No high shot means no problem
If you stay away from the head, then you don’t give blokes like Luke Pearce a decision to make.
We can debate the merits of Pearce’s refereeing performance, in Saturday’s test match between New Zealand and France at Eden Park, till the cows come home.
Most people agree his decision to sinbin France lock Paul Gabrillagues, for a highish tackle on Ryan Crotty, was made in haste. But, having set that as his standard, Pearce surprised many by not brandishing a yellow card when Sam Cane and Ofa Tu’ungafasi collected Remy Grosso shortly after.
Again, you can argue about what Pearce ought to have done. What’s not in dispute is that when tackles creep up, players leave themselves vulnerable to the vagaries of referee interpretations.
‘‘It’s pretty evident, the way that things are being refereed, that if you get that part wrong, you can see yourself sitting on the sideline,’’ All Blacks No 8 Luke Whitelock said yesterday.
‘‘It’s something we’ve got to try and get better at as individuals and get our techniques right. As the target changes, we’ve probably got to try and change the way that we make that tackle.’’
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen on Sunday described rugby as a ‘‘fluid’’ game, where the continual movement and changes in body height meant tacklers had minimal margin for error.
Pearce was certainly of the opinion that Gabrillagues had made a mistake in his tackle technique on Crotty. Whether he was right doesn’t matter. The fact is Pearce sat Gabrillagues on the sideline and New Zealand turned their numerical advantage into points.
France might have waved the white flag a bit, as the All Blacks blew the score out to 52-11, but the initial damage was done by the sinbinning.
‘‘The guy with the whistle’s always going to have the end call there. You just can’t afford to get it wrong because it has quite a big consequence,’’ Whitelock said.
That’s not always easy and the margin between fair and foul is very fine. As All Blacks prop Owen Franks knows only too well. He was recently suspended for two weeks after making high contact with James Parsons, during a Super Rugby game for the Crusaders against the Blues.
‘‘You’ve got to possibly take some time to really sight a good target, at a ruck for example, and be aware of how you’re using your body,’’ Franks said.
‘‘Sometimes you go into a ruck and, for example what happened against the Blues, I didn’t even know that happened until I saw it on the big screen, because you’re dealing with split-second decisions. Like Luke said, it’s the importance of getting the skillset right and taking a little bit more time to really get your body angle right.’’
Australia’s Angus Gardner will referee the second match of this three-test series, in Wellington on Saturday.
Gardner penalised the Hurricanes for tackling the Crusaders’ Seta Tamanivalu with too much vigour, two weeks ago, so the All Blacks will know to be careful at Westpac Stadium.