Munster point to 'illegal' hits after diving jibes from Danny Care
Munster's Ben Healy after receiving a late tackle from Joe Marler of Harlequins. Picture: INPHO/Gary Carr
As a former fly-half, Stephen Larkham knows what it is like to get a bit of treatment from opposition forwards and accepts the application of pressure is all part of the game.
Yet both the Munster senior coach and Conor Murray believe Harlequins crossed the line of acceptability in that regard last Sunday night.
We may be closer to this weekend’s second round of Heineken Champions Cup pool action than last week’s opening-round clash at Thomond Park but the niggle on display in Limerick has continued. And the tangible evidence of a shoulder injury to Munster academy fly-half Ben Healy as a result of a late hit off the ball during his side’s 21-7 win that means he will miss this Saturday’s trip to ASM Clermont Auvergne has added weight to the Irish side of the argument.
That did not stop Harlequins scrum-half Danny Care accusing Munster players of play-acting last Sunday, using his platform on the BBC’s podcast to hit out at perceived theatrics from the home side and bias by Irish touchline officials for a game in which Pascal Gauzere issued four yellow cards, three of them to visiting back-row forwards.
It was Healy’s treatment that irked Munster, the 21-year-old replacement seemingly singled out for two late hits in short succession, the first of which earned Quins skipper Alex Dombrandt a yellow card, from which the fly-half nailed a penalty from inside his own half to double down on the punishment.
Larkham, a World Cup-winning number 10 for Australia, agreed that pressuring fly-halves was “part and parcel of the game, definitely”.
“Whether you run at the 10, whether you’re tackling him or trying to put pressure on him before he passes the ball, it’s definitely a part of most teams’ gameplans,” the Munster coach said.
“What I didn’t like about the weekend is the way they went about it. It was illegal, it’s illegal and I think the ref dealt with it, the citing commissioner looked at it and deemed it wasn’t more than a yellow card so I think it’s done. It’s done now.
“The sad news is that Ben misses a couple of weeks because of that.”
Earlier yesterday, Care’s podcast comments had aired with the former England scrum-half saying: “You go after every No 10, anything we did to their 10 was done to our players. We thought we were playing PSG a couple of times with all the rolling around and diving and complaining.
Care added: “I loved the game, it was niggly, feisty – England v Ireland. It made me feel like I was back in a Test-match environment,” while his opposite number Murray dismissed the comments as podcast talk.
“Ah, it’s a podcast. There’s so much talk in podcasts these days, do you know what I mean? It’s just lads chatting. To be honest with you I don’t think anything is meant by it.
“I’m sure if you ask Ben Healy if it was a dive I don’t think so. There’s a scan on his shoulder that shows you a little bit different.
“I’m not digging back at anyone because I know what podcasts are like. They’re lads having a bit of craic. I don’t even know if I will hear it or whatever. No, I don’t think that’s a fair comment.”
Murray also took his fair share of punishment earlier in his career while just three years ago after a particularly feisty night in Scotstoun he hit out at the “unsafe” and very dangerous” attention he was receiving from Glasgow Warriors players after box-kicking.
Yesterday he did not dispute that it was an aspect of the game that should be better policed.
“Yeah, I’d agree with you. The hit on Ben was just late and reckless,” Murray said. “That’s not going after someone, that’s just going against the laws of the game and no-one likes to see that.
“Putting people under pressure is different I think. Putting you under pressure for time or shouting at you, all that kind of stuff, to try and distract you is fine. I think that stuff, especially if it causes serious injury, you don’t want to be putting people out of the game for weeks.
“With everything that has come about the game and things like that it’s definitely an area that needs to be looked at and cared for.
"Sometimes you can get badly hurt and that’s just part of the territory, but as much as the officials and the referees and the people who are in charge can look after players then I think that’s got to be done.
“I think people being out for weeks or going out to try and injure people isn’t the way the game should be played. It’s a contact, I know there’s a fine line as well but recklessness and seriously injuring people just isn’t any team talk or ‘prep’ I’ve been involved with, so I don’t think it should be part of it.”
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