Ireland’s choke tackle use slammed

Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards has launched an attack on Six Nations rivals Ireland by criticising their use of the choke tackle.

Ireland are widely seen as the prime exponents of the method, pioneered at Test level by their defence coach Les Kiss, which aims to keep ball carriers up off the ground and easier to strip the ball from, or if not, create a maul which can often lead to a defensive penalty as the attacking team takes it to ground. Joe Schmidt’s side visit Cardiff for their Six Nations round four fixture on March 14 and ahead of Wales’ round three visit to Paris to meet France, Edwards has declared his distaste for the practice.

“I think the choke tackle is very, very dangerous. To me, it’s a bit of a blight on the game. It encourages people to tackle high. Everyone is going on about concussions and people tackling too high. Well, let’s start with that,” Edwards said during a Wales press conference yesterday.

“Does anyone here think it adds to the game in any way? Do any of you think it makes the game more exciting?”

Ireland fans might beg to differ given the success their team has had with the choke tackle in securing key turnovers and they will take comfort from Edwards’ previous form in this regard. Before the opening game of the 2015 championship, he questioned the legality of England’s “rugby league plays”, accusing Stuart Lancaster’s players of using runners to block defenders.

England responded by highlighting Welsh use of what they consider a legal and universally employed tactic and had the last laugh when they came away from the Millennium Stadium with a 21-16 victory.

Edwards also played down speculation linking Wales and Lions centre Jamie Roberts with an exit from Racing Metro back to a Welsh region next season.

However sources have confirmed the Welsh centre will leave Paris at the end of the season.