Owen Doyle: Rugby's failure to punish violence and gamesmanship risks pushing a generation away

Irish Times

2 days ago

So,
Munster
can be Munster after all. They have finished the season on a high note, with a performance of raw courage and true grit.
Their match with the Sharks
was one of the most dramatic encounters in
United Rugby Championship
history. The stadium in
Durban
was packed to the rafters, the men in red were extraordinary and the match was ferocious. It made for a high-drama spectacle.
To lose a match played at altitude via a penalty shootout against the Springbok-laden Sharks was cruel. However, there was honour in defeat.
Grumblings were heard on both sides of the equator when referee Mike Adamson was appointed. I don't know why the URC insists on persevering with him. In my view, this was a poor performance which was way below the standard required. When players from both teams frequently look perplexed, something is definitely wrong. I struggle to see the benefit in continuing with this official.
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Before Jack Crowley could prepare his second shootout kick, the previous kicker, Sharks' Jaden Hendrikse, suddenly collapsed with apparent cramp. Conveniently, he fell beside the mark for the kick, successfully delaying the attempt.
Adamson dealt with this as if the match was still going on. It was over and Hendrikse had no further part to play. The referee should have insisted he be removed immediately, rather than indulging him.
Hendrikse even managed a sly wink at Crowley. The whole episode came across as unwelcome, unacceptable gamesmanship. It has rightly been widely condemned. An opportunity has presented itself to stand up for the game and sanction Hendrikse under misconduct laws, but don't hold your breath. It was a despicable, unsporting attempt to distract Crowley. However, not everybody thought so.
Jaden Hendrikse of Sharks converts his penalty during the URC quarter-final shootout. Photograph: Darren Stewart/Inpho/Steve Haag Sports
Afterwards, the pundit and former international, Stephen Ferris, took a different stance. He told us that the game could do with more of it, suggesting that the fans would like it and viewership would increase. Perhaps Ferris seeks some sort of notoriety, but that is usually accompanied by a drop in credibility.
And now on to full throttle. This bit isn't about about
Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen
. It's about what Bordeaux's Jefferson Poirot did to Northampton's Henry Pollock after the last whistle had sounded in the
Champions Cup final
.
'Throttling' should be added to the list of straight red cards. This one was nasty – a tight squeeze on Pollock's throat. Understandably, it went unseen by the match officials.
The citing commissioner, Ireland's Tim Lowry, did his job well. The judiciary didn't to its job so well, coming up with a meagre two-week suspension. Such a punishment, if it can be called that, will hardly act as a deterrent for such dreadful acts.
Judicial hearings and decisions are now a bad joke, rarely reflecting the seriousness of dangerous offences
Headbutting refuses to go away. We recently saw a torpedo-like example from New Zealand prop Ethan de Groot, playing for the Highlanders against Crusaders. Disgracefully, it appears unlikely that he will face any suspension; the citing commissioner has, apparently, stayed silent.
De Groot's action was similar to what France's Peato Mauvaka did to Ben White of Scotland in the Six Nations – another torpedo. A straight red was not given by the referee. Fortunately, the citing commissioner did intervene but the punishment of a three-game ban was meek.
All of this is a terrible reflection on the sport, particularly when many amateur players are abandoning the game due to fears of sustaining brain damage. World Rugby and all unions must wake up and bring the guillotine down on foul play. Judicial hearings and decisions are now a bad joke, rarely reflecting the seriousness of dangerous offences. The ludicrous, mandatory 50 per cent mitigation must be ditched. Six-week suspensions should mean just that, instead of being watered down to three or even two.
World Rugby has agreed to a red-card replacement. But it should also be beefing up justifications for referees to give straight reds. Failure to do so would be irresponsible. Appalling fouls should always be punished with straight red cards.
Then there are the legal head collisions. The pick-and-drives, as frequent as ever, see teams obsessed at hammering away at the try line. Players who seem happy to lead with their heads should maybe think again.
Nothing is said, presumably because there is rarely a concussion in pick-and-drives, but that doesn't make it okay. Medics, recognised eminent experts, advise that repetitive sub-concussive collisions have significant potential for brain damage, for early-onset dementia and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. It is quite the mystery why nobody is paying attention.
Rugby has become a brutal, dangerous game. No one can escape that fact. The powers that be really need to take a look in the mirror and decide that it can't continue. Hundreds of former players are taking legal action because of brain damage. These people are tormented about what life holds in store for them.
It will be stoutly defended by World Rugby, who should themselves take initiatives to make the game safer. If not, a judgment in favour of the players will probably force their hands on the matter. By then, the amateur game might be a disappearing speck in the rear-view mirror.