MAURO BERGAMASCO WAS extremely lucky not to see yellow or red following a gruesome dump tackle on Leinster’s Brian O’Driscoll.
The Zebre flanker zeroed in on the Blues’ captain at the end of the first-half, in the Pro12 win over Zebre, and lifted him shoulder high before tipping him into the turf.
The Italian then compounded matters by holding O’Driscoll’s head on the ground for several seconds as the Irishman reacted angrily. O’Driscoll complained to referee Neil Paterson and his touch judges but the foul play was not spotted by any of the officials.
Wouldn’t be so sure of that Conor – he tackled a player without the ball but it wasn’t a spear tackle and he didn’t release him in mid air.
It was a hard tackle but the only illegitimate thing about it was that BOD didn’t have the ball at the time – not worthy of a ban.
For Gods sake, man. Take off the blinkers.
Yes, it was a spear tackle. He does not have to release him in mid air.
Stop the video at sixteen seconds. It was only O’Driscoll’s reactions that saved him.
Dropping or driving the player into the ground such as the head or upper body come into contact with the ground.
He was lifted and forced into the ground.
He has lifted him above his centre of gravity and twisted him so his feet are above the Torso. The player can therefore not protect himself.
That’s how serious injury occurs, necks broken and lives destroyed.
@Californiaweed
I’m well aware of law 10.4j but in this case BOD’s hips, back and shoulder blades contacted the ground simultaneously, ergo it was NOT a spear tackle.
Just because a player is lifted off his feet in a tackle does not make it illegal, unless he is subsequently dropped (I think you missed my point about letting go of the player).
I stand by my comment that it was a hard dump tackle but not an illegal spear tackle.
I want to believe that you are innocently missing the point.
Who said ‘just because a player is lifted off his feet makes it illegal?
Straw man.
You see, you missed the next bit, lifting him off his feet(Dump tackle) and twisting him so his feet end up above his head(Spear). How do you think O’Driscoll’s feet ended up over his head? That is never necessary to tackle a player. That’s where the spear comes from. O’Driscoll managed to save himself by recognizing what was happening and in a split second, adjusting. This is why he did not come down head first.
Again, sixteen seconds. From there you have a life or death situation.
What happened to BOD on the 2005 lions tour was one of the greatest pieces of thuggery I’ve ever witnessed on a rugby pitch (and never even got referred to the citing commissioners) but this was totally different – in no way a spear tackle.
Would we even be talking about this if it happened to any other player?
Hope Bergomasco got some special attention during the rest of that game, some good old fashioned revenge was warranted or maybe Leinster were relying on the Citing guy. Lol
It will be a citing plus a ban. The way he sets himself, before he makes the tackle, made it inevitable that he would lift the player off the ground. He lifted O’Driscoll off his feet, above the shoulder line, twists him in the air, and in such a way that he would land on top of him.
If you look at the Warburton tackle in the World Cup semi final – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLpptT_nCp0 – the only difference is that Warburton dropped the French player at the last second.
That’s not true… not every supporter of either club goes in for bull shit tribalism. I’m a Leinster chick all the way, and I’m 100% behind Munster for the HC, and lots of Munster supports would like to see Leinster win the Challenge cup. Drico has always been a class act, always will be, whether wearing the Leinster or Ireland Jersey..
I’ve seen a lot of Munster supports behind citing Bergamasco, how could they not, it was a dam stupid and dangerous thing to do!
I don’t come from a small town, sorry. And I certainly have no bitterness within me, or for anyone or any place.
I didn’t mean to upset the sensitivities of the Leinster supporters but o driscoll is fast becoming an embarrassment. He made a meal of this incident and then tried to start a fight.
Leinster supporters can be very bitter if they can’t get the ref or linesmen onside, or if a leinster player is justifiably critizised.
What can we say – we are in a HEC semi final and you’re NOT ! Even if we are beaten (Claremont 1-10 to win) we can hold our heads high by getting to this position when the rest if you wrote is off!!
Elrat ulster got to the final last year and still won nothing, been in the semi means nothing next Monday if you get beat. Munster apart from beating quins and Connaught a few weeks ago have been muck all season hence your league position.
A certain scottish team made the semis last year and are lucky to be still in business this year, I hope you don’t follow them into the wilderness.
You took almost 8 hours to come up with that garbage . No matter what Lonster do or don’t – you will never, ever have the passion & heart of a Munster team! As I’ve said already when touring sides come – who do they want to play – Munster Munster & Munster . Even Adidas know this as they only allow their gear to be worn by the best – EG Munster All Blacks !!
Jesus Christ, it was off the ball and it was wrong, can you not agree that it was dangerous, you would be going ape shit if it happened to one of the players on the team you support, would you prefer to see Brian in hospital with a neck injury? If so you are a sad person
Mad Munster fan here, but that dirty bullocks should be banned for good, wonder if he is related to them NZ Guys who nearly ended the career of probably the best rugby player to wear a green jersey.
I am a munster man through and through, a rugby supporter through and through, would support Leinster against any team outside Ireland, think O’Driscoll is the greatest Irish rugby player that has worn the Jersey, it was an off the ball tackle that was very much over the top ( no pun intended) , yellow card, no citation… Rugby is a mans game and sometimes it gets a little heated… Hope that settles it for the haters in both camps.
More importantly, where is the coverage of Dan Martin winning Liège-Bastogne-Liège? That will be the greatest sporting achievement related to these shores this year. Great ride, great win in one of the hardest Classics against a world class field.
A lot of nervous sounding munster fans on today. Ok,so your season finishes on saturday around 7.30. As for us ladyboys,well we won’t rub it in too much when we’re lifting 1 or 2 trophies down at the business end of the season. Quick question to the munster lads: If you get beaten by a bunch of ladyboys on your home turf, what does that make ye???
This kind of rugby commentary is why the divide in Irish rugby is so bad, a proper fan knows to rise above and see that green is the most important colour not red or blue.
It makes Munster the only Irish team still in the HEC..only Rabo team in fact..Amazes me that 2 years ago Leinster fans slagged Munster for being in the Amlin..now apparently its now worth winning apparently..Clearly it grates to have been knocked out in the pool stages.Wouldnt kill you to support the Irish team still with a chance of winning the HEC.
Elrat if the French and English get their way you won’t even qualify for the Heineken cup next year.
I can just imagine you cheering on Leinster in the 2016 final so an extra team from here qualifies for the group stages.
How does it feel that a team competing in second rate competitions can beat you home and away.
That’s NOT the sole criteria for a citing ! Did he lift him beyond the horizontal being one of the main ones. For my money it’s a little bit of handbags and I would have rather seen a penalty or a yellow card then a citing. Bergamasco is a flanker and as is the nature of the beast plays to the limit of the ref …. As you would expect. I would put him second or third after Parisse as one of Italy’s greatest rugby players of the professional era.
It doesn’t matter a dam what team you support. A tackle like that should have all lovers of the game up in arms. A ban and fine should be imposed apon the player. Hitting him in the pocket might make him think about what he did
Em… He didn’t get driven into the ground, only issue was it’s off the ball. It’s not a dangerous tackle, in fact if BOD had the ball it’d be a great tackle. Is the rule not if you lift a player off his feet it’s your responsibility to ground him safely?
I’m neither Munster or Leinster, I’m just a rugby fan. Soft spot for Connacht from living in Galway, that’s about it.
It was dodgy . Dont know how the TJ missed it . Should have been a penalty and thats it . Its a hard physical game and if we keep complaining we’ll end up with netball .
It was not a dump tackle, the IRB defines a dump tackle as ” the act of lifting an opponent off his feet in a tackle AND dropping or ‘spearing’ that player so that his head and/or upper body comes into contact with the ground first, is a dangerous tackle.” therefore in order for a dump tackle to be legal the tackler must make sure that his opponent lands flat on their back and not on their upper backs and or neck – seems like Drico was controlled in the air and landed on his back in a controlled manner.
The laws make no reference to a spear tackle. Read law 10.4 (j) . It’s simple – if you lift a player’s legs off the ground and his head or upper body comes in contact with the ground it’s illegal.
No Joe – if his head and/or upper body contact the ground FIRST its a spear tackle. In this case his hips and back contacted the ground simultaneously with his shoulder blades, therefore not a spear tackle under the laws of the game.
Joe, all lift tackles end with a players upper body hitting the deck.
The onus is on the tackling player not to allow the neck/shoulder area to hit first. He must also not be released in mid air and must be brought to ground safely, safely, not necessarily gently. Had the ref seen it, this would have been a yellow for off the ball but no more. He’ll probably get cited though as then whole tackle was ugly.
It was a tackle of a dummy runner nothing wrong with the tackle he lifted him off the ground and brought him back to the ground nothing illegal about that
It was a tackle of a dummy runner nothing wrong with the tackle he lifted him off the ground and brought him back to the ground nothing illegal about that
There is nothing wrong with this tackle. According to the rules he didn’t take him past the horizontal and he brought him to ground without releasing. Perfect example of a great tackle. Just a pity BOD didn’t have the ball.
It was a tackle of a dummy runner nothing wrong with the tackle he lifted him off the ground and brought him back to the ground nothing illegal about that. It’s a mans game
It was pure frustration on behalf of Bergamasco. BOD was guilty of frustration when he stamped on the Italian player during the six nations and was sin binned. I’m not saying it was right but they are professional athletes and these things happen at this level of sport.
Any “rugby fan” here remember the Ferris tackle in the Aviva that ultimately cost Ireland the match against Wales last season? He was yellow carded and the furore over the unjustness was loud and correct.
Bergamassco’s was the same in severity. The problem is he was not yellow carded for tackling BOD without the ball. Or at least penalised. If Bergamassco were to be cited, so should BOD for punching him in retaliation. Neither citings would be justifiable, really.
Nothing wrong with the tackle apart from the fact that it was off the ball. Tackling player brought O’Driscol back to the ground safely. Nothing to be seeing here. Move on please.
In a tackle like this the rules state that the person making the tackle is responsible for the other player’s safe return to ground. There was no ‘tip’, no ‘dump’ BOD was being held the whole time. No citing…. only thing hurt ere is a small bit of pride!
It looks like a massive hit, but I don’t know if it was a tip/spear tackle. Bergamasco doesn’t drop or drive him into the ground as the rule states and he holds onto him the whole time as well.
It looks painful and on the edge of the law. But Warbuton’s WC tackle looked worse. And the IRB video example of a tip tackle looks a lot more severe too (http://www.irblaws.com/content/video_popup_ver6.php?v=laws/2047-lifting-tackle). Also, nowhere near Bradley Davis’ ‘textbook’ spear tackle on Donnacha Ryan in the 6Ns.
That being said, I wouldn’t put it past Bergamasco to try to ruin BoD’s Lions year. He’s always been a bit of a dirty player. Thankfully O’Driscoll wasn’t injured.
What’s really annoying is that none of the touch judges saw this blatant piece of foul play that happened maybe five feet from where the ball was. In the Southern Hemisphere officials could have the incident up on the big screen and seen it for themselves if there was a complaint made. Then it would have been a question of what colour card
Not really James. You can see the technical arguments over whether or not it was an illegal tackle on here so if the TJ saw it or not, we can’t really say what they’re interpretation would be.
My 2 cents……dummy runner was tackled without the ball, lifted, tackler kept control of the lift, didn’t drive Drico into the ground, landed him on the flat of his back then did not release him on the ground. I would have swung for him too but not for the tackle lol
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This is one for the citing commissioner now. He’ll get a ban. Not that it will make any difference to zebre’s brutal first season.
Dicko should be cited trying to start a fight.. and what a tackle. .
Wouldn’t be so sure of that Conor – he tackled a player without the ball but it wasn’t a spear tackle and he didn’t release him in mid air.
It was a hard tackle but the only illegitimate thing about it was that BOD didn’t have the ball at the time – not worthy of a ban.
For Gods sake, man. Take off the blinkers.
Yes, it was a spear tackle. He does not have to release him in mid air.
Stop the video at sixteen seconds. It was only O’Driscoll’s reactions that saved him.
Dropping or driving the player into the ground such as the head or upper body come into contact with the ground.
He was lifted and forced into the ground.
He has lifted him above his centre of gravity and twisted him so his feet are above the Torso. The player can therefore not protect himself.
That’s how serious injury occurs, necks broken and lives destroyed.
@Californiaweed
I’m well aware of law 10.4j but in this case BOD’s hips, back and shoulder blades contacted the ground simultaneously, ergo it was NOT a spear tackle.
Just because a player is lifted off his feet in a tackle does not make it illegal, unless he is subsequently dropped (I think you missed my point about letting go of the player).
I stand by my comment that it was a hard dump tackle but not an illegal spear tackle.
I want to believe that you are innocently missing the point.
Who said ‘just because a player is lifted off his feet makes it illegal?
Straw man.
You see, you missed the next bit, lifting him off his feet(Dump tackle) and twisting him so his feet end up above his head(Spear). How do you think O’Driscoll’s feet ended up over his head? That is never necessary to tackle a player. That’s where the spear comes from. O’Driscoll managed to save himself by recognizing what was happening and in a split second, adjusting. This is why he did not come down head first.
Again, sixteen seconds. From there you have a life or death situation.
There’s only one Dicko around here!
What happened to BOD on the 2005 lions tour was one of the greatest pieces of thuggery I’ve ever witnessed on a rugby pitch (and never even got referred to the citing commissioners) but this was totally different – in no way a spear tackle.
Would we even be talking about this if it happened to any other player?
Surprise surprise – no citing
Hope bergamasco gets done for that… No reason to lift him… Been a dirty rugby player all his life…
Jaysus yeah I remember him with the under 12s. Nasty piece of work. AND his hair was always a bit too silly for my liking.
Hope Bergomasco got some special attention during the rest of that game, some good old fashioned revenge was warranted or maybe Leinster were relying on the Citing guy. Lol
It will be a citing plus a ban. The way he sets himself, before he makes the tackle, made it inevitable that he would lift the player off the ground. He lifted O’Driscoll off his feet, above the shoulder line, twists him in the air, and in such a way that he would land on top of him.
If you look at the Warburton tackle in the World Cup semi final – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLpptT_nCp0 – the only difference is that Warburton dropped the French player at the last second.
And no, I’m not a Leinster supporter
No, you are a Rugby supporter and a good one.
The only difference being…. Yeah but that difference is why he got sent off….
You can rely on Munster supporters for a balanced opinion. They have a chip on both shoulders when it comes to Leinster.
Thomond park certainly does not speak for all Munster fans, real fans respect Drico for the legend he is.
Not true most right thinking Munster fans think that was a site tackle
That’s not true… not every supporter of either club goes in for bull shit tribalism. I’m a Leinster chick all the way, and I’m 100% behind Munster for the HC, and lots of Munster supports would like to see Leinster win the Challenge cup. Drico has always been a class act, always will be, whether wearing the Leinster or Ireland Jersey..
I’ve seen a lot of Munster supports behind citing Bergamasco, how could they not, it was a dam stupid and dangerous thing to do!
A-Greed…!
@Enda
The irony of your comment must be lost on you
One important point. THE REF , patterson is consisently one of the poorest around. BOD punch was patethic also
Something we can all agree on. How he is still Reffing is a mystery.
Whinge Whinge Whinge,
it looked worse than it was, he landed on his shoulders and then tried to start a fight, o driscoll should be cited.
Derp
Haha, you should change to “under a bridge near thomond”
must be awfull for you. all that small town bitterness and lack of self worth guiding your every thought
I don’t come from a small town, sorry. And I certainly have no bitterness within me, or for anyone or any place.
I didn’t mean to upset the sensitivities of the Leinster supporters but o driscoll is fast becoming an embarrassment. He made a meal of this incident and then tried to start a fight.
Leinster supporters can be very bitter if they can’t get the ref or linesmen onside, or if a leinster player is justifiably critizised.
The only embarrassing thing here is your comment.
You wouldn’t be saying that if he was wearing a green shirt. Hate that Munster sh!te… How come we can support you but you can’t us… DISLIKE
Looking forward to next sunday when I can come on here and you Munster boys can talk us Leinster fans what happened. It should be good
What can we say – we are in a HEC semi final and you’re NOT ! Even if we are beaten (Claremont 1-10 to win) we can hold our heads high by getting to this position when the rest if you wrote is off!!
Elrat ulster got to the final last year and still won nothing, been in the semi means nothing next Monday if you get beat. Munster apart from beating quins and Connaught a few weeks ago have been muck all season hence your league position.
A certain scottish team made the semis last year and are lucky to be still in business this year, I hope you don’t follow them into the wilderness.
You took almost 8 hours to come up with that garbage . No matter what Lonster do or don’t – you will never, ever have the passion & heart of a Munster team! As I’ve said already when touring sides come – who do they want to play – Munster Munster & Munster . Even Adidas know this as they only allow their gear to be worn by the best – EG Munster All Blacks !!
Think my comment applies to all of you arguing my Da`s bigger/stronger/drunker….. than yours, chill out or go get laid people
Jesus Christ, it was off the ball and it was wrong, can you not agree that it was dangerous, you would be going ape shit if it happened to one of the players on the team you support, would you prefer to see Brian in hospital with a neck injury? If so you are a sad person
Mad Munster fan here, but that dirty bullocks should be banned for good, wonder if he is related to them NZ Guys who nearly ended the career of probably the best rugby player to wear a green jersey.
Probably Paul O Connells fault again , cite him this time
Yeah Yeah. Move on will ya. Leinster have. Typical Langer comment.
Leinster the victims again. Those Ladyboys love a good moan.
I am a munster man through and through, a rugby supporter through and through, would support Leinster against any team outside Ireland, think O’Driscoll is the greatest Irish rugby player that has worn the Jersey, it was an off the ball tackle that was very much over the top ( no pun intended) , yellow card, no citation… Rugby is a mans game and sometimes it gets a little heated… Hope that settles it for the haters in both camps.
He’ll be fine. Landed flat on his back. Bit winded maybe.
More importantly, where is the coverage of Dan Martin winning Liège-Bastogne-Liège? That will be the greatest sporting achievement related to these shores this year. Great ride, great win in one of the hardest Classics against a world class field.
Well If you are going to run dummy lines straight into tacklers to take them out of the game…
And that justifies being lifted into the air and being driven into the ground? Cop yourself on.
The level of hate and bitterness in the comments from Munster “fans” towards Brian O’Driscoll and Leinster is pathetic.
Grand tackle. Big boys’ rules, Brian!
A lot of nervous sounding munster fans on today. Ok,so your season finishes on saturday around 7.30. As for us ladyboys,well we won’t rub it in too much when we’re lifting 1 or 2 trophies down at the business end of the season. Quick question to the munster lads: If you get beaten by a bunch of ladyboys on your home turf, what does that make ye???
This kind of rugby commentary is why the divide in Irish rugby is so bad, a proper fan knows to rise above and see that green is the most important colour not red or blue.
2nd division trophies IF you win!
It makes Munster the only Irish team still in the HEC..only Rabo team in fact..Amazes me that 2 years ago Leinster fans slagged Munster for being in the Amlin..now apparently its now worth winning apparently..Clearly it grates to have been knocked out in the pool stages.Wouldnt kill you to support the Irish team still with a chance of winning the HEC.
Elrat if the French and English get their way you won’t even qualify for the Heineken cup next year.
I can just imagine you cheering on Leinster in the 2016 final so an extra team from here qualifies for the group stages.
How does it feel that a team competing in second rate competitions can beat you home and away.
Not worried about a rabo game – our interest if European Cup – oh you’re not in that are you ?
Really high tackle on Nacewa too!!
The problem is you never had or will have a player as good as odriscoll, beshoff’s don’t have as many chips as you lot
o connell is way better than o driscoll and he doesn’t WHINGE.
Except to the referee!!!!
That wasn’t O’connell getting matched back ten meters for whinging to the ref last week?
He didn’t drive him into the ground . He won’t get cited for that .
That’s NOT the sole criteria for a citing ! Did he lift him beyond the horizontal being one of the main ones. For my money it’s a little bit of handbags and I would have rather seen a penalty or a yellow card then a citing. Bergamasco is a flanker and as is the nature of the beast plays to the limit of the ref …. As you would expect. I would put him second or third after Parisse as one of Italy’s greatest rugby players of the professional era.
It doesn’t matter a dam what team you support. A tackle like that should have all lovers of the game up in arms. A ban and fine should be imposed apon the player. Hitting him in the pocket might make him think about what he did
Another week and Leinster crying again . What about the punch bod throws !
Em… He didn’t get driven into the ground, only issue was it’s off the ball. It’s not a dangerous tackle, in fact if BOD had the ball it’d be a great tackle. Is the rule not if you lift a player off his feet it’s your responsibility to ground him safely?
I’m neither Munster or Leinster, I’m just a rugby fan. Soft spot for Connacht from living in Galway, that’s about it.
Nothing illegal about the tackle at all. Should have been a yellow for being off the ball, but not that bad.
You sir are an idiot
It was dodgy . Dont know how the TJ missed it . Should have been a penalty and thats it . Its a hard physical game and if we keep complaining we’ll end up with netball .
It was not a dump tackle, the IRB defines a dump tackle as ” the act of lifting an opponent off his feet in a tackle AND dropping or ‘spearing’ that player so that his head and/or upper body comes into contact with the ground first, is a dangerous tackle.” therefore in order for a dump tackle to be legal the tackler must make sure that his opponent lands flat on their back and not on their upper backs and or neck – seems like Drico was controlled in the air and landed on his back in a controlled manner.
The laws make no reference to a spear tackle. Read law 10.4 (j) . It’s simple – if you lift a player’s legs off the ground and his head or upper body comes in contact with the ground it’s illegal.
No Joe – if his head and/or upper body contact the ground FIRST its a spear tackle. In this case his hips and back contacted the ground simultaneously with his shoulder blades, therefore not a spear tackle under the laws of the game.
Joe, all lift tackles end with a players upper body hitting the deck.
The onus is on the tackling player not to allow the neck/shoulder area to hit first. He must also not be released in mid air and must be brought to ground safely, safely, not necessarily gently. Had the ref seen it, this would have been a yellow for off the ball but no more. He’ll probably get cited though as then whole tackle was ugly.
It was a tackle of a dummy runner nothing wrong with the tackle he lifted him off the ground and brought him back to the ground nothing illegal about that
good enough for drico u muppet
Football section that way ->
It was a tackle of a dummy runner nothing wrong with the tackle he lifted him off the ground and brought him back to the ground nothing illegal about that
There is nothing wrong with this tackle. According to the rules he didn’t take him past the horizontal and he brought him to ground without releasing. Perfect example of a great tackle. Just a pity BOD didn’t have the ball.
It was a tackle of a dummy runner nothing wrong with the tackle he lifted him off the ground and brought him back to the ground nothing illegal about that. It’s a mans game
Lots of ‘fans’ on here who don’t really know the laws of the game….
It was pure frustration on behalf of Bergamasco. BOD was guilty of frustration when he stamped on the Italian player during the six nations and was sin binned. I’m not saying it was right but they are professional athletes and these things happen at this level of sport.
Any “rugby fan” here remember the Ferris tackle in the Aviva that ultimately cost Ireland the match against Wales last season? He was yellow carded and the furore over the unjustness was loud and correct.
Bergamassco’s was the same in severity. The problem is he was not yellow carded for tackling BOD without the ball. Or at least penalised. If Bergamassco were to be cited, so should BOD for punching him in retaliation. Neither citings would be justifiable, really.
At least he didn’t get bitten ala Suarez
Or a certain Dublin footballer!
Great HIT ya
Nothing wrong with the tackle apart from the fact that it was off the ball. Tackling player brought O’Driscol back to the ground safely. Nothing to be seeing here. Move on please.
In a tackle like this the rules state that the person making the tackle is responsible for the other player’s safe return to ground. There was no ‘tip’, no ‘dump’ BOD was being held the whole time. No citing…. only thing hurt ere is a small bit of pride!
Owned!!
Lmaoooo
Only thing wrong with the tackle was BOD didnt have the ball.Clearly a very effective decoy run
Bank of Ireland still sponsoring Rugby,sailing,golf,tennis,etc while the people have to bail out the bank can’t afford food. It’s immoral.
It looks like a massive hit, but I don’t know if it was a tip/spear tackle. Bergamasco doesn’t drop or drive him into the ground as the rule states and he holds onto him the whole time as well.
It looks painful and on the edge of the law. But Warbuton’s WC tackle looked worse. And the IRB video example of a tip tackle looks a lot more severe too (http://www.irblaws.com/content/video_popup_ver6.php?v=laws/2047-lifting-tackle). Also, nowhere near Bradley Davis’ ‘textbook’ spear tackle on Donnacha Ryan in the 6Ns.
That being said, I wouldn’t put it past Bergamasco to try to ruin BoD’s Lions year. He’s always been a bit of a dirty player. Thankfully O’Driscoll wasn’t injured.
Fine tackle no dump there
What’s really annoying is that none of the touch judges saw this blatant piece of foul play that happened maybe five feet from where the ball was. In the Southern Hemisphere officials could have the incident up on the big screen and seen it for themselves if there was a complaint made. Then it would have been a question of what colour card
Not really James. You can see the technical arguments over whether or not it was an illegal tackle on here so if the TJ saw it or not, we can’t really say what they’re interpretation would be.
My 2 cents……dummy runner was tackled without the ball, lifted, tackler kept control of the lift, didn’t drive Drico into the ground, landed him on the flat of his back then did not release him on the ground. I would have swung for him too but not for the tackle lol