Could it result in spinal damage or death? Let’s not dance around the issue: that is the test of what is, and what is not, a spear tackle.
It’s no small question and certainly not one to be taken lightly. Nobody wants to see anyone put in wheelchairs or killed. But have the rugby authorities allowed the gravity of the issue to result in mild hysteria?
Is there a real danger of a good defence being outlawed? From the events of round four of Super Rugby, it is clear that the answer on both counts is a resounding yes.
It seems rugby players aren’t allowed to tackle anymore.
Having followed rugby league and rugby union most of my life, I used to have a good understanding of what a spear tackle looked like, and what the match review committee would say. When I watched a game with my mates five years ago, we’d all immediately look at each other after a spear tackle was committed and debate the suspension the tackler would receive. Now, it’s a shrug of the shoulders and a ‘who knows?’.
That said, I almost choked on my XXXX and biltong when Digby Ioane got five weeks for his tackle on Marcel Coetzee. Regardless of his past history, that suspension is an embarrassment to Super Rugby.
SANZAR, the IRB, citing commissioners, and the judiciary have lost the plot.
But don’t take my word for it, let’s think about this. We are told rules are rules. Fair enough, but what does the rule actually say?
“Lifting a player from the ground and dropping or driving that player into the ground while that player’s feet are still off the ground such that the player’s head and/or upper body come into contact with the ground is dangerous play.”
The real problem with this law is how general it is. “Dangerous play” seems to cover just about every tackle I can think of.
The words “upper body” are particularly concerning. Just how do you tackle a man in a front on position by the legs and ensure that his upper body, presumably between his ribs and shoulder blades, does not come into contact with the ground?
It is possible but only if you relinquish dominance, allow the man to fall gently like a leaf to the ground and then stroke his head and cuddle him afterwards. On top of that, it isn’t as if you can hold up your hand requesting the player to stop and then wriggle down his legs before suggesting he falls over.
Then there is the question of protecting the head. The danger we all want to avoid is when a player is lifted beyond the horizontal and his head comes into contact with the ground first. Should not the word ‘first’ be inserted so the rule reads “…come into contact with the ground first is dangerous play”.
The law as it reads is a joke. A netball player could have written it. If you can’t dominate an opposition player in a front on tackle anymore, why not simply allow a free off-load once a game and uncontested catch passing games?
In Digby’s case, he did not spear the player into the ground. He did not lift between the legs, at no time did it look likely that the players head would contact the ground first and Digby was the lone tackler.
It was not a dangerous tackle.
On the official Super Rugby website the video of the incident is labelled “Ioane’s ‘Spear Tackle’ on Marcel Coetzee.” It’s unclear whether the inverted commas around ‘Spear Tackle’ are tongue in cheek but they absolutely should be.
Coetzee was a backrower, Ioane a winger. According to South Africans, their backrowers are made of steel, the hardest men on earth. Yet after the tackle Coetzee immediately went straight to cradling his head and rocking backwards and forwards on the ground like Lindsay Lohan in the LA County Jail.
Funny that, his head made no contact with the ground. Is this Manchester Utd versus Everton or Super Rugby? Do we really want to see referees, touch judges and it seems the judiciary conned like that?
Making matters worse, just about everyone, except for SANZAR and the IRB, can see how useless the citing process is right now. Pat Lamb has come out this week on separate issues and said that the judiciary is inconsistent. That seems to be a mass understatement. It has been a rabble for years.
This article is not about Digby Ioane. Ioane’s suspension was the final straw. Hysteria surrounding the spear tackle, play acting from the likes of Coetzee, a poor citing process and a judiciary deserving ridicule are the real problems.
Every rugby supporter should want SANZAR to deal with these matters and fast.
Alex
Guest
itsabout time the spear tackle was legalized
Sean
Guest
Agreed.. It wasnt the worst spear tackle but he did not even attempt to stop driving him into the ground..
mania
Guest
yeah wre01 - it does seem like a nanny state type rule but is it really worth the risk? in the mealamu and umaga tackle on BOD being a perfect example. BOD twisted in the air thinking he could still get out of it and this made his landing much worse. do you want to take this risk with spinal injuries? pile driving a player is risky at the safest times and you dont know what the tackled player will do once in the air. back in my day if you were lifted off the ground all your attention went into making sure you didnt land and break your neck. can u trust the tackled player to do that? in my day yeah these days its a bit iffy. its simple to avoid by the players learning to tackle without lifting. something so simple that can mitigate a lot of needless risk. big tackles can still affected, the tackler just needs to work on his technique and be a better tackler.
AndyS
Guest
Just watched the replay of the Crusaders/Cheetahs. About 50 minutes in, the Cruaders 13 catches his Cheetahs opposite number by the arm and slings him as he kicks. His legs end up well above his head and he has to stick an arm out to avoid landing on his head but, despite the same potential for harm, what is the response? Not a mention of above the horizontal or returning safely to ground, the commentators instead have a laugh about it. Not a huge amount of consistency, or SANZAR are not being clear about what they are worried about. Apparently all the harm is in the lift, not the tip or fall. They ought to make that clearer.
silegusta
Roar Rookie
Completely 100% agree, case closed really, no need for people to get all emotional about the demise of the game, process was followed, makes sense and thats that, thanks for the cut and paste!
Doug
Guest
Four or five years ago Lote Tuquiri put a very similar looking tackle on Ritchie McCaw. During the process of being tackled McCaw seemed to try to place the ball back for his team mates. He managed to twist himself around so that Tuquiri's fair and legit back slam tackle turned into dropping McCaw on his head. That incident and other similar may have been the catalyst for introducing this "tip tackle" rule back in 2009. Just like Tuquiri I doubt Ione wants to cause grievous bodily harm to the opposition player. Probably they just wanted to put a demoralizing and stunning tackle on them. But IRB doesnt want a player ending in a wheel chair just because two players zigged when they should have zagged.
redsnut
Guest
And surely common sense dictates that a player shouldn't be lifted like that?
Go_the_Wannabe's
Guest
Brett, What are your thoughts on Mealamu and Umaga spear tackling Driscoll and receiving no suspension? Where's the consistency across rugby?
millard
Guest
exactly ,the rule is here to stay and those who wont adjust will lose games for their team just like ioane did for the reds. disciplne is the foundation to most things in life.some players believe they are above the law on and off the field and indulgence perpetuates this false belief.anyway the rookie roarer got a good response.
wre01
Roar Guru
Spot on Battered Slav.
wre01
Roar Guru
Brett I take your point on the rules of the game, precisely why I set the law out. My point is that the law as written is a bad one. Surely, surely it should read “Lifting a player from the ground and dropping or driving that player into the ground while that player’s feet are still off the ground such that the player’s head and/or upper body come into contact with the ground FIRST is dangerous play". The Key word being FIRST
wre01
Roar Guru
Sixoclock? So ALL lifting tackles are banned in Rugby? And as a lawyer I'm more than familar with the egg shell skull rule- although I don't understnd how you think it is relevant? If someone has a spinal defect, they are tackled front on, not lifted, but die due to the hidden spinal defect, is that murder? Because that is what you'e implying? May as well ban rugby then...? Not very clever.
wre01
Roar Guru
Rugbug You have to be joking? Put him in "extreme risk of being injured"?! Have you even seen the tackle? Again to tell the difference between a dangerous tackle and a dominant atckle, watch a replay og Ioane's tackle and then watch the tackle piut on O'Driscoll by Mealamu and Umaga in the 2007 LIons Series. I'm sure you don't need to be a chiropractor to tell the difference. On your logic, all lifting should be banned?
wre01
Roar Guru
Mania & Co- thanks for your comments. You say "its better that this rule is here than seeing players paralysed just so u can be entertained." That is an insult and a sad reflection that you just didn't read the article. I cannot believe that as rugby men we are all not asking questions about this. How can anyone who has played the game see Ioane's tackle as a spear tackle? It simply was not. It was a you're running straight at me so 'sit down' type of tackle. Almost copy book. Warburton's tackle in the world cup was slightly different to Ioane's but still a yellow card at worst, it was different in that the player's head came into contact with the ground first but again that was Warburton not ensuring that the player was placed down safely rather than a reflection of a bad tackle. Yet it received a red card and probably cost a side a world cup final appearance. And that isn't hysteria? That isn't over reaction? What the law was brought in to do was to protect against spinal injuries. It is that simple. You don't need to be a chiropractor to tell the difference between a spear tackle and a dominant front on lifting tackle. Compare the tackle on O'Driscoll by Mealamu and Umaga (lifting between legs/ 2 tacklers involved/ head first into the ground) versuses the Warburton and Ioane tackles. The irony is that Mealamu and Umaga escaped suspension! It amazes me that you are all just accepting the IRB's and SANZAR's ruling on this. It isn't about the player or team involved, it's about making sure that good defence doesn't leave the game. Ioane's tackle was a great one.
Brett McKay
Expert
yeah right, I see what you mean. Farrell certainly softened the blow on it, but I can't recall whether that one was cited or not. I'd hope not, like you say, but yes, it ticks most boxes..
mikeylives
Guest
Whatever the laws say, I think that was a hard tackle and not a dirty one.
AndyS
Guest
I'm sure players would much prefer to be tackled like this...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-30vGDpKYoI (don't look if squeamish!). That is what they ought to be encouraging, not all this potentially dangerous head-on stuff that can so easily go wrong.
The Battered Slav
Guest
head, neck and brain injuries are nothing to be laughed off, but they will occur in rugby from time to time whether rules are broken or not. What I find difficult to accept is that players are getting banned for tackles that would have been applauded with gusto in years gone by. So long as the tackled player is crashed into the ground back first, with no shoulder/neck or head contact with the ground, I see no problem. I have been caned like this quite a few times and although its demoralising and puts one in their place, it is not a dangeroius tackle in the spearing sense. Dojn't even start me on rucking BTW, this would solve many problem we see with the modern breakdown. Surely it wasn't the Aussies that pushed for this to be removed from the game. If it was, I'm horrified. Almost as horrified as I am by dangerous SPEAR tackles!!!
PB
Guest
Don't lift them, and you won't have to worry about "PC" head-neck brain injury "put them down-safely malarky". Simple. You want more blood ad guts on the field, bring back rucking. Your Aussie admins are the ones that chased it out of the game in the first place! ;)
Bigbaz
Guest
sorry ,wasn't intentsional