I think this might be the first original rugby idea of Moffie's that I've ever agreed with. Good idea!
Is it a solar eclipse, did lightning strike....who got hit by the meteor? Hahaha.....but thanks.
mate habana landed on his upper arm yachvilli landed on the back of his neck. in othet words warburton nearly killed a playet or paralyzed him. habana wad in no danger at all so yellow was bang on.
It's not just a question of the result, although being human that obviously influences refs...it's also about the tackle itself. Warburton stopped short of driving the player into the ground.....he actually dropped him. Hooper followed all the way through
hooper did follow all the way through, but when u wtach it in normal speed its so hard to stop that.
personally i didnt think there was anything wrong with the tackle, yes it was technically illegal, but common sense needs to be applied and considering that habana landed on his back, thats what makes it ok in my books.
it shouldnt be the legs going past the horizontal line which consititutes a tip tackle, it should be the torso/head going past the horizontal towards the ground.
hoopers tackle was a good tackle.
IMO league have got it over union in this area, cos hoopers hit would have been a good hit period.
and arent all tip tackles meant to be red card??? ref made the right call though.
I tend to agree Sasu. To me the greatest risk of neck injury is from taking away the jumpers legs, in lineouts or kicks....or at the breakdown when the fetcher is hunched over the ball. My point was not that Hooper's tackle was particularly dangerous, but that it was more dangerous than Warburton.
Hooper claimed to have not heard the whistle which was a lie because Habana stopped running and Hooper launched in and followed through with the tackle. It looked like a massive hit but really, who cant pick a guy who is basically stationery up and drive him down. Habana did not propel his body weight forward and try bump Hooper over or resist his tackle at all. Hooper just got carried away. You can see Hooper actually have to launch into Habana as Habana did not run into him like he expected, pick him up, thrust his legs up from the ground so he was on his toes and drive him down. Tackle in pure frustration with the intent to get a roar from the crowd.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X-g7UvCSRo
The only reason it should be a red card is because players have been warned time and time again not to lift an opponent off the ground in the tackle. I would understand if Habana jumped into the tackle but he had stopped running. What did Hooper need to "pump" him for? If Warburton gets a red, so should everyone else. Doesn't matter what the result was.
If a lineout jumpers legs are taken, 9 times out of 10 the guy will be ok. Its that 1 time that no one wants to see and thats why that is not allowed. Same with a tip tackle. 9 times out of 10 it will be fine as the guy protects his fall. Its the 1 time that it can go really wrong. It should not be judged on the result of the play. It should be judged on the legality and intent.
Just like taking drugs into Kuala Lumpur. You are forewarned that the penalty is death. That means dont do it because you know the result. It doesn't matter that the drugs were intercepted at the airport and never actually made it in! Fact is, you knew the result before you did it. Same with tip tackles. Players should know that its a red card before they do it. No exceptions!
I do agree with you though Mozart, the culprit should be red carded. 10 mins later a reserve should be allowed to come on. You would hate to see a great game ruined or an asshole with an ego like Pocock or Hooper put their whole team at such a massive disadvantage because they cant control themselves.
Another thing I would like to see happen is time stopped for set plays (ie. Time stopped the min a touch judge raises his flag until lineout is formed and the min a ref blows for a scrum to the sec it is formed.) None of this walking to lineouts and messing around over a scrum for 2 or 3 mins. Sometimes you are only getting a good 5 or 6 mins value from a yellow card. It just became clear to me on watching the Bok replay how much rugby is actually getting played. If you record a game and fast forward all those little stoppages and watch only the action, you can watch an 80 min game in 35 - 40 mins! Way too many seconds spent doing nothing!
