Farrell tackles red-card threat
SKIPPER WARY AS SCRUTINY RAMPED UP
OWEN FARRELL has been forced to overhaul his defensive technique amid fears that a zerotolerance crackdown on dangerous tackles will lead to a torrent of red cards at this World Cup.
England’s captain was fortunate to avoid punishment for two incidents last November — tackles on South Africa’s Andre Esterhuizen and Izack Rodda of Australia, where he did not appear to use his arms. The lack of sanction drew widespread condemnation, but Farrell has taken steps to address an issue which could land him in trouble in the coming weeks.
‘He has made some adjustments,’ said England’s defence coach John Mitchell, who confirmed that Joe Cokanasiga and Mark Wilson have knee injuries which leave them in doubt for the opener against Tonga on Sunday. ‘There can be mitigating circumstances, but if your hands are in front of your shoulder, you’ve got a better chance of making a proper wrap tackle.
‘If your shoulder is ahead of your hands, then the law doesn’t allow for you very well.’
Sportsmail understands that World Rugby are facing a revolt from leading coaches when they meet referees manager Alain Rolland in Tokyo tomorrow. There are set to be 11th-hour attempts to refine recent edicts which the coaches fear will cause a damaging stream of dismissals.
Last month, New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen proposed a change to the red card system, which would mean an offender going off for 15 minutes, allowing time to use video footage to assess the incident. If it was deemed a borderline decision on review, another player could come on as a replacement after the 15 minutes.
Sportsmail has learned that this proposal was supported by most leading coaches, but it was vetoed by opposition from France and Scotland. However, there is an undercurrent of unrest about what is seen as a dictatorial approach by Rolland — the Irish former referee.
His predecessor, Joel Jutge, is thought to have worked more closely with coaches, whereas Rolland is less interested in feedback. Such has been the rise in tensions on his watch, he is likely to be removed from his post after the World Cup.
But by then, there is a grave fear that the damage will have been
done and that the edicts relating to high tackles in particular will have spoiled this showpiece event. The Junior World Cup in Argentina in June saw 17 cards issued — four red and 13 yellow — and that has spread alarm.
‘At the back of everyone’s mind, if you go back to the Under 20s world tournament, there were a lot of cards issued there,’ said Mitchell. ‘There is some apprehension around that, but you are just going to have to deal with whatever happens. You’d like to think that since then (U20s World Cup) there has been learning and a little bit more common sense.’
The spectre of concussion in rugby has led to the emphasis on draconian measures to punish any contact with the head.
While the campaign is well-intentioned, coaches are concerned that tackles are being judged without enough consideration of intent. Their hope is that the situation will improve, but it may not improve fast enough, with the World Cup just four days away.
‘The sides that haven’t spent time on that tackle height and technique, that could become costly,’ said Mitchell.
‘It’s certainly an important part about our process and we make sure that we train it to give us an advantage. We understand the head is a no-go zone.
‘I think we’re also starting to see that the disciplinary panels are using a little more common-sense around this. I guess that’s all you’re after because with a lot of the situations, the intent is not illegal.
‘Alain Rolland went around the groups and I was present at one of his meetings where he brought some visuals and had a flow chart of some decision-making. The flow chart was a bit complex, but it was very clear what they want.’
Hasty contingency planning is under way. Last weekend, New Zealand chose to play the closing stages of their warm-up match against Tonga with 14 men. England have trained with reduced numbers on the field and were even planning the same ploy in last month’s 57-15 victory over Ireland, only for George Kruis to be sin-binned late on anyway.
‘We constantly under-load and over-load in training, to be able to adapt to these situations,’ said Mitchell. ‘To be able to cope with the worst- case scenario is really important. We have trained two men down. That is pretty realistic.’