Masaga's tackle on Mvovo

[Dixie]

No offence.

None taken.

[Simon Thomas]

No PK imho, accidental clash of heads due to both players' body positions, tackler's arms were about to wrap, and play on (at this level) 9initially - I was concerned that the AR did not stop to check the players' condition.

At any community non-pro level match I would expect an immediate safety whistle to attend two players down after such a head clash.

[irishref]

Very unfortunate collision that. Should the AR have used the radio mike to instruct the ref to stop since it really looked like a serious head injury?

[Davet]

Though down on the park, at level 10 - level 6 it would probably require a ping as a dangerous tackle.

[Bryan]

Though down on the park, at level 10 - level 6 it would probably require a ping as a dangerous tackle.

I get the impression that if this was done, this is more due to the requirement of the referee at this level needing to make a "statement", otherwise he/she will have 15 irate players on him for the rest of the game. This isnt down to being a legal tackle at the professional level and illegal play at the amateur level, but more down to the referee's lack of any ability to manage accordingly if he actually gets the right call and simply restarts with a scrum b/c 2 players arent moving and the way it's going to look to the man and his dog watching the game.

I would NOT penalize this. The collision was really awkward; the timing and the speed makes it look bad, but it's not illegal. The player made an attempt to go up and wrap with the arms, but due to the nature of the collision wasnt able to follow through and collided with his opponent. It also looks like he was going for a ball-n-all tackle due to the height of the collision; he never drops his body into the fella, so I really have no f**king clue what he was trying to do!

[Davet]

A Dangerous Tackle is whatever the ref deems to be dangerous, taking account of the circumstances.

A tackle like that on the local park would be dangerous because it is so far outside the normal parameters. If nothing else he would deserve penalising for total lack of technique and crap skill leading to a situation where injury was pretty much guaranteed - and indeed even at elite level injury happened.

[RobLev]

I get the impression that if this was done, this is more due to the requirement of the referee at this level needing to make a "statement", otherwise he/she will have 15 irate players on him for the rest of the game. This isnt down to being a legal tackle at the professional level and illegal play at the amateur level, but more down to the referee's lack of any ability to manage accordingly if he actually gets the right call and simply restarts with a scrum b/c 2 players arent moving and the way it's going to look to the man and his dog watching the game.

I would NOT penalize this. The collision was really awkward; the timing and the speed makes it look bad, but it's not illegal. The player made an attempt to go up and wrap with the arms, but due to the nature of the collision wasnt able to follow through and collided with his opponent. It also looks like he was going for a ball-n-all tackle due to the height of the collision; he never drops his body into the fella, so I really have no f**king clue what he was trying to do!

FWIW, it looks to me as if he was trying to drop his body into the tackle - he starts to crouch in the last few yards of his run - but Mvovo, in taking the catch, also crouches so that when Masaga arrives they're at the same level.

[Drift]

A Dangerous Tackle is whatever the ref deems to be dangerous, taking account of the circumstances.

A tackle like that on the local park would be dangerous because it is so far outside the normal parameters. If nothing else he would deserve penalising for total lack of technique and crap skill leading to a situation where injury was pretty much guaranteed - and indeed even at elite level injury happened.

As one of the coaches I was talking to at the weekend said "being sh!t is not illegal".

[Davet]

Gently explain to the coach that it is if it results in a dangerous situation.

[irishref]

As one of the coaches I was talking to at the weekend said "being sh!t is not illegal".

exactly, that's how I managed to keep playing for 32 years :-)