Israel Folau should ditch his demand for gay people to repent and instead chase a sorry from those that truly deserve to be accountable.
The Wallabies fullback was lambasted for his ‘gays to hell’ comment a few months ago, but given what’s happened over the last few days, Folau’s won a lot more support.
Banned for one match for athletically leaping into the air to catch a kick-off? What the F…olau?!
The audacity. Folau not once but twice out-jumped Peter O’Mahony during the third Test against Ireland in Sydney last Saturday, keeping his eyes on the ball and making no heavy contact with the Irish captain.
A penalty? No. A yellow card? Are you serious? Suspended? It’s beyond farcical.
World Rugby’s lawmakers and the judicial panel that banned Folau should be the ones repenting.
Not just to Folau, but to all rugby fans who are fuming over the string of crap calls from referees and match officials over the past month.
France fullback Benjamin Fall was sent off for not jumping for a high ball. Folau was sin-binned for jumping. Sam Cane and Ofa Tu’ungafasi whack Frenchman Remy Grosso, fracture his skull in two places, and no action is taken. Ludicrous.
Stay on the ground and you’re stuffed. Outjump your opposition and you’re stuffed: poor ‘ol Izzy can’t express himself on the field, nor off it.
To think that Folau – who had eyes for the ball only – can contest in the air, and then in the split second he’s got to brace himself as he’s heading back to earth, not make any contact with another player is fanciful.
What do World Rugby want? If you’re going to have the temerity to try to win the ball in the air, then stick your hands on top of your head as soon as you start heading down?
In rugby’s many contests, there’s an inevitable tangle of arms and legs. It’s a contact sport.
It’s a tough, ferocious sport. Folau had no intent to drag O’Mahony down. The Irishman’s teammate that lifted him – CJ Stander – is more answerable to a charge of carelessness or recklessness.
Stander should’ve taken more responsibility for easing O’Mahony back to the ground safely.
Folau’s contact was minimal. Don’t think it’s possible to support the body weight of a big buddy in the forwards? No problem for Tendai Mtawarira (although as he’s better known as ‘The Beast’ it’s perhaps no surprise).
Ban lifting if anything. Don’t ruin the contest in the air. It’s hard enough judging where your own feet are going when you’re positioning yourself to be a jumper or lifter, let alone trying to predict – at high speed and often under fatigue – what your teammate is about to do.
It’s why so many lifting tackles in rugby league go horribly wrong when there are two or more defenders involved. The case of Alex McKinnon – a talented, young NRL back-rower who became a paraplegic – is the most prominent recent instance and proves how quickly a twist of bodies can lead to such a tragic outcome.
To be clear: that’s an argument against lifting – involving more than one person – not leaping.
To put it another way: given Folau’s farcical ban, will players take the risk of jumping for the ball in an aerial contest? Even if you’ve got eyes for the ball, you’re not careless or reckless, that may not make you immune from punishment. Have you got to also compute the potential competence and effectiveness of the lifter?
O’Mahony’s landing – a 115kg body falling from close to two metres onto his shoulder blade – was cringeworthy. Of course no one wants to see that happen. Beauden Barrett’s impact close to his neck when he collided with Fall in Wellington was similarly hard to watch.
The Israel Folau suspension was not deserved (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
World Rugby are right to attempt to implement laws that minimise the risk of head and neck injuries. That they’ve come down so heavily on those that lift above the horizontal in tackles is testament to the seriousness in which they’re treating the issue. But to suck the life out of the contest for the ball in the air from kicks is absurd.
World Rugby can do worse than pore over footage from the AFL – a sport that’s full of contests for the ball in the air and a facet that makes fans marvel at the skill and bravery of the game’s elite.
Sure, there’s a few ugly collisions and some brutal injuries from marking contests. But for the most part, the players accept that there’s often a tangle of arms and legs and take responsibility for any mishaps that may eventuate.
Is there lifting? No. Are you expected to go in with a decent level of care and respect? Yes. Do accidents happen? Yes.
Another example of lame lifting was during the second Test between Australia and Ireland in Melbourne when in a second-half lineout, one of the tourists’ lifters lost control of their jumper who crashed down on top of David Pocock.
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The Wallabies flanker gripped his head and neck in pain. But was a 110kg body crashing down on someone’s neck, due to the carelessness of the lifter and clearly dangerous, punished by World Rugby? No way.
The Cane-Tu’ungafasi comparison is still the most mind-boggling.
Belt a bloke from two angles across the cheekbone and that’s sweet for World Rugby. You know, these things happen in a contact sport. But don’t dare lock your gaze on a ball in the air and have the gall to also attempt to catch it.
Let the jumper and the lifter soak up their special moment without interruption. Maybe even allow them to hold the pose for a few seconds – as the jumper makes a theatrical flick of the wrists and point of the toes – and they soar high in the air like a duo from Swan Lake.
The crowd gasp in unison, briefly forgetting they’re at a game of rugby, but deeply immersed in the crescendo of emotion that can only be generated by uncontested kick-offs and lineouts.
piru
Roar Rookie
Like it would make a difference anyway
HenryHoneyBalls
Guest
Thats true but intent doesnt necessarly matter where an action is reckless.
HenryHoneyBalls
Guest
The only surprise really is how many times in the game Folau did the same thing before he got penalised. A red would have been harsh IMO but a penalty or yellow every time.
Angus Kennedy
Guest
Ok. What about the footage of Folau being tackled in the sir by an Irish player?
Derm
Roar Guru
“Due to the injury it caused it was a yellow card and cited earning a one week ban. I can see an arguement for both a yellow and red card there but have no contention either way.“ The citing incident was a separate one from the yellow card one.
Colin
Guest
The talk about lifting is pointless, is it illegal to lift a player, no. Is it illegal to tackle a player in the air, yes. Did falou put his arm around O'Mahony, yes. Did O'Mahony land dangerously yes. As per the rules (current) is folau in the wrong, yes. Talk about future rules is pointless, as open the current rules, falou is at fault and should play within them. Blaming CJ is stupid, the tactics employed by Australia were stupid he could have jumped in front of O'Mahony and tried to catch the ball clean over his head, instead he went behind and tried to slap the ball back to his player which put him at risk if doing this. He make contact on three occasions, the third one being a yellow and the second being a citing, luckily they didn't look at the first. A 1 week ban is nothing it's over already, change the tactics and move on from it.
Faith
Guest
Diehard you raise a very good point. This lift happens all the time and never has consequences when done in field ... the only time I've seen it successfully contested much further up the field is when Read competed in last BIL game and lost it but almost won a penalty. Folau has also won this kind of ball up further in the field through the inefficiency of the opposing team ... this particular Foley-kick-Folau jump-Mahony-lift seems renew because it was repeated in similar sequence ... almost a perfect storm. I wonder whether a stronger (and better technically) lifter, taller player than Mahony would just make this inconsequential. I'd like to see whether WBs go with this move during RC ...
Faith
Guest
Tx Jerry and Wal. I even heard Gregan on Fox say that contact cannot be avoided when there is a contesting leap. I wonder why all other aerial contests up to now including those with Folau don't always end up with someone falling on their head. Schmidt outfoxed Cheika and Folau and now they are on watch with that kick-off leap ...
Faith
Guest
At last among the rabble (including myself) a rational man emerges ... tx freddieeffer - I even read a post recently that blamed refs for dwindling Aus youth level rugby stocks ... you renew my faith in rugby union fandom
Faith
Guest
I'm not sure why this is even a debate. The way POM fell in one of those three Folau 'competing' positions is just horrendous ... is he Ok?
Paulo
Roar Rookie
I’m not determining the force dude, I’m saying if you impact someone in the chest with your hand whether you curl your fingers into a grab or leave your hand open without grabbing, the same amount of force, give or take has been imparted by the initial impact. You’re better than this TWAS, to try and argue that a full flight Folau hitting POM with his trailing arm does not impart force is stretching credulity.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Are you suggesting he was sanctioned for being a Wallaby?
Shane D
Roar Rookie
Don’t you even suggest that about the GOAT!
ClassAct
Guest
One thing is for sure - if Folau was an All Black or English rugby player the sanction would have been dropped (or never cited in the first place). Rugby has become quite pathetic now and becoming less relevant to viewers and parents of potential players year on year. I predict the RWC will drag the sport along for the next 16-20 years before the four years of nothingness in between them renders the sport as relavant as the Latin language. There have been some shocking problems with administration (particularly SANZAR) but constant tinkering with the rules has boxed the code into a corner it can’t escape
Redsfan1
Guest
Kirky I suggest you watch the clip of Rob Kearneys far worse take down of Folau in the first test before getting worked up that Folau got off lightly.
Redsfan1
Guest
Derm- where was your outrage at Rob Kearney for his far worse pull down of Folau in the air in the first test??? Oh he's Irish so that's OK. Hypocrisy at its worst.
soapit
Roar Guru
wow, seriously? is that the one theyre trying to compare?
Far be it for me to judge the intent of a player, but foul play might be a bit harsh. When you are airborne involuntary reactions can cause a player to reach out to an oncoming object.
denis whelan
Roar Rookie
I am sorry Will but how you can argue that folau did nothing wrong is beyond me. You are defending something that is clearly shown on tv to be foul play. It does not matter if folau did a spectacular jump he pulled pom. Quite simple he was wrong. His actions knocked pom off balance. How u can blame stander is equally comical. Pom would have landed safely but for folau touch. If you want something to do tell me how did aus get a penalty try and Healy a yellow card for pulling down the maul and when aus did the same thing and pulled down a try scoring maul ire got just a penalty. As well as that Healy is allowed pull the maul down once over the try line. Also the offside aus player who prevented murray from scoring at base off post surely was a penalty try. Anyway it was a great series with both teams in upward curve.
dirtyrottenscoundrel
Guest
The State of Origin (2 games played) were entertaining and definitely not over officiated. The 3rd (a dead rubber) will draw another huge audience. The June rugby tests were entertaining but definitely OVER officiated. The incessant interference by the TMO was simply ridiculous... Either too often or in some tests, not at all. I will leave it to the pundits to know which tests the TMO ran roughshod over the ref in the middle. It was the guy who sounded like Forrest Gump! I have always watched rugby and league, believe them to be totally different games, and feel unbiased offering my opinion.