Gregor Paul: Tacklers required to lower their sights

The All Blacks know the importance of being technically perfect on defence. Photo / POOL

It was in 1991 when the Northern Hemisphere learned Pasifika rugby had a bone-crunching element to it.

Western Samoa came to the World Cup and almost took off a few heads. Those who saw it will never forget the carnage they caused against Wales in their opening game.

The fabled Cardiff Arms Park was littered with broken bodies that had never been tackled so hard or so high. Welsh hardman Richie Collins sat ashen-faced on the bench in his numbers ones, forced off with a dislocated shoulder from one of Apollo Pereleni's destructive tackles.

The likes of Brian Lima, Frank Bunce and To'o Vaega made their share of explosive, chest-high tackles, too, and it was little wonder that many years later, former All Blacks captain Sean Fitzpatrick revealed he and his fellow All Blacks had pre-warned a few of their northern compatriots what may be coming their way.

Fitzpatrick and his All Blacks teammates had long been exposed to this explosive tackling following an influx of Pacific Island players into New Zealand.

These high-impact, explosive athletes changed the mindset in New Zealand and defence became viewed as an offensive weapon; an opportunity to win back the ball.

The audience lapped it up and so did those charged with marketing the fledgling professional game. No one seemed to mind or care if the collision point was the head - that was all considered part of the entertainment.

We now live in a different world. There is no longer an acceptance that the head is an occasional casualty in the quest to deliver the sort of rugby fans want to see.

World Rugby has taken a militant stance and opted against referees having to consider mitigating circumstances: a tackle that collects the head is foul play and will be penalised even if the referee deems the contact accidental.

That much is clear and the only task for the referee after he has awarded the penalty is to determine whether there was intent, and if so, should the sanction be a yellow or red card.

This stance isn't going to change before the World Cup - or possibly ever - because World Rugby wants to force players to lower their contact point in the tackle.

It is the right thing to do. But with high tackling endemic, glorified and celebrated in New Zealand, the battle to eradicate head shots is going to be long and challenging.

Those pushing the line that rugby has lost its carnal essence couldn't sound more out of touch than if they were advocating for VCRs as the machines of the future.

Everyone can see that big games will swing on moments of ill-discipline. England killed any chance of a comeback against Scotland at Murrayfield last week when they lost a man to the bin for not using his arms in the tackle.

The Blues were pipped by the Highlanders after flanker Antonio Kiri Kiri was binned for a high tackle, and the decisive moment in the Crusaders-Chiefs match was a penalty try to the Crusaders after high tackle on Ryan Crotty.

The All Blacks know the importance of being technically perfect on defence and it is one of their major goals this year to improve their discipline.

An across-the-board tightening is required but a heavy focus will fall on how players are entering contact. They have to be lower - not by much, but enough to ensure they are eliminating the risk of being caught out if the ball carrier changes position and to ensure if they do ride up after the initial hit, they don't connect with the head.

This adjustment isn't optional, it is compulsory. Rugby in the Pacific can still find its place in the world order but it's about 30cm lower than it was in 1991.