Mitchell fears ‘high tackle’ crackdown
Referees’ chief spells out aim to protect players New laws force fly-half Farrell into style change
World Cup officials insist that they will not seek to “lay down a marker” when it comes to awarding red and yellow cards for high tackles in the early stages of the tournament, even though England defence coach John Mitchell expressed a concern shared by many other teams when he stated that there was apprehension about how the system would play out.
Mitchell revealed that England fly-half Owen Farrell had been obliged to amend his technique in the wake of a crackdown on high tackles, part of which was triggered by two contentious incidents he was involved in during the autumn Tests against South Africa and Australia.
World Rugby has moved to clarify its position, issuing its new framework directive in May prior to the Under-20 World Championship in Argentina. That tournament saw a flurry of cards issued, 13 in total, four of which were red. World Rugby’s elite referee manager Alain Rolland is adamant, though, that his team of 21 match officials will not set out to follow that draconian trend in order to get their point across at the start.
What is clear, however, is that the head is a “no-go zone”. Hawk-eye TV technology with the use of super-slow mo, higher-resolution pictures and an increased range of camera angles will enhance the decision-making on all on-field matters.
“We are here to officiate and adjudicate on actions, not to lay down a marker,” said Rolland. “I am very confident that teams are aware of the framework because I made a personal presentation to all 10 Tier One countries and my colleagues did the same with the Tier Two countries. It was made very clear to coaches [and players] what the high tackle framework is and we also stressed that it is there to protect the player.”
Referees will consider three main principles when deciding what, if any, action to take. They have to consider if there was contact with the head or neck, what the degree of danger to the player involved was and whether there was any mitigation that might have caused such an impact such as the offending/defending player falling or tripping as he went to make the tackle. The mitigation clause has been reinforced since the May directive so as to allow for accidental incidents. The mitigation factor allows the referee to perhaps reduce the sanction from a red to a yellow card on television match official review or down to a penalty.
But it would be a surprise if the issue were not the main talking point over the opening days of the tournament. What is heartening to hear is that World Rugby will not look to use the TMO in the same time-consuming way that VAR has been employed in football.
“We have worked very hard to ensure that the on-field official takes the majority of the decisions,” said Rolland, who disclosed that World Rugby would be taking responsibility for the use of TV cameras used in decisions. “A TMO will intervene when there is serious foul play or when a clear action has been missed in the act of scoring.”
World Rugby announced yesterday that the tournament was heading towards a sell-out, with 95 per cent of tickets sold. There were forecasts of another typhoon gathering offshore. There is no imminent threat of the sort of disruption caused by Typhoon Faxai, which hit last week, but organisers have contingencies in place.
“Any initial decision of the cancellation of matches will take place about 24 hours out from a match with confirmation to happen six to eight hours prior to the game,” said tournament director Alan Gilpin. All 20 teams are now in the country.