High tackles come under scrutiny

29 January 2017 - 02:00 By CRAIG RAY
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World Rugby has launched a crackdown on high tackles.
World Rugby has launched a crackdown on high tackles.
Image: Supplied

Only naïve Super Rugby coaches won't be preparing their teams to play without players sent from the field this season, as World Rugby's "zero tolerance" on high tackles is implemented in the southern hemisphere.

High tackles have always been penalised, but in December World Rugby, the game's governing body, announced new protocols to police high tackles.

And the result has been a slew of penalties and yellow and red cards in northern hemisphere competitions where the system kicked in on January 3. In European matches since the new policy was introduced, there have been more than 50 yellow cards and 12 red cards.

Making it through a match without at least a yellow card for a high tackle is something for a team to celebrate at the moment.

"The new high-tackle law won't change the way we approach this season, but I admit I have been preparing the team to play with 14 men in training," Cheetahs coach Franco Smith said.

"We have to be able to adapt when we lose players. Hopefully it won't ruin the quality of the game."

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Cracking down on head-high tackles should be applauded and the change in law has at least eliminated interpretation.

The fundamental change is that players who make "accidental" or "reckless" contact with a player above the shoulders will immediately be penalised.

The idea is that referees will no longer have to weigh up whether a tackle is reckless or accidental, as opposed to intentional.

But there have been mistakes already in terms of consistency in the northern hemisphere.

Under the new protocols, the referee will have to consider three points: contact (initial and final location and whether the tackler used a hand, arm or shoulder); action (was it accidental, reckless or deliberate); and the force of the tackle.

The minimum sanction is a penalty even if it is accidental.

"It's one thing to say in theory that there is a high tackle but in practical terms there could be a tackle close to the neck area but it's not serious," Smith said.

"It's up to us to prepare to make sure we tackle lower and we are working on changing our body shape and height in tackles. We're using smaller tackle bags in training so that the players have a smaller target to aim for when making a tackle. But the changing of the law is going to have a huge impact; there is no way it won't."

It's not only in matches where yellow and red cards are going to have an impact, but afterwards too.

Suspensions will add further pressure to player depth while the cost and time of defending players at disciplinary hearings - especially in a tournament as geographically sprawled as Super Rugby - could be huge.

Lawyers, who are often employed by accused players and franchises, cost a fortune, more so if they need to be paid in Australian or New Zealand dollars.

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