Hodge hit was not even worth a yellow card
I MIGHT be in a minority but I don’t think Australian Reece Hodge’s challenge on Fijian flanker Peceli Yato was a red-card offence and therefore he should not have been cited. In fact, I’m not sure it was even a yellow. Under much pressure, the match officials made a good common-sense call. Rugby is a game of huge collisions, they happen, what we have to try to eradicate are deliberate or reckless shots at the head. I get that totally but I don’t believe that is what Hodge was trying to do. I had no problem with it in real time and even when you view the slow motion — and these things need to be looked at in real time to be fair to the player under suspicion — I still don’t see any intent other than to meet Yato shoulder to shoulder. Yato was bearing down on him at great pace in a confined space and, for me, Hodge’s actions were a combination of bravely standing his ground but also trying to protect himself from injury at the same time. You see this a lot among forwards when it seems largely accepted. Defences spread, players make themselves big and stand their ground. ‘They shall not pass’ and all that. What then happens is the attackers charge into them — rugby’s equivalent of running into a brick wall — and a massive collision results. I would be disappointed to see Hodge miss out on the rest of the tournament on account of that challenge. Elsewhere, France looked extremely sharp for 40 minutes against Argentina but overall they were still erratic and their defence against the driving maul was non-existent. Ireland went a long way to regaining their mojo with a thoroughly competent and comfortable bonus-point win against Scotland which will have eased the nerves. The Ireland pack was back on song, the lineout work was spotless and Conor Murray was back to his best at scrum-half. There is still work to do but they are now looking at a quarterfinal against South Africa, a side they have done well against in recent years. Talking of the Boks, they didn’t play at a fast enough pace for long enough when losing against New Zealand but there wasn’t a great deal to choose between the two sides and they can still be a big factor in this tournament. To do that, though, they must get the brilliant Cheslin Kolbe into play as often as possible. He is a match-winner when used properly.