Irish robbed: Blunder over Bundee a joke

Forget the controversial dismissal of players during these World Cup games in Japan.

Ireland have been robbed before the quarter-final with New Zealand has even kicked off in Tokyo.

The three-game ban on midfielder Bundee Aki is the tournament’s lowest point outside the human tragedy caused by a massive typhoon.

Aki’s ban is an injustice which hurts the tournament’s credibility. It reeks of coldhearted dogma.

I don’t believe Aki should even have been sent off against Samoa, for an alleged high shoulder-first tackle on Ulupano Seuteni.

But however it played out on the field, there was time for natural justice to set things right. It hasn’t. Players in the sudden death World Cup games, with everything on the line, will be more confused than ever over whether instincts built up over many years are now — suddenly — all wrong.

This was no ordinary tackle. The ball was bouncing around with Aki and Seuteni zooming in on it. The Samoan first five-eighths got there first, by a split second, and Aki reacted with a strong upright tackle.

What was he supposed to do — approach in the crouching position or suddenly dive out of the way?

It wasn’t as if Aki had lined an opponent up, or had time to react when — as he made the front-on tackle — Seuteni had already and clearly slipped towards the ground.

Many of us understand those rugby bosses must make the game safer, or be seen to be doing so. But it is not one-size-fits-all.

It was a shock to discover the powerful midfield back had been stood down. What makes no sense is the ruling stating “the committee did not accept that there was sufficient evidence of a sudden drop in the ball carrier’s height”. There was. I’d also dispute the ruling that Aki was “in open space and had a clear line of sight before the contact”. He was in open space but was initially approaching the ball, not concentrating on where his opponent was.

What World Rugby is also failing to take into account is that this World Cup is taking place during a transition phase, when players instincts have not had time to be properly recalibrated.

In some cases, the game is right to ignore this point, when tacklers have plenty of time to line up an opponent. But in this case, they are horribly wrong.

The tournament is being heavily shaped by experimental rules.

The judicial Committee was chaired by Adam Casselden SC (Australia) with former Scotland coach Frank Hadden and former Romanian referee Valeriu Toma.

Ireland and Aki have been hard done by. The decision is a farce, and we’re all the poorer for it.

Players in the sudden death World Cup games, with everything on the line, will be more confused than ever over whether instincts built up over many years are now — suddenly — all wrong.