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David Pocock has been accused of deliberately stomping on All Black captain Richie McCaw’s head during the first half of the World Cup final.
WATCH THE ALLEGED BOOT IN THE FACE IN THE PLAYER ABOVE
The incident happened in a frenetic time in the match. The 25th minute, where Dan Carter was hit high in a tackle and Matt Giteau went off the ground with concussion. Just before New Zealand was awarded a penalty for Carter’s high shot which referee Nigel Owens had been playing advantage for, Richie McCaw grabbed hold of Pocock’s leg and the Australian shook it free and struck McCaw in the process.
With everything going on, the referee appeared to miss it but McCaw does hold his face and looks around to see if it has been noticed.
The vision of the alleged ‘stomp’ is in the very bottom left hand frame of the screen so it’s hard to determine Pocock’s intent.
View it in slow mo.Yes it was intentional!!
Pocock gathers his feet from McCaw then looks down at him then stomps on his head. Bad form
— S1cd1c107 (@S1cd1c107) November 1, 2015
@rodkafer Should David Pocock have been red carded for stamping on McCaw? I know McCaw was holding, but still, it doesn't look good.
— Martin Harris (@martinharris57) November 1, 2015
Predictably there was mixed views on social media with some claiming there was clear intent from Pocock while others didn’t think the Wallaby star was even looking at McCaw.
@scottiemcintosh @LostArcNZ sure. But I've watched the video like 10 times. In this case, pocock is quite clearly not even looking at mccaw
— W (@formerlyfrozen) November 1, 2015
Either way with the attention on the incident, World Rugby will no doubt be taking a closer look and trying to use more of their available camera angles to determine if a possible red card offence was missed.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.