yellow card?

[dave_clark]

tiggers vs northampton, about 33 minutes in. northampton number 8 picks from the base of the scrum and gets hit high. TMO calls in a high shot and, on review, Karl Dickson confirms:

- the high shotavoidable, as the tackler could get lower
- the ball carrier did not drop his height so no mitigation
- high level of force
- contact with the head

Karl Dickson calls yellow card, TMO agrees.

any guesses as to why this wasn't a :rc: under the current protocols?

 

[Balones]

tiggers vs northampton, about 33 minutes in. northampton number 8 picks from the base of the scrum and gets hit high. TMO calls in a high shot and, on review, Karl Dickson confirms:

- the high shotavoidable, as the tackler could get lower
- the ball carrier did not drop his height so no mitigation
- high level of force
- contact with the head

Karl Dickson calls yellow card, TMO agrees.

any guesses as to why this wasn't a :rc: under the current protocols?

By the description given by the referee it is difficult to see why it wasn’t a RC. Having viewed the incident the only mitigation I can see is that the tackler was fairly static and that the ‘force’ mentioned was generated by the ball carrier. There also appears to be a genuine attempt by the tackler to go for the ball and try to rip it. The reason for the ‘high’ was because of the quite normal and usual situation of a ball carrier leading with his head and shoulders and in this particular incident the ball carrier was already being tackled just before the YC contact was made so the lean forward was exaggerated. The incident was not clearly described as to where the force came from so I could agree to the YC. The tackler was perfectly upright and was not leaning into the ball carrier when contact was made.

Just a question, when should we start penalising players for running into opposition leading with their head? (Not deliberately or intentionally to do damage.) I am sure in the above incident a barrister could argue that the ball carrier deliberately ran into another person and hit him with his head.

 

[Balones]

At community level referee’s are more of less told that if it looks like a red card then it probably is. Or even, ‘you’ll know when it’s red card’. This is because it will (has to) come down to experience and gut feeling alongside going through some sort of mental checklist. If I had been refereeing the above incident at local level and had only seen it once:-

Would I have penalised? - probably.
Would I have issued a YC? - possibly, depending on the angle of view I had but certainly not definitely.
Would I have issued a RC? - no.

Would I have been correct? - I don’t know.

 

[didds]

tiggers vs northampton, about 33 minutes in. northampton number 8 picks from the base of the scrum and gets hit high. TMO calls in a high shot and, on review, Karl Dickson confirms:

- the high shotavoidable, as the tackler could get lower
- the ball carrier did not drop his height so no mitigation
- high level of force
- contact with the head

Karl Dickson calls yellow card, TMO agrees.

any guesses as to why this wasn't a :rc: under the current protocols?

that they appear to have gone from nailed on reds a few weeks ago to suck a finger, stick in the air, consider the phase of the moon compared to high tide at skegness, and then make it up as they go along.

 

[didds]

The incident was not clearly described as to where the force came from so I could agree to the YC.

I appreciate Balones is trying to find a reason for a YC.

the problem with his excellent attempt is that

Karl Dickson confirms:

...
- high level of force
...

So the ref says there is a high level of force, so Balones splend attempt doesnt fit what the ref saw/said/is acting upon.

That doesnt dimish Balone's attempt

 

[Flish]

Would I have been correct? - I don’t know.

At community level, no - 15 would say Red, 15 would say play on ;-)