Waratahs vs. Sunwolves
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Dominating performance. Really starting to look like a team that deserves to be in the playoffs.
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Yes. That call ruined the game altogether. A few minutes before, Sunwolves were ahead. Masirewa was late in pulling out and I felt that momentum did the rest. Definite penalty for a late/dangerous tackle. But, it really bugs me that this can justify a red card as it becomes a lottery in any match. The player and tackle were low, and his arm hit the ground before the head in this case, but the player could not cushion his fall.
After also watching the disgraceful Brazilian, Neymar in the World Cup it worries me that any rugby player who is caught in a potential tackle could make sure his head hits turf in the fall to earn a red card and victory. Simply, if you feel your legs lifting in a low tackle a player might allow his head to hit turf after a cushioning arm, to do this. Maybe stupid, maybe heroic, but potentially game-changing.
Maybe I am a bit too worked up about this and need correcting...
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@arhs said in Waratahs vs. Sunwolves:
Yes. That call ruined the game altogether. A few minutes before, Sunwolves were ahead. Masirewa was late in pulling out and I felt that momentum did the rest. Definite penalty for a late/dangerous tackle. But, it really bugs me that this can justify a red card as it becomes a lottery in any match. The player and tackle were low, and his arm hit the ground before the head in this case, but the player could not cushion his fall.
After also watching the disgraceful Brazilian, Neymar in the World Cup it worries me that any rugby player who is caught in a potential tackle could make sure his head hits turf in the fall to earn a red card and victory. Simply, if you feel your legs lifting in a low tackle a player might allow his head to hit turf after a cushioning arm, to do this. Maybe stupid, maybe heroic, but potentially game-changing.
Maybe I am a bit too worked up about this and need correcting...
Too far-fetched IMO. Which player would deliberately land on his head and risk a concussion that could take him out of the game for weeks, if not months? He would have to make a movement to change his direction/landing in a split second. That could go horribly wrong. I also don't think refs/TMOs would fall for it, because it would most likely be visible on the footage.
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@stargazer said in Waratahs vs. Sunwolves:
@arhs said in Waratahs vs. Sunwolves:
Yes. That call ruined the game altogether. A few minutes before, Sunwolves were ahead. Masirewa was late in pulling out and I felt that momentum did the rest. Definite penalty for a late/dangerous tackle. But, it really bugs me that this can justify a red card as it becomes a lottery in any match. The player and tackle were low, and his arm hit the ground before the head in this case, but the player could not cushion his fall.
After also watching the disgraceful Brazilian, Neymar in the World Cup it worries me that any rugby player who is caught in a potential tackle could make sure his head hits turf in the fall to earn a red card and victory. Simply, if you feel your legs lifting in a low tackle a player might allow his head to hit turf after a cushioning arm, to do this. Maybe stupid, maybe heroic, but potentially game-changing.
Maybe I am a bit too worked up about this and need correcting...
Too far-fetched IMO. Which player would deliberately land on his head and risk a concussion that could take him out of the game for weeks, if not months? He would have to make a movement to change his direction/landing in a split second. That could go horribly wrong. I also don't think refs/TMOs would fall for it, because it would most likely be visible on the footage.
And spinal injury.
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@arhs said in Waratahs vs. Sunwolves:
Yes. That call ruined the game altogether. A few minutes before, Sunwolves were ahead. Masirewa was late in pulling out and I felt that momentum did the rest. Definite penalty for a late/dangerous tackle. But, it really bugs me that this can justify a red card as it becomes a lottery in any match. The player and tackle were low, and his arm hit the ground before the head in this case, but the player could not cushion his fall.
After also watching the disgraceful Brazilian, Neymar in the World Cup it worries me that any rugby player who is caught in a potential tackle could make sure his head hits turf in the fall to earn a red card and victory. Simply, if you feel your legs lifting in a low tackle a player might allow his head to hit turf after a cushioning arm, to do this. Maybe stupid, maybe heroic, but potentially game-changing.
Maybe I am a bit too worked up about this and need correcting...
Pretty sure a Tongan player tried something very similar against NZ in RWC2015? Maybe not hitting the ground with his head on purpose, but certainly jumping/leaning forward into a tackle to get his head lower than his hips.
But maybe just my one-eye not judging distance/angles correctly. -
Thing is you have a split second to prepare for a fall, and you can learn how to fall properly (usually to fall as safely as possible) so in theory you could make that split second decision to milk a penalty or card, but you'd think the self preservation instinct would be the over riding one that your mind goes to first.
