Aaron Morris banned for 3 weeks & it was a Red Card offence!

[tigerburnie]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyu ... aring.html

[wormus]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyu ... aring.html

And quite rightly so Thompstone could have been seriously injured and BT commentators thought it was an instant red card. Morris is a good player but needs to think safety. - http://www.premiershiprugby.com/news/rf ... on-morris/

[wormus]

Aaron Morris Quins Full back pleaded "Not Guilty!" at the hearing and received a 3 week ban as the tackle was reckless and warranted a red card too.
- http://www.planetrugby.com/news/morris- ... n-cleared/

[TomWeston]

Now the RFU needs to educate its referees!

[strawclearer]

I don't think the end result was ever really in doubt.

[TomWeston]

I don't think the end result was ever really in doubt.

It was to 'Sir' Dean Richards last Friday night at the Stoop!

[Iain]

I honestly think it was far less clear cut than others are making out. I would suggest that those of us commenting across the various Tigers forums on this issue may be doing so with a perchance of bias.

It could have been justified as a red card, but I didn't necessarily disagree with the yellow. Borderline.

To draw parallels, it wasn't a million miles from Thompstone's on North this season.

[TomWeston]

....
To draw parallels, it wasn't a million miles from Thompstone's on North this season.

Yes I'm biased but I disagree. The major difference was that Thommo had to turn and North was immediately on him in the air. Morris looked at Thommo and still took him out dangerously.

[Mark62]

I honestly think it was far less clear cut than others are making out. I would suggest that those of us commenting across the various Tigers forums on this issue may be doing so with a perchance of bias.

It could have been justified as a red card, but I didn't necessarily disagree with the yellow. Borderline.

To draw parallels, it wasn't a million miles from Thompstone's on North this season.

I would agree with the above and so did the ARs and TMO on the night.
As for rfu educating their refs I think that might be to do with world rugby who issue the guidelines.

I think one think that needs to be taken into consideration, which isn't currently is the height that the player comes down from. At the point of contact Thompstone was at the top of his jump, as high as some line out forwards, and even though he did land on his shoulder first, from that height he could have sustained serious damage

[Iain]

Agreed, the focus on where they land is a nonsense. It is far too prescribed and detracts from the real issues of intent, recklessness and likely outcomes of their actions. It needs to stop being so prescribed and just allow referees to make a judgement call on each case.

[TomWeston]

The guideline says that tackling in the air with the tackler landing on his head is a red card.

The panel last night said that the tackle was reckless and that a red card should have been awarded.

A reckless challenge which was dangerous for the tackled player is the assessment which only the match officials can make at the time and imo Richards and his team got that wrong and need further training to identify it and sanction it. The panel can be cited as evidence of that.

[ads]

For me it was the fact that Morris stopped looking at the ball, looked at Thommo jumping, didn't jump himself, continued to move into Thommo who is now in the air, then continue to hold Thommos leg whilst he is in the air.
Although I don't think there was any malice, Morris was scared to pull out as Thommo would clearly score a try, but he made no attempt to pull out of the tackle and had hold of his leg in the air.
Red card all day long to me. But the ref justified the yellow with the PT.

[Ads677]

We've had this before and the officials' typical response is the outcome of the challenge, ie what happened to the 'victim', rather than whether the challenge was in itself reckless (which it clearly was in this case).

If the officials applied the same ruling as they do for, say, high tackles (under the latest 'guidance'), it is the action that is penalised, not the outcome.

[Iain]

For me it was the fact that Morris stopped looking at the ball, looked at Thommo jumping, didn't jump himself, continued to move into Thommo who is now in the air, then continue to hold Thommos leg whilst he is in the air.
Although I don't think there was any malice, Morris was scared to pull out as Thommo would clearly score a try, but he made no attempt to pull out of the tackle and had hold of his leg in the air.
Red card all day long to me. But the ref justified the yellow with the PT.

But to watch it in real time at normal speed, it strikes me as unlikely that there was a lot of choice to pull out of any tackle or that any action was consciously made.

[Ads677]

For me it was the fact that Morris stopped looking at the ball, looked at Thommo jumping, didn't jump himself, continued to move into Thommo who is now in the air, then continue to hold Thommos leg whilst he is in the air.
Although I don't think there was any malice, Morris was scared to pull out as Thommo would clearly score a try, but he made no attempt to pull out of the tackle and had hold of his leg in the air.
Red card all day long to me. But the ref justified the yellow with the PT.

But to watch it in real time at normal speed, it strikes me as unlikely that there was a lot of choice to pull out of any tackle or that any action was consciously made.

Have to disagree with you Iain; having watched it again, Morris wasn't moving all that quickly and could (and should) have pulled out and waited for Thompson to return to earth under his own steam. He did also continue to hold onto Thompson's leg even though he should have been aware that his actions were now problematic.

Ultimately, the IRFU has decreed that players have a responsibility for one another, and this was lacking. It wasn't the worst we've seen by any means, and I'm sure that Morris isn't a nasty player, although the fact that he pleaded not guilty suggests that he was either badly advised or really didn't see that his actions put another player in danger.