6 Nations 2023

[Greenwhiteandred]

Freddie’s sending off was a perfect storm of unfortunate circumstances ! As such it was sadly the right decision so we must move on ! But good news we have a solution …JVP much improved today …congratulations to Coley but a sadly shadow of his best …no Marcus Smith struck me above all else

Reckless? High degree of danger? Mitigating factors? Clearly not the right decision

[loretta]

I hope that, if the reduction in tackle height actually happens, we’ll see the end of the choke tackle. I’m so tired of seeing the upright tackle followed by shouts of “maul” at the ref, he then agrees and the maul magically collapses. It’s a penalty!

[mol2]

If a player, who knowingly runs directly into another player when neither has the ball....

As the Irish player was aware he had knocked on, has no legitimate reason to run into and make contact with Steward.
So why does the latter get punished.

[Pellsey]

Had Steward not turned, he would have got a head in his man jewels. I do not know what else he could have done to prevent injury to himself.

[sam16111986]

I hope that, if the reduction in tackle height actually happens, we’ll see the end of the choke tackle. I’m so tired of seeing the upright tackle followed by shouts of “maul” at the ref, he then agrees and the maul magically collapses. It’s a penalty!

Agreed. I have no idea why collapsing rules don't apply to choke tackles when they are still mauls.

[Tiglon]

I hope that, if the reduction in tackle height actually happens, we’ll see the end of the choke tackle. I’m so tired of seeing the upright tackle followed by shouts of “maul” at the ref, he then agrees and the maul magically collapses. It’s a penalty!

Agreed. I have no idea why collapsing rules don't apply to choke tackles when they are still mauls.

Possibly the most annoying thing in rugby. Refs also seem to have no issue with defensive players joining from the side after maul is called. The laws of the game don't apply to choke tackles apparently.

A bit like when someone goes for a jackal, and just places their hands on the ball. Even though tackled player has released, some refs award a penalty for not being able to push the jackaller off... rather than for a tackled player holding on. Or a successful jackal is rewarded with penalty advantage, even though the tackled player released and did not hold on.

[Scott1]

Looks like even SA media have turned on Peyper.

[westwinds31]

Given the drive to stop head injuries, I wonder what Steward can do in the future to avoid that again !? Maybe he can work on his reactions to give himself a fraction of a millisecond more to decide what to do. The majority of red cards, you can lower your height, etc, but I’m not sure what the learnings are to avoid this happening again ? All of which makes a mockery of the decision….but the “letter of the law” says otherwise.

Agree re: the choke tackle.

[Loob19]

The correct decision according to the letter of the law, which happens to be where I feel the problem is - it turns it into a bad decision. I have to say though, super proud of Freddie - walked straight off without arguing the toss. This is something that annoys the hell out of me - players arguing with the refs decision.

I feel the bigger discussion point right now is whether Freddie gets supplementary discipline, which would be an absolute joke.

[Scott1]

The correct decision according to the letter of the law, which happens to be where I feel the problem is - it turns it into a bad decision. I have to say though, super proud of Freddie - walked straight off without arguing the toss. This is something that annoys the hell out of me - players arguing with the refs decision.

I feel the bigger discussion point right now is whether Freddie gets supplementary discipline, which would be an absolute joke.

Nailed! It needs to be changed to give refs more scope. The idea that the Steward incident and a direct shoulder to the head or a swinging arm with intent both get red cards and most of the time same ban lengths is crazy to me! It’s just common sense really,it’s not hard!

[Scott1]

The correct decision according to the letter of the law, which happens to be where I feel the problem is - it turns it into a bad decision. I have to say though, super proud of Freddie - walked straight off without arguing the toss. This is something that annoys the hell out of me - players arguing with the refs decision.

I feel the bigger discussion point right now is whether Freddie gets supplementary discipline, which would be an absolute joke.

Nailed! It needs to be changed to give refs more scope. The idea that the Steward incident and a direct shoulder to the head or a swinging arm with intent both get red cards and most of the time same ban lengths is crazy to me! It’s just common sense really,it’s not hard!

As for your last point,it’s been posted that fighting the charge no longer gets a bigger ban if found guilty. At least that’s one good thing

[Tigers86asw]

Agree the law is a problem but it was made so by the TMO saying ‘there’s foul play’ rather than ‘it’s a rugby incident’.

You shouldn’t send players off, in any sport, for an accident.

The other element is that in real speed Steward falls backwards. The whole dominant collision rhetoric of the last six months goes straight out of the window.

[Scott1]

I still remember the Scotland? player torpedoing over a ruck and smashing the Oz SH in the head. Luke Pearce only gave him yellow because he hit him with "the soft part of his arm" (bicep). If you didn’t laugh you would cry!

[Scott1]

And before the question is asked. Do i think I could could a better job than a ref? No. Do I think I could do a better job coming to the right decisions as a stand alone incident with the help of umpteen replays with different angles used? Yes,I genuinely do. And others on here would too I've no doubt

[Tykger]

A brave decision by the Irish player to effectively kill the ball after it had spilled forward and England may have had an advantage if Freddie had got to it and fly hacked it down the pitch. A brave, but perhaps a cynical one. I appreciate he was never going to let Freddie get the ball in a month of Sundays, but the ref doesn't even consider that when the Irish player is in effect becoming the defender, then he also owes a duty of care.