The Rugby Union Thread

exocet

MagicPigDetective said:

Biggar got flattened by a no arms tackle in the first minute. This set the tone for the game. A lot of illegal high tackling by England. 

I didn’t expect Wales to win, and England’s defence was so strong. 

Btw: RIP Matthew Watkins, a great player.

Just watched that opening tackle on Biggar. To be honest it was a shocker. 2 players blasting in with no arms and on the high side. Surprised that nothing was looked at there. Many of the other high tackle decisions were a bit "meh" for me. I'd be happier if tackling above the waist were to be outlawed completely rather than current ambiguity. Tuilagi hit was a little reckless rather than high for so a yellow for me.

Eng were deserved winners but I'm happy that Wales strung a few decent phases together to score. 

NorthernGooner

The top story tonight  on Wails on Line is that somebody grabbed Alun Wyn Jones penis in a ruck. 
History never changes  you never beat the Welsh you've just scored more points then them.     

MagicPigDetective

NorthernGooner said:

The top story tonight  on Wails on Line is that somebody grabbed Alun Wyn Jones penis in a ruck. 
History never changes  you never beat the Welsh you've just scored more points then them.     

We’re talking about rugby here. I  can’t really take a post by someone with bigot and Wales hater Rod Liddle as their profile pic seriously. 

Fretwired

MagicPigDetective said:

NorthernGooner said:

The top story tonight  on Wails on Line is that somebody grabbed Alun Wyn Jones penis in a ruck. 
History never changes  you never beat the Welsh you've just scored more points then them.     

We’re talking about rugby here. I  can’t really take a post by someone with bigot and Wales hater Rod Liddle as their profile pic seriously. 

It was Joe Marler ... ITV showed it ..  :-)

https://metro.co.uk/2020/03/07/joe-marler-caught-fondling-alun-wyn-jones-penis-12364275/

rsvmark

Gareth Thomas’s quip was priceless

p90fool

rsvmark said:

Gareth Thomas’s quip was priceless

Absolutely!

tbm

Thought it was a red. Thought the opening tackle on Biggar wasn’t legal either. There’s lot of niggle in England’s game atm, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s been straying into illegality a fair bit, and not being punished. Entertaining game though. Given how crap England made Ireland look the last day out, Wales did well. 

Marler is some boy.....

scrumhalf

Getting interesting at Murrayfield... 

exocet

6N title race opens up.

snakemanStoo

The scrums so far are making me think that union needs league style clock stopping until it's ready to be fed.

VimFuego

the French need to say to the Scots that they are helping the English out.

fields5069

I think Wales were worth a bonus losing point. LOL at the “British” press saying the score flattered Wales because they scored twice while England were down to 13. Duh, that’s the whole point of penalising persistent infringement and dangerous play. 

crunchman

fields5069 said:

I think Wales were worth a bonus losing point. LOL at the “British” press saying the score flattered Wales because they scored twice while England were down to 13. Duh, that’s the whole point of penalising persistent infringement and dangerous play. 

If you are going to penalise persistent infringement, do it to both sides.  Wales gave away loads of penalties in the first half - far more than England did in the run up to Genge getting yellow - but they didn't get a yellow.

If the Tuilagi one was a red, then the rules need tweaking.  The player was going down because of the Slade tackle when Tuilagi was already committed.  If a player is going down in that situation, then it shouldn't be a red card.  You have to give defenders a chance.

fields5069

Tuilagi was lucky he wasn’t pinged in the first 3 minutes. Good job he grew some arms for his try. 

exocet

crunchman said:

fields5069 said:

I think Wales were worth a bonus losing point. LOL at the “British” press saying the score flattered Wales because they scored twice while England were down to 13. Duh, that’s the whole point of penalising persistent infringement and dangerous play. 

If you are going to penalise persistent infringement, do it to both sides.  Wales gave away loads of penalties in the first half - far more than England did in the run up to Genge getting yellow - but they didn't get a yellow.

In the match that I saw, England gave away more penalties in both halves.

https://i.imgur.com/PyjWsNL.jpg 

Rocker

https://www.rte.ie/sport/six-nations/2020/0307/1120874-wyn-jones-calls-on-world-rugby-to-act-over-marler-grab/

I hope the Citing Officer takes note of this incident and acts.  Not what you want or expect to see on the Rugby field.

rsvmark

AWJ is not exactly a wall flower and has been known to be abrasive from time to time. Glass houses....

Fretwired

crunchman said:

If the Tuilagi one was a red, then the rules need tweaking.  The player was going down because of the Slade tackle when Tuilagi was already committed.  If a player is going down in that situation, then it shouldn't be a red card.  You have to give defenders a chance.

I'm an England fan. It was red. The rules don't need tweaking. Former international referee, Jonathan Kaplan said "simply put, it was a no-arms tackle - i.e. a shoulder charge - where first contact was made to the head of the ball carrier, Wales’ George North. That is automatically a red card, with mitigation not considered.

"On the replays you can see how Tuilagi actually tucks his right arm close to his body, which makes it impossible to even attempt to wrap it in the tackle. That ensures he is in serious trouble, and once he makes contact with North’s head a red card is inevitable.

"As I say, mitigation was not considered due to the nature of the tackle, but you could see that Tuilagi may have been caught out slightly by the fact North dipped shortly before contact was made as he was tackled by Henry Slade. If Tuilagi had been trying to wrap his arms that might have saved him, but as it was a no-arms tackle he had to go."

Rocker

rsvmark said:

AWJ is not exactly a wall flower and has been known to be abrasive from time to time. Glass houses....

I am not suggesting that AWJ is an angel but dirty nasty acts on the playing field cannot be allowed to go unpunished. This applies to everyone who plays sport. It is easier now, thanks to all the video evidence etc and the existence of citing officers, to punish transgressions. Nobody should be above the Laws of the game. 

scrumhalf

As the laws of the game stand Tuilagi should have got a red card. I do think, however, that law should be considered for amendment in cases where the player being hit has lowered his head to a certain degree.

If the "assailant" has tried to make a legal tackle at what was a reasonable height but has made contact with the opponent's head due to that opponent's late and unpredictable movement then maybe a red card isn't the correct punishment.

But as far as no-arms tackles are concerned, off you go.