Nepo Laulala was sin-binned for a swinging arm to the head of a Namibian player, while things got heated between Argentina and England following a red card. Photos / Getty Images, Photosport
Nepo Laulala was sin-binned for a swinging arm to the head of a Namibian player, while things got heated between Argentina and England following a red card. Photos / Getty Images, Photosport
COMMENT:
Five red cards and 17 yellow cards have been dished out at this World Cup; the highest number since the first Cup kicked off in 1987.
Twenty-eight games have been played here in Japan. There are still 20 to go and the confetti of colours will continue to bebrandished in the faces of often bewildered players because World Rugby is committed to punishing contact against an opponent's head, whether it's accidental or otherwise.
There's no going back.
Will the game suddenly become safer as a result? Probably not. Rugby is a collision-based game of constantly moving parts which at the highest level is played at a freakishly high pace. Contact with the head will never be removed.
This is not a criticism of World Rugby's desire to improve the safety of players – the game's ruling body has a responsibility to do so – but the reality is there will still be head injuries; that's just a fact.
Another is that as a result of the crackdown a lot more players will be sent off, probably over the coming weeks during the knockout phase when the intensity and desperation of the players go to ever-higher levels.
All Blacks prop Nepo Laulala is shown yellow against Namibia on Sunday. Photo / Mark Mitchell
We can't blame the officials, because they've been left in no doubt about how they should rule on tackle height. But the difficulty for World Rugby now, apart from the glaring inconsistencies of the judiciary in apportioning sanctions for foul play, is that there are few allowances for how the ball is being carried into contact.
The reason neither Nepo Laulala nor Ofa Tuungafasi was red-carded for high tackles during the All Blacks' 71-9 victory over Namibia at Tokyo Stadium was that the ball carrier was falling at the time of contact. That was the official "mitigating circumstance" described by referee Pascal Gauzere.
But if the ball carrier hadn't been falling it wouldn't have been a high tackle.
It's a catch-22 situation which will no doubt be used as a defence by the finest legal minds money can buy here.
As an aside, England's Piers Francis must have employed one of the finest to escape a ban for his shoulder to the head of USA fullback Will Hooley, an ugly hit which looked very similar to Tomas Lavinini's against Englishman Owen Farrell recently.
The only difference was that the Argentine was red-carded and faces a ban of up to six weeks.
The other issue in terms of how the ball is being carried is the body height employed by tight forwards in particular. They go very low because that's how they've been taught. In fact, Pumas hooker Agustin Creevy leads with his head into virtually every contact.
That's a problem. Australia's Samu Kerevi was recently penalised for leading with his forearm; will we get to a point where players cannot dip their heads?
Pumas lock Tomas Lavanini is given his marching orders against England. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Players also must use their arms to tackle, and fair enough, but if you swing an arm into contact then you're more likely to connect with a player's head. It's a bit of a pickle and there's no easy solution for even one of the finest rugby minds in the game.
"I think the two yellow cards were fair under the guidelines we've got but it is tough," All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said.
"When a player is falling like that and you're committed there are going to be times when you make a connection and I'm not sure how you avoid that because if you don't use your arms then you're going to be done for a no-arms tackle. It is very difficult.
"I think that's why they've allowed the mitigating circumstances and it only becomes a yellow card. The powers that be have asked us to tidy it up and I think each team are doing their best but the circumstances are just about unavoidable and unfortunately, that's just where our game is at the moment."
