When professional athletes go bad

[tag]Trevor Brennan[/tag] is [tag]Irish[/tag] [tag]rugby[/tag]‘s answer to [tag]Vinny Jones[/tag] – a genuine [tag]hard man[/tag], not the kind of guy you’d pick a fight with. Last weekend he flipped during the [tag]Ulster[/tag]‘s visit to his home town of [tag]Toulouse[/tag], and “allegedly punched” an Ulster supporter in the face.

When I say “[tag]allegedly punched[/tag]” I mean “beat the crap out of, in front of thousands of witnesses, reporters and cameras, leaving his victim in shock with a suspected fractured skull”. That kind of “allegedly punched”.

I’ve always been a fan of Brennan, he’s the kind of honest hard man, straight up. I really enjoy Trevor Brennan’s Diary, ghost written by Gerry Thornley.

I am also a big fan of rugby’s honest [tag]toughness[/tag], I like to compare it to the ancient salute – [tag]Strength and Honour[/tag]. None of the diving and rolling around on the floor you see in soccer these days.

But no matter what the provocation, that behaviour was not acceptable. He should not have done it no matter what the perceived insult to himself, his family or his beer. There is no place in [tag]professional sport[/tag] for [tag]athletes[/tag] [tag]losing the cool[/tag] like that.

[tag]Eric Cantona[/tag] was wrong. [tag]Roy Keane[/tag] was wrong. [tag]Zinedin Zidane[/tag] was wrong. And Trevor Brennan was wrong.