Munster v Glos Sat 1pm

[fivepointer]

Gloucester Rugby:
15. Jason Woodward; 14. Matt Banahan, 13. Billy Twelvetrees, 12. Mark Atkinson, 11. Tom Marshall; 10. Danny Cipriani, 9. Callum Braley; 1. Josh Hohneck, 2. Franco Marais, 3. Fraser Balmain; 4. Tom Savage, 5. Ed Slater (capt); 6. Freddie Clarke, 7. Jake Polledri, 8. Ben Morgan

Replacements:
16. Henry Walker, 17. Val Rapava Ruskin, 18. Ciaran Knight, 19. Gerbrandt Grobler, 20. Gareth Evans, 21. Ben Vellacott, 22. Owen Williams, 23. Tom Hudson

[Mellsblue]

No way that was a legal turnover.

[Mellsblue]

Missed the ball in the first instance, ruck formed when he gets hands on and not supporting his own body weight.

The breakdown is a free for all in Europe.

[paddy no 11]

Ah that's a ridiculous yellow

[Gloskarlos]

As long as the ref does that for every single ruck then it’s fine. You watch it not come again tho.

[Mellsblue]

More tackles like that and Cips will be 10 and capt for England.

[Which Tyler]

Anyone feeling there's been an even harder crackdown on the high tackles for this weekend? Possibly my as a result of the 2 red cards that only resulted in 1 yellow in the Bath Toulouse match last weekend
Rightly so IMO, and just wish the past players would realise that the old rules are old, and that we play with a new understanding and a new care.

I liked what this ref said to Slater when he was complaining about the 36 effort "its not my fault your guys keep doing this". Oh, and Billy was a very, very lucky boy IMO
Currently the players are playing chicken with the officials to see who blinks first. Its the players who need to blink, and realise that if they keep doing what they're doing, they're going to be spending a lot of time watching rather than playing.

[Digby]

Should the irb insist on cotton jerseys, of course with collars, to make it easier to tackle? The skin tight jerseys don't serve the game brilliantly at all times

[Mikey Brown]

Just seen it. Doesn’t there need to be some force? I can’t see what Cipriani does there except stand upright in the vicinity of a tackle and have a guy headbutt his shoulder.

[fivepointer]

The Munster player does just run in to Cips and drops his head slightly. There is plainly no intent but if you are upright in collisions you do risk giving away pens/cards. Its very difficult for players to adjust and always go in low. Over the weekend there have been dozens of chest on chest contacts. A Castres player rightly got a red card for a high shot, which was completely different in terms of power and intent. Be interesting to see the bans handed out.

[Gloskarlos]

If attackers lead with their heads it’s going to be nigh on impossible for tacklers, to not make contact first with that area. This needs thinking about differently in my opinion. We will end up with people head butting shoulders and cards everywhere.

[Mellsblue]

The Munster player does just run in to Cips and drops his head slightly. There is plainly no intent but if you are upright in collisions you do risk giving away pens/cards. Its very difficult for players to adjust and always go in low. Over the weekend there have been dozens of chest on chest contacts. A Castres player rightly got a red card for a high shot, which was completely different in terms of power and intent. Be interesting to see the bans handed out.

Cipriani v Castres no8 are the two ends of the high tackle. The first was was unintentional with little to no force, whilst the second was wholly intentional, full force and not even on the ball carrier. I’d be happy for Cips to receive no ban and the Castres player to face the max possible.

[fivepointer]

Dare i say that the intentional hit is a red with a likely ban and the accidental, no intent contact is worthy of a white card (off for 10 mins with a replacement player coming on thereafter)?

[switchskier]

Dare i say that the intentional hit is a red with a likely ban and the accidental, no intent contact is worthy of a white card (off for 10 mins with a replacement player coming on thereafter)?

Which takes you back to the old problem of judging intent and makes referees lives even harder.

However I can't get over the fact that Archers arm to the neck tackle was only a yellow whilst Ciprianis was a red. Seems unequal.

[Oakboy]

Dare i say that the intentional hit is a red with a likely ban and the accidental, no intent contact is worthy of a white card (off for 10 mins with a replacement player coming on thereafter)?

Which takes you back to the old problem of judging intent and makes referees lives even harder.

However I can't get over the fact that Archers arm to the neck tackle was only a yellow whilst Ciprianis was a red. Seems unequal.

Exactly. And, the next step is taking actual damage done into account which just can't work.

[Mikey Brown]

If attackers lead with their heads it’s going to be nigh on impossible for tacklers, to not make contact first with that area. This needs thinking about differently in my opinion. We will end up with people head butting shoulders and cards everywhere.

Yeah, I’ve got to say I thought this idea was before and in line with people turning in the air to make sure they land on their heads when getting tipped up in a tackle, but it’s looking a lot like aiming your head at an opposition shoulder could be a valid tactic soon.

I’m entirely on the side of reducing concussion/injury at th expense of a few good games and players getting (seemingly) harsh cards but it doesn’t seem practical or useful to treat this as a red card offence.

It’s a bit like when they started cracking down on players taken out in the air, which then meant anybody waiting to field a high ball has to be aware that Dan Biggar might come leaping, knees-first, at your head from several metres away and it’s entirely your fault.

[fivepointer]

Also in the same game 12T gets clobbered by Stander. No pen. By rights he should be cited and get a ban.
Ben Kay making the point on BT Sport today that some things are picked up and some things arent. He also made the very good point that defenders stay upright so they can see whats happening in front of them. Its not just a simple one on one situation, but you may need to adjust to whoever gets the ball, or to react to a change of direction.

[fivepointer]

Cips gets 3 week ban.
Thats just one week less than the Toulouse prop who butted Catt.

[Mellsblue]

Ridiculous.