Like it or not, the new tackle laws are here to stay
The flanker attempted to tackle Scarlets scrum-half Aled Davies in the same manner he had been doing all his career. With a low centre of gravity, the Scarlets No. 9 dipped low in an effort to make the try line from a few yards out and Reidy tried to wrap the ball with his hand.
Even under the new directive the maximum sanction, in my view, was a penalty. Italian referee Marius Mitrea, perhaps suffering from opening night fever, overreacted by awarding a penalty try and a yellow card to the Ulster No 8. If anyone deserved a sin binning from the incident it was Andrew Trimble, who followed Reidy into the contact area with a swinging arm.
Mitrea’s decision cost Ulster a badly needed win and could have massive consequences for the season and, by extension, their management. You had better get used to issues of this nature turning big games and with the Six Nations looming, World Rugby will be praying that such a call won’t decide one of the key contests.
Forget that. It is destined to happen and we can only hope that it doesn’t cost Ireland dearly. Problem is, on the evidence of the games I watched over the weekend, attempting to achieve consistency across the board from officials is asking a lot.
One has to say that the motivating factor behind rugby’s governing body is absolutely correct. In a detailed survey, having examined 600 incidents over 1,516 professional contests, it emerged that 76% of all head injury assessments (HIA’s) for concussion surround the tackle area. There will be contentious decisions along the way but if this action takes the shoulder charge to the head or the high tackle out of the game, it will be worth it.
It is rare to attend any game now without seeing a player having to undergo a HIA. In the vast majority of cases, they rarely return to action and the focus on the recent incident involving George North against Leicester when he was inexplicably allowed back onto the field has only served to reinforce the issue.
As a consequence of their findings, World Rugby has redefined illegal (high) tackle categories and increased sanctions to deter such tackles via a law application guideline.
Since January 3, the minimum on-field sanction for a reckless (high) tackle will be a yellow card with a maximum of red, while the minimum on-field sanction for an accidental (high) tackle will be a penalty.
The big dilemma that I see for the officials is attempting to adjudicate on what is reckless and what is accidental. At the extreme ends of the scale that won’t pose a difficulty but, even with video replays and the intervention of the TMO, it isn’t always going to be clear cut.
As a result much will come down to the interpretation of the referee.
Some officials such as Nigel Owens will be happy to apply common sense and empathise with the tackler as, technically, this new directive includes situations where the ball-carrier slips into the tackle. But zero tolerance is supposed to apply.
All well and good but already in the games I watched there were inconsistencies galore. Reidy and Scarlets second row Jake Ball were yellow carded for incidents that only elicited a penalty in other contests.
Hanno Dirkson wrapped both arms around the neck of Connacht scrum-half John Cooney from behind yet was only penalised by John Lacey in an act that would have led to a yellow card by most officials under the zero tolerance directive.
Yet Lacey had a very good game and exercised his judgment in the heat of battle which I respect. Trouble is, referees less experienced than Lacey and Owens will be afraid to apply such logic under the zero tolerance directive, hence you will see massive inconsistency.
The stated goal of the governing body is to lower the height of the tackle and change the culture with regard to reckless and accidental contact with the head. That is an aspiration we would all agree with but achieving it, without sanitising to game to the point where players are afraid to make a tackle, will prove challenging and result in a raft of contentious decisions over the next few weeks.
One hopes such a call won’t influence the outcome of Munster’s visit to Scotstoun next Saturday. Despite a record of one defeat in the last 11 games and three in the 17 competitive outings this season, including that win over the New Zealand Maori, questions remain in some quarters as to the merits of this Munster side.
he fact that Leinster and Racing 92 fielded understrength teams in those recent contests is being used as some sort of caveat when it comes to evaluating the level of improvements made this season to date.
That is rubbish and won’t impact on Rassie Erasmus one bit as he assesses the strides made on both the individual and collective fronts. Munster too have had to rotate their personnel — 11 changes made from that St Stephen’s Day win over Leinster to the side that beat Connacht in Galway on New Year’s Eve.
The only thing that matters is winning games. Every professional squad has a minimum of 40 players on the payroll and the whole purpose of being there is to perform when presented with the opportunity to start.
As I pointed out last Monday, Racing fielded a side against Munster last weekend populated with international players including six All Blacks.
Attitude wins games and Munster are displaying plenty of that at present. Glasgow represent another big test and you can be sure that their attitude and commitment will be at a different level to what Munster encountered in Paris.
Gregor Townsend is entering the last five months of his tenure in charge before taking up the reigns of the Scottish national side. He has already proved himself on the domestic front by winning the Guinness PRO12 with a dominant showing in that 2015 final, beating Munster convincingly by 31-13 in Belfast.
He now wants to make an impact on the European stage and reach the quarter-final stage for the first time in the club’s history.
Eleven of that starting Warriors side are still on board and, despite that trouncing in Limerick earlier in the pool, they will harbour no inhibitions on Saturday. Playing on the artificial 4G surface offers them an advantage from the outset, not least because they play on it once a fortnight.
Of more importance, it facilitates the high tempo, offloading game that Townsend has championed ever since taking over.
Munster will be buoyed by their last-gasp, one-point win in Scotstoun only six weeks ago when Ian Keatley rescued the PRO12 match points with that drop goal at the death. It could prove equally tight on this occasion.
