Hansen: Lowering tackle zone good move
All Blacks coach believes keeping tackles below ‘nipple line’ will make rugby safer
It has received derision in some quarters but All Blacks coach Steve Hansen supports World Rugby’s new trial which states all tackles must be made below a ballcarrier’s “nipple line”.
In a further bid to protect the safety of players — and especially their head area — the game’s governing body will bring in the trial for the Under-20 World Championships in France which kick off later this month.
Presumably if successful, the regulation will be rolled out to all levels of the game. The law currently states tackles must be made below the shoulder.
World Rugby had already brought in tougher sanctions for above-theshoulder tackles, including directives for match officials to punish offenders with yellow or red cards but as the concern about concussion in the game mounts, so the organisation has felt the need to lower the hit zone.
“I think it’s good. I think it’s better than below-the-shoulder because there are quite a lot of games where you make the tackle and it doesn’t look a bad tackle and yet it’s been penalised,” Hansen said yesterday.
“The clearer you can make it, the better — we all know where our nipples are, so hit below that and you’re okay.
“Is it going to solve the problems? We’re still going to get concussions because you’ve got two or three people piling into a collision and not everyone’s putting their head in the right place.”
Hansen said Crusaders and All Blacks midfielder Ryan Crotty’s recent concussion was a good example of an accidental clash. In trying to make a tackle at Eden Park recently, Crotty collided with the forearm of Ofa Tu’ungafasi after the Blues prop threw an unexpected pass.
“There are still going to be unavoidable ones because it’s such a physical game,” Hansen said. “What we’ve got to do is take care of those people when it does happen to them and I think what we’re seeing from all the [New Zealand] franchises is that that’s happening.”
Other critics will point out that a more dangerous area of the game is the ruck cleanout, where attacking players charge in to blast opponents out of the way while their opponent in same cases has their head down looking at the ball.
Despite the clear and obvious dangers, World Rugby appear strangely reluctant to tweak this area, yet want to add what some will criticise as an extra grey area to the tackle law.
Former Wallabies wing Drew Mitchell told Australia’s
“I am 100 per cent behind making the game safer — we don’t want people suffering concussion — but one of the biggest criticisms of our game at the moment is the inconsistency of refereeing and interpretation of the rules.
“That’s across all levels of the game, from junior to club to professional, you get different interpretations of the same rule.
“By saying ‘nipple’ in the new law, you’re making a generalisation that referees can’t possibly rule with any consistency.
“They have just created a greater grey area and confusion around high tackles.
“They could have gone with armpits, the referees and fans can see where that is. This has been poorly worded.”
The obvious issue is that no one — players, officials, spectators or viewers — can see exactly where the nipple line is. There is only a general area that officials will have to make a snap judgement on.
World Rugby said in a statement: “Rugby is committed to an evidencebased approach to injury-prevention, and with the latest comprehensive research determining that tacklers who are upright carry the greatest risk of head injury, the trials are designed to change player behaviour by getting the tackler to attempt lower tackles and therefore lower the risk of injury.
“As a result, the acceptable height of the tackle will be lowered through revised on-field and off-field sanctions, encouraging players to bend at the waist when attempting a tackle.”