The Ioane tackle was way worse. In Warburton's case the runner was partially involved in getting off the ground.....the Welshman lifted and then dropped him. In Ioane's case he lifted the player by himself......and then drove him into the ground. It was the perfect spear tackle. Warburton getsa red and Ioane gets away with a yellow. Go figure!
It largely depends who you are playing for, and who you are playing against. Anyone playing against a South African has a lot of leeway. Remember this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1P1vpbhLQM
Ex Sports 24
Sydney - Wallabies winger Digby Ioane is facing possible suspension after being cited for foul play over a lifting tackle during the Reds' 27-22 Super Rugby loss on Saturday to the Sharks in Durban.
Ioane was sinbinned during the match over the tackle in which he lifted and drove Sharks flanker Marcell Cotzee backwards.
SANZAR said the citing commissioner reviewed the incident on video after the match and deemed that it met the threshold for a red card for foul play
But of course he never got a red card which is par for the course and to be expected.
That was a nasty tackle; full of malice. I hope he cops it in full.
What is certain is that if this incident had involved an SA payer and an Oz/nz ref were officiating it would have been a red. 100 % certain.
Now that actually is the crux of the matter. What is being done to put these down under refs right?
Wales were terribly hard done by with the Warburton red.....it ruined years of preparation. In fact the RWC started to become unsatisfacory with that decision. Warburton realized what was happening but simply failed to repair the damage by dropping rather than lowering the player. Ioane intended to smash Coetzee into the deck and did so with gusto. It was a way worse tackle. His suspension at least sets things right after the fact.
Warburton got what he deserved. Granted, Digby's was far more malicious, but both amount to the same thing. Warburton's was far, far more dangerous. It's a mute point though as a grossly overrated Welsh side went home where they belong.
The Welsh were a good side at the WC and would have given the hapless abs something to think about had they met.
Like to see the Welsh play the abs in a three test series.
Wales were hopeless against us, even with the ref and a forward pass leading to a try they still couldn't break us. Every time we had the ball we damaged them, every time we were in their half we scored points (that with an injury crisis for most of the game). They then played a Samoan side who only had two days rest and a Namibian side who only also had little time to prepare or rest. This bloated their reputation. They beat a poor Ireland side and were again toothless against France. New Zealand would have trounced Wales.
