Tackle should be a tipping point

GAVIN CUMMISKEYtalks to former referee Alan Lewis and London Irish lock Bob Casey about the sending off of Sam Warburton on Saturday

THE SAM Warburton red card demands further examination from an official and player viewpoint. To do so, the opinions of recently-retired international referee Alan Lewis and London Irish lock Bob Casey have been garnered.

First things first, Alain Rolland has previous in this regard. The 2007 World Cup final referee reacted in a similar timely fashion to send off Toulouse centre Florian Fritz in the Heineken Cup pool game against London Wasps on January 23rd this year. Like Saturday’s semi-final between France and Wales, Rolland made an immediate decision, when Fritz dumped Tom Varndell, without consulting his touch judges.

The law is unambiguous but the message to players, dating back to the first Lions Test against New Zealand in 2005 when Brian O’Driscoll was speared by Keven Mealamu and Tana Umaga, remains unclear, according to Lewis: “Rollers did nothing wrong, he made a judgment call. The law talks about driving or letting the player go. The onus is on the tackler to bring the player down safely. Therein lies the problem in a collision sport.

“I’ve seen four separate challenges from this tournament, two of which looked worse, to me, than Warburton’s tackle. And they weren’t even cited.

“This is where I have sympathy for Alain, not that he wants my sympathy; he made an unemotional decision. He has refereed the game, overall, superbly and you got this unfortunate incident that will overshadow this game for years.

“There hasn’t been a clear and definitive ruling on tip tackles going back to 2005 when Drico had his one,” Lewis continued. “Every single person in the game said something has to be done about this and nothing has been done. That’s where the problem lies”

Cian Healy’s hit on Quade Cooper in the pool match on September 17th was, arguably, a similar offence but it went unsanctioned, while Warburton made a similar “tip”, or “spear”, tackle on Ronan O’Gara last week.

They always look worse in slow motion. Especially when the tackler is physically superior to the ball carrier and momentum is in his favour.

“What was he meant to do?” asked Bob Casey. “You can see he knows in his head this is bad when he has him at the top. But what are his options? How does he get him from that point to the ground? Does he drive him backwards and then bring him down as he’s coming down? It is split second stuff.

“It was also a hospital pass by (Dimitri) Yachvili that forced (Vincent) Clerc to jump into the tackle. When you do that you become powerless. All his weight is gone and he has no control of his body.

“Because of his height he has him over his shoulder straight away. It is very hard for the bigger guy in this situation.”

Warren Gatland's post-match interview must also be restated as it represents the majority of players and coaches that The Irish Timesspoke to on this issue over the weekend.

“I feel hollow. The destiny of an opportunity was taken away. I accept Sam lifting him probably warranted a yellow card but he let him go; he didn’t drive him into the ground. The thing that surprised me was the referee’s instinct.

“I thought an experienced referee at that stage would have brought his two touchies in to ask them what they thought and have a look at the screen. I just thought that decision ruined the semi-final; we had our chance taken away.”

Still, it remains difficult to be critical of the referee in this instance.

It should be noted that Rolland is a former player with three caps for Ireland at scrumhalf.

“At any point within foul play the referee has three options,” Lewis explains. “Was that a red card infringement, a yellow card or is it an admonishment?

“The one thing I can tell you about being a referee, if a red card is in your mind you don’t waiver.”

So what can be done to avoid this debate being sparked again? “Tip tackles should be outlawed,” says Lewis. “Be unequivocal about it. The players would adapt quickly and the game would be better for it.”

Law 10.4 (j)

Lifting a player from the ground and dropping or driving that player into the ground whilst that player's feet are still off the ground such that the player's head and/or upper body come into contact with the ground is dangerous play.

Sanction: Penalty kick