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All Blacks continue to take lessons from drawn British and Irish Lions series

64 comments · 619 votes

I think youll find that most observers who actually know the laws agree that he had to be sent off. Here are the guidelines given by World Rugby to referees on this situation:Tackling a player in the air, should be dealt with severely. Merely having your eyes on the ball is not sufficient.¢ If a player's timing is sufficient to have a clear opportunity to contest for the ball, play on.¢ If a player's timing is not sufficient to have a clear opportunity to contest for the ball and makes contact with a player in the air, it is illegal.¢ If a player takes deliberate action that interferes with a player in the air, it is illegal.If the player's feet makes contact with the ground first: Penalty KickIf the player lands on their lower back area or side: PK and suspensionIf the receiver lands on their upper back/head/neck PK and Red CardClearly the French players timing, for whatever reason, was wrong. He didnt have a clear opportunity to contest the ball, and he made contact with Barrett when Barrett was in the air. Barrett landed on his head. If you look at the list of sanctions given above by World Rugby, this had to be a red card.Notice that there is no mention here of players being knocked off balance, not realising that there was another player there etc. That bit was suddenly added by World Rugby when they were looking for a reason to rescind the red card.

The ones who actually bother to read the law book do

Eddie Jones? Heyneke Meyer? Graeme Henry? Better than Hansen as coaches? What are you on about? Or should that be what are you on?

most says that according to the law he should of been sent off, but it ruined the game.

I love the game also but it's technicalities and subjective judgements are what sets it apart. They are what makes players have to rise above perceived injustice a great metaphor for life, it's what gives all of us Monday morning quarter backs fodder for our keyboards, it makes the game fascinating and one in which the fans of the same team can all hold different but valid views, in short it is a more complex and interesting game than soccer or league. Hansen seems to understand this well, it is this leadership that gives the ABs one of their small but important edges. I know there is a clamour for the rules to be simplified but wonder if we might lose more than we would gain.

Basically, the officiating is ruining the game but theres nothing you can do about it

In Shag we trust. Steve Hansen is a very rational person and unbiased when it comes to reffing calls. He will possibly go down as the greatest coach in history as he has the stats to back that up. I am waiting for the anti Steve Hansen crew to come out yet none of us could lead the team like he has done. Is Max/ yeahthebois276 around?? #shagtostay

Is that why the AB's are the number 1 team and have been for some time now??? England have run out of ideas, and Ireland are good but they don't have the depth. All blacks this year have tweaked their game a wee bit, as for Ireland they're still playing the same style of rugby so you tell me who's running out of ideas???

Back to soccer for you little troll...your ridiculous comments are only embarrassing for you.

Agree regarding technicalities, particularly seemingly yearly changes to forward-play laws makes the game unwatchable at times due to stoppages and often ruins a teams momentum.

World Rugby should have backed Angus Gardner over the red , he applied it to the law as it stands. World Rugby are hypocrites and have created an absolute mess and uncertainty in the minds of reffs,

Anybody who wants Joe Schmidt to coach NZ should be forced to watch all the Irish games since he started coaching them to cure them of the idea so long as they have managed to stay awake.

Some punctuation would help understand your comment.Could be taken two ways.

There are far better coaches around than ShagThen proceeds to name Fred Allen......

What about it? According to the laws, Tuungafase should have been penalised. The guideline says this:Accidental TackleWhen making contact with another player during a tackle or attempted tackle or during other phases of the game, if a player makes accidental contact with an opponent's head, either directly or where the tackle starts below the line of the shoulders, the player MAY be sanctioned. This includes situations where the ball carrier slips into the tackle.Minimum sanction: PenaltyAs the French player was knocked into the tackle, which otherwise would have been perfectly legitimate, the ref correctly penalised the tackler, as the guidelines suggest. Cane, though, was very lucky not to get a yellow for his tackle with a swinging arm.

Just wondering if you really believe in your #shagout stand or are looking for a reaction from readers? I would like to know before I respond.