Enforce laws and game will be safer
WORLD Rugby should abandon their ‘player welfare' platitudes and make the game safer by merely enforcing its own laws.
A fortnight ago in The Rugby Paper, Brendan Gallagher displayed his credentials as an outstanding rugby writer highlighting why the breakdown ‘remains a disgrace'.
With prophetic clarity, he pinpointed a potential Achilles' heel in Irish rugby's hugely impressive recent domination of the rugby world stating: “Leinster, and to a slightly lesser extent Ireland, have been getting away with murder… flying in off their feet like heat seeking missiles, diving in from the side, taking out players way beyond the ball. You name it, they do it. Expertly, but illegally. Should a referee suddenly take against their modus operandi in a big match it could be extremely disruptive.”
And so it came to pass when Leinster lost the Champions Cup final to La Rochelle 26-27 after the referee finally refereed the breakdown awarding two crucial penalties for needless offences yards from the French tryline in the game's final minutes.
Gallagher also voiced the key cause of breakdown mayhem namely tackled players ignoring the immediate release law resulting in jacklers legally trying to secure the ball being battered.
In a 2014 interview, the Wales and Lions captain Sam Warburton stated: “The breakdown is pretty ugly place when you've got three 18-stoners trying to take your head off. Sometimes I'm struggling to shampoo my head the next day because my head is hurting so bad.”
Is this really an acceptable situation with the current injuries crisis threatening the game's future? Try naming another sport that tolerates referees as well as players ignoring the game's laws.
