“A good sketch is better than a long speech.” So spoke Napoleon Bonaparte, who was probably outlining a battle plan at the time.
Those words came to mind following news from World Rugby that the 20-minute red card will now be trialled global. In case you hadn’t heard, this refers to instances where a player is red carded but their indiscretion is deemed unintentional. In such cases, as we saw during the Six Nations, the player will still be sent off, but his team will be able to bring on a replacement after 20 minutes.
We will see it in operation during the Lions tour. This is no surprise and nobody should be shocked. It has already been in place in southern hemisphere rugby for several years.
Reasonable people understand the merits involved when serious foul play borders on the accidental or unavoidable. However, when it consists of slamming a shoulder into an opponent’s face, for example, it is debatable whether the 20-minute red card should even be considered.
Let’s think about the emperor’s words in today’s parlance. It would be very helpful if World Rugby drew us a modern-day sketch. By this, I mean video clips of what we can expect, including straight reds given in the past that would now lead to a replacement being introduced. They will have plenty of examples and could easily splice it together in an informative little movie.
Is French club rugby becoming more popular than Ligue 1?
We did see one clip in the Challenge Cup final. Bath’s Sam Underhill smashed head-on-head into Lyon fullback Davit Niniashvili. It was a horrible collision. Unfortunately, referee Hollie Davidson misread it, deeming that a so-called step inside by Niniashvili was sufficient to mitigate to yellow.
The referee clearly erred, with a chunk of criticism also to be laid at the door of the TMO, Mike Adamson, who failed to steer Davidson in the direction of a red card. Unsurprisingly, it has been cited. While the right team won, the referee will review her overall performance with a measure of disappointment. We’ve all been there – it comes with the job.
In sniper mode, Underhill had a clear line of sight to the target before he pulled the trigger. He didn’t miss. When the global trial kicks off, this high-level foul play will go to the bunker. It’s hard to believe that those in high places think this is what the game needs.
It is, we are told, designed to punish the player, but not to punish the team or the spectacle. Balancing safety with spectacle is an impossible task. Inevitably, it removes the safety element from its priority position.
An extra 10 minutes of bin time cannot possibly have the same deterrent effect as straight reds. Lengthy suspensions and fines for coaches were perhaps alternative options, but turkeys have a habit of not voting for Christmas.
The global trial announcement also informs us that referees can issue a straight red if they deem it appropriate. Oh, come on. Pull the other one! The evidence to date simply does not back that up. Referees send everything to the bunker and once it arrives there, it cannot be upgraded to a straight red.
The minuscule number of straight reds given down south have been for truly heinous acts. Stamping, kicking, eye gouging, head butts and targeting the lower limbs at breakdown will, rightly, still see red. Dangerous collisions to the head, such as Underhill’s, are not mentioned, despite being the primary cause of brain injury.
Recently, this column outlined an incident in a southern hemisphere fixture. It involved a spear tackle by the Blues’ Mark Tele’a on his Reds opponent Tim Ryan. It went to the bunker, so Tele’a was replaced. The judiciary subsequently handed him a paltry three-match ban. If that’s what we can expect, then this global trial decision risks being remembered as one of rugby’s blackest days.
Referee Nika Amashukeli has found himself in many interesting matches. However, last Saturday’s Champions Cup final provided him with a new level of difficulty. It was nonstop pressure-cooker stuff and both halves were like chalk and cheese. Bordeaux supporters will rarely have watched their team resort to a kicking game to grind out a win. Having dominated the first half with a blistering display of creative rugby, they found that Northampton had somehow hung in there.
They evened things up on the stroke of half-time with a try by the superb Alex Coles. He was then subjected to a defender sliding into him, knees first. It wasn’t the worst cheap shot of its kind, but it warranted a penalty.
The second half saw a complete switch of tactics. Maxime Lucu and Matthieu Jalibert, kicking well and repeatedly, pinned the Northampton team in their own backyard, while French forward power supplied the only try of the half. This altered approach kept Northampton scoreless after half-time, which was quite some feat.
[ Why are so many young Irish rugby players moving to France?Opens in new window ]
There are few referees who could have come out of this torrid, attritional affair as well as the Georgian. The TMO, Marius Jonker, was also highly involved, some say too much. There was an unusually high number of critical moments and failing to advise the referee would not have pleased the teams’ coaches, who demand microscopic perfection. Having let the players get on with things in a magical first half, Amashukeli became much busier as the match went into dogfight mode.
Nobody would contend that every refereeing decision was right as that’s never going to happen. But it was a fine performance by the man in the middle, notable for his typical calm assuredness. At least half a dozen of his ilk are needed, but they don’t appear to be emerging.
So, the European season ends with a deserved French victory – their fifth in succession. Who can halt their Napoleonic march towards a sixth? It won’t be easy.
