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Wed 24 Oct 2012 | 09:18
Christopher Tolofua cited following red card for tip-tackle against Treviso

18
Comments

Toulouse hooker Christopher Tolofua received a red card and has been cited for a dangerous tackle he made on Treviso's Fabio Semenzato in the Heineken Cup on Saturday. Tolofua made his Test debut for France earlier this year.

The 18 year-old hooker was shown his second yellow card with just five minutes left in the game against Benetton Treviso. As a result, he was sent off by referee Leighton Hodges, and cited by citing commisioner Buster White.

The hearing will take place on Thursday in Dublin. He will not be able to play until the disciplinary process is completed.

The citing falls under Law 10.4 (j) - Lifting a player from the ground and either dropping or driving that player's head and/or upper body into the ground whilst the player's feet are off the ground.

Under the new IRB Sanctions for Foul Play that were introduced this season, the entry point for tip tackles has increased 33 per cent. Therefore a Low End recommended sanction would result in a 4 week suspension, however his clean record could play in his favour.

Toulouse came from behind to win the match 33-21.

UPDATE: Tolofua has been suspended for 6 weeks after pleading guilty to the offence.

An ERC statement read:
"The Judicial Officer upheld the citing complaint and found that Tolofua had carried out a dangerous tackle on his opponent. Employing the IRB recommended sanctions for Law 10.4(j), he determined that the offence was at the mid-range entry point of eight (8) weeks.

"In line with the current IRB deterrent regarding dangerous tackles, the Judicial Officer added a further two (2) weeks. He then considered Tolofua’s clean disciplinary record, his youth and inexperience and decided in mitigation to reduce the suspension by four (4) weeks – 50 per cent of the eight (8) week entry point – before imposing a suspension of six (6) weeks."

Posted By: Grant Constable

18 Comments

  • browner
    10:42 PM 30/10/2012

    .Re: " Certainly not intentional " did we watch the same thing ?

    CITING COMMISSIONER gets my VOTE ......a huge difference between proper dump tackles & the illegal stuff

    CITING COMMISSIONER for IRB Disciplinary panel !!!!

  • moddeur
    12:48 PM 25/10/2012

    Here in Toulouse he's reputed to be a somewhat shy teddy bear, so I'm sure this action had more to do with him being young and foolish (moronic, so to speak) than anything else.

    You haven't seen the last of him, he's a good ball carrier, strong in the scrum, 18 years old, and part of France's selection for the autumn tests against Australia, Argentina and Samoa.

  • 4:24 AM 25/10/2012

    The first thing I thought was, this kid is scary strong and scary dumb too

  • stroudos
    11:28 PM 24/10/2012

    *This* is the sort of shit that caused the draconian tip tackle law to be brought in in the first place. Like the BOD clear-out in '05, this is not a tackle*, it is an off-the-ball assault. A deliberate attempt to hurt a player.

    A shame this bloke has revealed himself to be a dangerous moron. The only other footage I've seen of him was the linked post above where he - legitimately - broke Juan Imhoff. A very exciting player, hope he sticks to dominating the oppo legally from now on.

    * RD, that's not another pop about the post description, just a description of the action. ;)

  • redyeti
    9:33 PM 24/10/2012

    If you can be red carded for unintentionally tipping someone beyond horizontal in a high impact tackle situation where you have to take the ballcarriers momentum into account then I can't understand how deliberately just flipping a completely unprepared and defenceless guy onto his head isn't also.

  • ronan
    8:35 PM 24/10/2012

    The Gobshite.....

  • rugbydump
    7:26 PM 24/10/2012

    He has officially been cited under that law though, which is why it has been spoken about as such.

    The ERC statement reads: 'Tolofua is alleged to have carried out a dangerous tackle on the Benetton Treviso replacement, Fabio Semenzato (No 22), in contravention of Law 10.4(j)' etc.

  • stubby
    6:15 PM 24/10/2012

    LOVE the commentators call : placage cathedral!

    Cathedral tackle lolol.

    Obviously somebody was stuck in the maul and he used the player as a pry bar to get the poor follow out.

    Surprised that there was not a neck injury given the way he was thrust head first in to the pile and then thrown over backwards.

  • guy
    4:30 PM 24/10/2012

    You might be right about that. Nevertheless: it happens right in front of him! So, why not a straight red?

  • 4:13 PM 24/10/2012

    Definitely intentional. You don't grab someone around the legs like that and lift up by accident. Deserved citation, and given it was the second card in the match for him, I wouldn't be surprised if he sees a ban for this. It's right in front of the ref too. Pretty daft if you ask me

  • 3:24 PM 24/10/2012

    The laws are clear Rugbydump:

    Law 15 Tackle: Ball Carrier Brought to Ground.
    Definitions
    A tackle occurs when the ball carrier is held by one or more opponents and is brought to ground.

    Tolofua was not tackling the ball carrier - therefore not a tackle.

    The law you reference is Law 10.4 J which explicitly refers to dangerous play and nowhere refers to a tackle.

    Perhaps the title for the video should be "Christopher Tolofua cited following red card for dangerous play against Treviso?"

  • colombes
    2:50 PM 24/10/2012

    tip-tackle, dump-tackle, whatever the terminology, tackle a player and making him fall on the upper body part is dangerous and deserved a red card. He received a yellow in the 1st half, so logic 2nd yellow decision.
    Tolofua will learn to not make his own justice. He's only 18. He've made a stupid choice. Guy Noves will use that to recall him some principes.
    Pity cause he'll may miss the autumn tour with France.

  • guy
    2:33 PM 24/10/2012

    That could have ended pretty nasty.

    What I don't understand is why he is given a yellow if it meets the red card treshold. It happened right in front of the ref. He allready went for the whistle when the player engaged in the tackle, without knowing what the outcome would be.

    Quite a strong fella for an 18 year old, by the way. Hope he learns from this.

  • guy
    2:28 PM 24/10/2012

    Actually, it is possible to tackle a player in a maul and it is possible to tackle a player without the ball. Besides, he is cited under this law so basicly I believe the termonology is right.

  • rugbydump
    1:53 PM 24/10/2012

    So the title should have been Christopher Tolofua cited following red card for assault against Treviso?

    The laws are clear, so the term (the IRB's, not Rugbydump's) comes from 'Lifting a player from the ground and either dropping or driving that player's head and/or upper body into the ground'.

    I'd prefer spear tackle (not in this case), but spear is more commonly viewed as the more severe tip-tackle.

  • eggman
    1:32 PM 24/10/2012

    This was actually kinda similar to the BOD incident at the Lion's I think, though luckily the outcome isn't as bad, and probably not as intentional.
    Definately a yellow, probably even a straight red. Maybe 4 weeks ban due to good record..

  • 1:11 PM 24/10/2012

    The man is clearly a moron. Even before the ridiculous penalisation of dump-tackles in recent years this would have probably been a red card offence. Not to mention the fact he has already been yellow carded - basically it seems he just wanted to get himself a couple of weeks holiday from the citing committee.

    Footnote - @Rugbydump : please stop referring to things like this as tip-tackles, this was a maul and basically an assault. It's the misinterpretation of this as a tip-tackle which I believe is leading to the persecution of the good old dump tackle.

  • lambchop1234
    12:26 PM 24/10/2012

    Definitely a second yellow and definitely dangerous because of the fact he tipped Semenzato's legs beyond the horizontal. Certainly not intentional but more reckless in my opinion! Given his clean record I think a two or three week suspension would be sufficient!

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