Artemyev hopes World Rugby will be on red alert after reckless Samoan tackling
● Russia skipper urges hard-hitting Pacific Islanders to adjust technique
The Russian World Cup captain on the end of Samoa’s redcard tackles – that were punished only by yellow cards at the time – wants World Rugby to “learn a lesson” to avoid similar mistakes and says the Samoans should tackle lower to protect their opponents and themselves.
Vasily Artemyev, who will skipper Russia against Ireland in Kobe today, was hit on the head by tackles from Rey Leelo and Motu Matu’u in the first half of last week’s pool match in Kumagaya. Both players were sent to the sin-bin by referee Romain Poite, but their offences were subsequently upgraded to red-card level and a three-match suspension each by disciplinary panels.
Poite and his television match official, England’s Graham Hughes, decided Artemyev’s body position going lower as he braced for the “hits” was a mitigating factor, but the panels said this was an incorrect application of World Rugby’s decision-making framework.
“For the last week or so we have seen one decision on the field and then a different decision from the review panel,” Artemyev said, referring to a series of disputed incidents including Australian Reece Hodge’s.
“Maybe it needs to take time for the referees to read into the framework better and to recognise when the offence satisfies the red-card requirement. I wasn’t particularly going low, I was just ducking my chin and you do it naturally when you expect a big collision.
“I just hope World Rugby learns some sort of a lesson from those episodes and brush up on and polish their frameworkanddecision-making and hopefully it doesn’t happen again.”
Artemyev, whose Russia side will take on Scotland in Shizuoka on Wednesday, was left with bruising on the back of his neck, also recommended not judging the punishment based on how long a tackled player stays down for – “I got up pretty quickly,” he said, “[but] that shouldn’t be the decisive moment, because some hits can knock you out, and some hits, you could be okay afterwards” – and for the Samoans to adjust their technique.
“I feel they were really getting stuck into the game, really going in hard, just the way they always do,” Artemyev said. “They just need to lower their height and be a bit more conscious of how high they go into the contact. It’s a safety issue for themselves because it is a much higher chance of getting a head collision and knocking themselves out, hurting themselves. It won’t affect their game detrimentally – they can still make those big hits and do what they’re proud of doing.”
Russia led 6-5 at half-time of the match but, after the two sin-binned players returned, the Russians lost one of their own for ten minutes and were beaten 34-9. They now face the Irish as the bottom side in Pool A with no points.
“I feel frustrated,” said Artemyev. “If the red card is given during a game, the review panel will decide how heavy a penalty should be. It could be a one-match miss if a red card was marginal or if they feel the referee was too tough.”
But the 32-year-old fullback and veteran of 88 Tests says the game is becoming safer. “In the last decade there have been some huge changes regarding tackling in the air.
“You feel much safer competing for the ball in the air, knowing you’re not going to be smashed up there. It’s going in the right direction.”
GET IT RIGHT “I just hope World Rugby learns some sort of a lesson from those episodes and brush up on and polish their framework and decision-making” VASILY ARTEMYEV