World Rugby must make discipline consistent

COLIN BOAG

For how much longer will World Rugby accept the SAANZAR nations repeatedly sticking up two fingers to their disciplinary procedures?

After the ridiculous rescinding of the Jordie Barrett red card a couple of weeks ago, it has happened again with the citing of Jasper Wiese being thrown out on the grounds that it was accidental, and just reckless as opposed to highly reckless! We now have the situation where the southern hemisphere is playing by a different set of rules to those that are being applied in the north, and this has the makings of a threat to the game.

Had it happened in the Premiership or the Six Nations, I have no doubt that Barrett’s red card would have been upheld, and that Wiese’s citing would have led to a lengthy ban. There seem to be two issues here: one is that an accidental incident seems to be regarded differently in the south, and the other is that outcome seems to be important to them.

Escape: Jasper Wiese’s citing was thrown out

If you look back at the red cards issued in the Premiership last season, a fair number could be classed as accidental, and we’ve heard ref ’s say words to the effect that they’re sorry but the player has to go. If you want players to modify their behaviour then the defence of ‘sorry guv, it was an accident’ can’t be allowed to stand.

As for outcome, the difference between a player walking away in one piece and a life-changing injury, is probably millimetres, and we can’t have the situation where those two outcomes are treated differently – it’s the offending player’s actions that count, not whether he injured his opponent.

There is clearly a schism developing between the north, where after initial teething troubles there is now widespread acceptance of the principles behind the clampdown on head contact, and the south where there still seems to be a culture that says the game mustn’t go soft!

It all boils down to one fundamental question: can World Rugby impose or agree a common set of principles that will be accepted and implemented across the two hemispheres? How can international matches between northern and southern hemisphere teams satisfactorily continue if actions that are unacceptable to one group of nations are acceptable to others?

From a fan’s perspective it’s that hoary old chestnut of consistency. When we watch a game we need to know that decisions are going to be made in very similar ways by different referees – that should apply within a league or a country, and worldwide in a global sport like rugby.

Most people now accept that acting to minimise head injuries is critical for rugby’s future, and it’s clear that, while there is still a way to go, things continue to change for the better in the northern hemisphere.

Disciplinary judgments such as those in the cases of Barrett and Wiese set back the cause, and World Rugby needs to get stuck in and justify its existence. If a player makes contact with another player’s head or neck, and it was avoidable, he’s to blame and must be punished – no if ’s and but’s, and no need for lawyers.

The video of Castres’ Ryno Piterse smashing into Bordeaux’s Maxime Luco went viral last week – it was truly shocking, and would have been a clear red even in the southern hemisphere, and that would probably have been upheld at the disciplinary!

What was refreshing was the action of referee Romain Poite. No prevarication, no going ‘upstairs’ for a review, just an immediate red card, and he was straight away shouting ‘carte rouge’ loudly because he had seen the potential for a full-on punch-up to start. He defused the situation brilliantly, and got things just right. ‘Chapeau’ Monsieur Poite!