Round 15 matches

[TigerFeetSteve]

Sale with 13 for a minute near the end and Wasps kick for the posts not the corner, that's when they lost it...

[Wayne Richardson Fan Club]

Wait until players start going low and start being knocked out by knees? What then? Would you ban punches to the head in boxing? Games going to the wall!

There is a very good argument for banning boxing anyway.
There will always be a risk, but reducing the obviously controllable ones is a simple one that shouldn't take long to get the point across, part if the problem is that the players in the pro era are fitter, there are more collisions, more chance of injury, when I first started watching props rarely carried the ball or tackle, players looked for space on the field because there usually was some.
From a legal point of view the game had to be seen to be trying to reduce risk, for the future of the game it has to.

[Scott1]

Theres ZERO argument for banning boxing. The pros far outweigh the cons and theres many sports out there as well as normal every day activities that produce far more injuries and accidents.

[Jacko27]

"... when I first started watching props didn't carry the ball" (WRFC). When I played props didn't even touch the ball except secretly in the ruck!

[thunderbirds]

Just catching up on today's games, I don't know if many people watched the Worcester Saints game, but in my opinion, the ref got the cards wrong. Although Ashton's red was a dumb thing to do, to me, it was contact with the shoulder and not the neck/head area, so it should've been yellow. Whereas Harrison's yellow card looked like direct contact to the neck/chin area, so should've been a red.

[kk20gb30]

Again one cant argue in terms of entertainment value , Worcester however will be thankful there is no relegation come the end of the season.With a multitude of players on their way and some high profile additions needing to be bedded in (next season) they really appear to need this time to prepare adequately .With the spectre of relegation hanging over them this really would have been a longer and harder season than it is already turning out to be for them and quite simply they may not have been able to afford a season in the championship .

[Tigers86asw]

Not even a yellow,slipped into it. Another rugby incident punished!

Feel for Luke James, not really sure what he could have done in that scenario

Let’s hope it’s looked at again end of season and refs are given more leeway to use their common sense! Needs ripping up and starting again

I really don’t see what James can do. If the premise is they have to bend at the waste that shows no understanding of the game or basic physics. If he bends at the waste before the attacked steps off his left foot then Bassett will just go around him on the outside. I cannot see how Van de Merve and James get the same sanction- it’s all wrong. Most of the cards I’ve agreed with but that decision seems ludicrous. Bassett drops two feet in less than half a second. The tackle would have been legal without the other player falling over so why is it a card- the tackler was NOT AT FAULT. Why can something just not be a rugby incident?

[Offside]

Players ducking under tackles should not get the tackler red cards. If refs estimated if tackle was aimed at below shoulder level on player if standing up straight and if it was then “rugby accident” and definitely not red and possibly bother it would balance out responsibilities. Slower players may need to let quicker ones get past to score if they cannot tackle legally. They get the advantage in the scrum and ruck for being heavier and stronger but risk being carded if the are out of control. Upright tackle when someone changes direction and comes straight at the player is tricky. Ref needs to assess if player had time to get lower.

[Tiglon]

Feel for Luke James, not really sure what he could have done in that scenario

Let’s hope it’s looked at again end of season and refs are given more leeway to use their common sense! Needs ripping up and starting again

I really don’t see what James can do. If the premise is they have to bend at the waste that shows no understanding of the game or basic physics. If he bends at the waste before the attacked steps off his left foot then Bassett will just go around him on the outside. I cannot see how Van de Merve and James get the same sanction- it’s all wrong. Most of the cards I’ve agreed with but that decision seems ludicrous. Bassett drops two feet in less than half a second. The tackle would have been legal without the other player falling over so why is it a card- the tackler was NOT AT FAULT. Why can something just not be a rugby incident?

Completely agree, they got this one wrong, especially when the ref said the Van Der Merwe one was exactly the same.

I'm not sure how Luke James can be penalised for a high tackle when he didn't actually make a tackle. He was about to make one when Bassett slipped and fell onto his arm - even if he'd wanted to get out of the way, he wouldn't have had time. Hopefully common sense will prevail and there will be no ban. He didn't cause the head contact, Bassett did (accidentally). They say he should have bent at the waist, but the contact was about waist height anyway, so even if he had bent over he still likely would have made head contact.

I don't buy into the whole "ruining the game" argument though, it's something that has to happen and almost every single head contact card we're seeing is a result of the defender going in too high.

[JP14]

What worries me after all these cards is that we're going to see more football-style showmanship to buy penalties & cards off the officials. It's not the referees that could ruin the game, it's the players themselves by going down dramatically after the slightest of touches... has to be a balance in my opinion.

[JP14]

What’s the bet on how long it will be before Ben Loader signs for Bath though?

[Dokie]

Just catching up on today's games, I don't know if many people watched the Worcester Saints game, but in my opinion, the ref got the cards wrong. Although Ashton's red was a dumb thing to do, to me, it was contact with the shoulder and not the neck/head area, so it should've been yellow. Whereas Harrison's yellow card looked like direct contact to the neck/chin area, so should've been a red.

Sorry, I can’t agree with you there. Ashton’s was a cheap shot very similar to Wiese.
Also , I just don’t get the mentality of going in there. The ball was lost and it was also slow ball. Saints probably would have kicked it away.

[Scott1]

Even Deano saying that most games are being decided by how many cards are being dished out,and he’s right!

[Goodevibrations]

Bad result for us,4th looking a long way off now

We're not a top four side yet. I actually thought it was a good result as it means there's some breathing space between us and Wasps and means we have more of a chance of top 6.

[OakhamTiger32]

Bad result for us,4th looking a long way off now

We're not a top four side yet. I actually thought it was a good result as it means there's some breathing space between us and Wasps and means we have more of a chance of top 6.

Agreed. That’s my thoughts exactly