lansdowne Road before, so it would be reasonable to suggest he knew where he was supposed to stand.

"instructed" - is the author telling us that Johnson was actually told where to stand? What evidence does the author have? I ask because in the same BBC online article as quoted above, Johnson himself affirmed that "nobody had explained anything about the positioning to him before the game". So we have it from Johnson that he was not instructed to stand where he did. Author, please explain your actions.

"rise to the occasion" - this is yet another attempt to get sympathy for the English team by continuing to imply that the whole event was orchestrated. To rubber stamp the point that this was NOT contrived, the (English) Rugby Football Union later sent a letter of apology to President McAleese for the team's behaviour regarding the incident.

I would like to ask the author if the situation was the other way around, and an Irish team captain had made Queen Elizabeth II stand off the red carpet and onto the grass in Tickenham, would the English public be expected to not comment on the affair?

Regardless of the what led to the situation (which was not, as we have seen, part of a plot to upset the British) forcing a guest of honour to step off a red carpet and onto turf displays a complete lack of respect - something that is very unbecoming of a professional sportsman and national representative.

Unless I am convinced otherwise by discussion here, I will edit the paragraph in question shortly to more accurately reflect the incident.

Broddo 19:58, 22 May 2006 (UTC)


 * Broddo if you go back to the edit on 2 March 2006 you will see the wording of the original entry which appears to be more accurate and impartial.

Have just checked that out. Well, perhaps when I revise this, I'll use most of the wording from the March 2nd version, although there is still some inaccuracy within that. Basically, I want the facts there, without opinion - i.e. lets present what happened without commenting on who was right or wrong. (if that's possible) - now, does anyhone want to help open this cans of worms I've just picked up?? Broddo 21:39, 22 May 2006 (UTC)


 * Well it is a touchy one isnt it. However it was a pretty significant event at the time as I would say it deserves to be mentioned here without any bias. To leave it out would be like mentioning Tana Umaga and ommiting 'that' tackle or ignoring Scott Quinell's addiction to pies. Adam777 21:50, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

I looked up the edit that changed the paragraph in question into the Irish bashing and followed the links to the user in question and read over other edits he takes it upon himself to administer. I have reverted the article to its prior version as the edit in question was, quite frankly, nonsense. Adam777 17:45, 24 May 2006 (UTC)

I am still not keen on the current wording of the incident. "downpoint" seems a little negative, surely it would be better mentioned as a "controversy". "customary position", i'd argue that it was actually the IRFU departing from the customary position that caused the problems. If no one minds, i'll post a revised edition later. Mjs59 00:52, 1 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Considering that MJ had played at Landsdowne Road before and the team positions were supposed to be identical to each of the prior occasions then I think 'customary' is the correct use of language. This wasnt his first rodeo, however the paragraph is neutral enough. Adam777 21:53, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

I have removed the "Controversy in Ireland" section. It was placed in the middle of the article and given more prominence than the World Cup Win of 2003. It is a bootnote at best and needs to be rewritten if it is to be included. Spudbynight (talk) 17:27, 11 March 2009 (UTC)

More bias-- the Ireland issue has mysteriously dissapeared off the page

Well if you look at the post above you will see why. It needs to be rewritten objectively before inclusion. Spudbynight (talk) 16:19, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

I don't know why spudbynight deleted the paragraph but I have restored it. The incident in Ireland was significant. Donoreavenue (talk) 03:09, 28 February 2010 (UTC)

Hello Duncharris
Hello there, how are you? Right then, one would assume that as a wikipedia editor that you would be committed to adding neutral, balanced material to Wikipedia...or we could all behave like you pal.

So if you want to revert to your racist postings PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE continue to do so. As for the issue in question please provide me with one single article nay-saying the information I added. Johnsons PERCERVIED sunb of the Irish President was big news in 2003 and your racist labeling of 'Irish Whinging' doesnt do wikipedia any good.

I look forward to discussing this issue with you like adults (that means grown ups). Wikiepedia asks that we discuss our difference of opinion. I have reported the 2003 controversy in what I consider to be neutral language, if you wish to validate your claim of 'Irish Whinging' then I look forward to your reply. Adam777 23:48, 24 May 2006 (UTC)

Removed POV from header
I've removed the POV statements in the header which laud Johnson as the greatest Rugby player/captain/forward of all time. If someone has a noteworthy source which lists him as one of the greats, we can add a statement along the lines of: "Source listed Johnson as the greatest lock forward of all time". Until this happens, the article should not have such a blatent bias in the header, even with tags. →Bobby ← 16:01, 28 November 2006 (UTC)


 * You clearly know very little about rugby, and have not done any research either. Rugbyball (talk) 20:07, 11 October 2011 (UTC)

WikiProject class rating
This article was automatically assessed because at least one article was rated and this bot brought all the other ratings up to at least that level. BetacommandBot 23:32, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

Honours Section
I added the Austrlia tour in the honours section as well as the series results. It's an honour to be picked for the tour. Boils (talk) 03:06, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Requested move

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section. 

No consensus to move. Vegaswikian (talk) 21:45, 21 February 2011 (UTC)

Martin Johnson (rugby union) → Martin Johnson — The former Leicester and World Cup-winning England captain and current England manager in rugby union is surely the primary topic. A Google search for "Martin Johnson" shows the vast majority of results relate to the rugby player/manager. The Celestial City (talk) 17:26, 13 February 2011 (UTC)


 * Martin Johnson → Martin Johnson (disambiguation)


 * Oppose I believe that Martin Johnson (rugby union) is regionally famous in Europe. However, a Google search of the US Senator Martin N. Johnson comes very close to Martin Johnson (rugby union). That, however is regionally to the United States. The primary topic needs to reflect a world outlook. It appears the oceanographer Martin W. Johnson has received the most worldwide coverage and Martin Johnson (rugby union) receiving the most recent coverage. Alpha Quadrant    talk    20:59, 21 February 2011 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.


 * Sipport; this Martin Johnson is more siginfiicnat thaan the others. Rugbyball (talk) 20:08, 11 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Oppose. I would support the move to Martin Johnson (Absolute tit) as an alternative. Bjmullan (talk) 21:50, 11 October 2011 (UTC)

Gate receipts from testimonial to charity?
Can anyone find a contemporary source for the claim that all the gate receipts from Johnno's testimonial went to charity? The only one I can find is clearly a copy and paste from this wikipedia article. THe nearest I can find is here: Here which says "A healthy percentage of the Twickenham gate receipts will go towards the three charities closest to Johnson's heart - the NSPCC, the Macmillan Cancer Relief fund and Sparks,"

That's clearly not the same thing as "all of the gate receipts" which the article says.Skeene88 (talk) 13:19, 5 February 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Martin Johnson (rugby union). Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20111027230745/http://www.irb.com/history/halloffame/newsid%3D2060049.html to http://www.irb.com/history/halloffame/newsid%3D2060049.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 08:40, 4 June 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 2 external links on Martin Johnson (rugby union). Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://archive.is/20130616063106/http://www.barbarianfc.co.uk/player-archive/profile/1696/m-o-johnson to http://www.barbarianfc.co.uk/player-archive/profile/1696/m-o-johnson
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20161220125527/http://www.leicestertigers.com/news/9235.php to http://www.leicestertigers.com/news/9235.php

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 05:11, 29 November 2017 (UTC)

External links modified (January 2018)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Martin Johnson (rugby union). Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120905120557/http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16017_5609554,00.html to http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16017_5609554,00.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 11:34, 19 January 2018 (UTC)