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Tue 7 Feb 2017 | 10:43
France's Caroline Boujard cited after reckless mid-air tackle

20
Comments

France replacement winger, Caroline Boujard, has been cited for this dangerous tackle in the Women's Six Nations match against England on Saturday. She was yellow carded at the time but was later cited by the independant Citing Commissioner, facing a hearing today.

Boujard tackled replacement Poppy Cleall in the air from a restart kick, flipping her in a dangerous manner that led to the player needing treatment and having to leave the field.

The offence, under Law 10.4 (i) - tackling a player in the air, states that a player must not tackle nor tap, push or pull the foot or feet opponent jumping for the ball in a lineout or in open play.

The disciplinary hearing, before an independent Six Nations Disciplinary Committee of three persons, takes place in London today,  Tuesday 7 February.

England won the match 26-13.

 

UPDATE: Boujard was suspended for 2 weeks

Ms Boujard accepted that she had committed an act of foul play which was worthy of a red card, and claimed that the action had been reckless rather than deliberate.

The Disciplinary Committee, chaired by Achille Reali (Italy), alongside Pamela Woodman (Scotland) and Jennifer Donovan (Ireland), having reviewed the footage of the incident and all other evidence, as well as hearing submissions from the player and her representatives, agreed that the act was reckless, and categorised the offending as low end, which carries a four week entry point under World Rugby's sanction table. 

The Committee further determined that there were no aggravating factors and the player had meet all mitigating factors permitted, and therefore decided to reduce the entry point by two weeks. 

The player is therefore suspended from playing rugby for a total of two weeks. 

Taking into consideration that the player has no scheduled matches on the weekend of 18/19 February, the player is suspended until mid-night on Sunday 26 February.  The player is therefore eligible to play again on Monday 27 February.

Posted By: Grant Constable

20 Comments

  • facepalm
    8:15 PM 12/02/2017

    I would say that jumping for the ball means the defender has to check before they make the hit, meaning you're less likely to get clattered (wo)man and ball as you catch it (unless you get clattered in the air that is)

  • drg
    6:23 PM 10/02/2017

    Agree Larry, dummy runners are a picky topic with me, I don't mind dummy runners, but I dislike it when you see them run a millimetre away from the ball carrier, then complain when they get smashed....

    "you're a dummy runner, you ran a dummy line that was so convincing that you caused an opposition player to commit to you....don't complain you got smashed..."

  • stroudos
    9:12 PM 09/02/2017

    Guy: "to my knowledge there is no specific law concerning 'jumping into the tackle'. It falls under dangerous play".

    Actually it comes under "acts contrary to good sportsmanship", I believe because it's preventing a tackler from making a fair tackle. I think that point applies perfectly to this incident.

  • stroudos
    9:09 PM 09/02/2017

    Agree with all of that Larry.

  • larry
    3:21 PM 09/02/2017

    Looking at this video several times over, with the France player still quite a bit away as the England player started her jump, I have to wonder why the England even jumped. She could have caught the ball on the full and made a run with it instead. Is this jumping for a kicked ball being coached? If you don't have to jump for a ball, isn't it better to catch it on one's feet and then take off running with it? I'm reminded of other things in the game I see that I just wonder about. So I'll mention it: why dummy runners? Shouldn't they be in support instead of running ahead of play? What ever happened to looping and scissors? Instead it's dummy runners who many times should be cited for obstruction but aren't. But going back to this play, the England player put herself at risk to have exactly what happened to her happen. The France player almost could not avoid doing what she did. But under the law, she's off, whether she meant to do what she did or not. The commentator is right about intention not being there.

  • larry
    3:10 PM 09/02/2017

    Well, it would be stupid to coach back line players to make hospital passes just to draw penalties. You're right about 40 years ago, but 20 years ago jumping for a ball was just getting started. I played full back and wing for quite a long time, starting in the 70's, and I can honestly say that I never, ever, jumped for a ball, even in what we Americans would call "traffic." I waited for the ball to come down to me, hands at the ready to catch the ball, never once jumping in the air for it. And at 5'8" I wasn't going to go up high much anyway. I do recall at times basically letting a taller forward for the other team, again in traffic with lots of players nearby, after a high box kick from a line out
    in my direction, take a ball, and then I was in a great position, in that that player might have jumped up in the air or taken the ball without jumping, to take him down once he retrieved the ball, or at least hold up the player in the tackle while my nearby forwards got in position to maul or ruck. I wasn't going to out jump someone 6'3".

  • larry
    2:57 PM 09/02/2017

    I started playing back in the early 70's. Played through the 80's into the 90's. I watched many games, reffed many games, was able to (finally) see top class matches when the International Channel started televising games with a day's delay in the USA back in the mid-90's. It really wasn't until the late 90's that this jumping for high kicked balls started to become in vogue. Before that it just wasn't done much. Go to You Tube and watch those old British highlight films of games, or any full match from the 60's, 70's, or 80's and jumping for a ball just wasn't an issue. Fullbacks, wings, whoever, stayed on their feet and let the ball come to them, and the player of the kicker's team basically did the same, either waiting to tackle or if in a better position, taking the ball and keeping possession. So, what to do? Outlaw jumping for a ball? You're right about this style of play. It does cause issues.

  • larry
    2:48 PM 09/02/2017

    About this jumping, I realize any sport changes over time, but jumping for a kicked high ball just wasn't done much in the past, and therefore this sort of penalty was rarely called. I really wonder if there needs to be a law change, as in no jumping for a kicked ball, the receiver needing to keep at least one foot on the ground, and then there would be no defender jumping and the resulting argument as to whether the defender was going for the ball or the player. This isn't Aussie Rules!

  • jockmcg
    1:16 PM 09/02/2017

    Clear yellow card, and arguably red but then I suppose that is why the french player is being cited. However there was no need to jump for the ball as there was no french player approaching to challenge for the ball. It is becoming increasingly apparent that irrespective of whether you can catch with both feet on the ground you should jump and that way the opposition cannot challenge without fear of giving away a penalty

  • guy
    9:43 AM 09/02/2017

    Everything 40 years ago was not like it is now. Hell, there was no lifting in the lineout and flankers were allowed to leave the scrum before the ball was out. Besides, as mentioned before: this was not a clash of 2 players going for the ball but a tackle on 1 player jumping for the ball.

    So in the near future you expect your flyhalf to pass you the ball above your head on a regular basis so you can get your ribs tickled 9 out of 10 times and maybe 1 out of 10 times get a penalty out of it? Doesn't sound like a solid gameplan to me.

  • drg
    8:17 AM 09/02/2017

    Whether you agree or disagree with who is at fault, suggesting "she is just doing what she was coached to do" is not an argument.

    As a forward, I was coached to do some pretty heinous things in order to get the opposition to let go of the ball in mauls, and to just cause problems in general.... It doesn't make it right though.

    Jumping into the tackle falls under dangerous play yes, but it also goes against the spirit of the game. I understand she was jumping for the ball, but this style of play (not necessarily this incident itself) is causing a lot of issues with players putting themselves at risk.

  • heavyhooker
    7:58 PM 08/02/2017

    The amount of jumping 40 years ago was not like it is today, and when it did happen and there was a clash of players you may have received a penalty but not a card and citing.

    I see, in the near future, a team coaching their players to lob the ball high on passes so receivers have to jump to retrieve the ball. Technically, defenders will not be able to touch the receiver and if they do and the body flip happens, here comes the cards.

  • rugbydump
    4:58 PM 08/02/2017

    2 week suspension, reduced from a low end (4 week entry point) sanction

  • gonzoman
    4:04 PM 08/02/2017

    I agree with Guy - there's no way you can blame this on the jumper. She's doing what she's been coached to do for her entire rugby-playing life. The only way that the approaching French player could be surprised by the jump would be if she had been living under a rock for the past 40 years and only just crawled out in time to go onto the pitch...everyone (wingers especially) know that people typically jump for kicks that are landing anywhere near everybody else. The French winger should have been expecting at least the possibility of the English player jumping; instead, she's either charged in recklessly or deliberately targeted a player in the air (I choose to believe the first option).

    I also agree that the suggestion that the English player be penalized for jumping into a tackle to be preposterous, both for the reason Guy mentions (not in possession of the ball and therefore not eligible to be tackled) but also because no-one has ever been penalized for such an act even though jumping for the ball takes places several times in every game at pretty much every level of the sport.

    No matter how you slice it, this type of challenge was penalty (and likely card-worthy) well before the recent directives from World Rugby.

  • guy
    2:42 PM 08/02/2017

    Nice train of thought to see where we should go with these issues in the future but at the moment I just can't agree with anything you say.

    There doesn't need to be 'a need to jump'. Players are taught to jump for the ball, higher and better then your opponent so you can secure posession. It's all within the laws. Like jumping in the lineout: there's no 'need to jump' there either. Unless you want to secure the ball.

    The 'jumping into the tackle' argument isn't really solid either because at the exact moment she jumps, she's not even in posession of the ball. So legally she can't be tackled. Besides: to my knowledge there is no specific law concerning 'jumping into the tackle'. It falls under dangerous play and the jump itself is not dangerous. It becomes dangerous because of the actions of the Blue player.

    Contrary to some other cases recently, this seems quie clear cut: Blue player doesn't contest fot the ball but goes straight for the tackle without anticipating the fact that White is going to jump and thus without regard for player safety.

  • stroudos
    7:39 AM 08/02/2017

    Agree with that HH. All this type of unnecessary jump achieves is to prevent a fair contest.

  • heavyhooker
    3:21 AM 08/02/2017

    This is an example of a jump to draw a penalty. There was no need to jump to contest the ball as there were no other players near her. This is where the Cleall should be yellow carded for jumping into a tackle. The French player is not without fault either but definitely not a citing offence.

  • stroudos
    4:07 PM 07/02/2017

    Bloody French thug! Throw the book at her!!

    :)

  • drg
    2:07 PM 07/02/2017

    But then she did leave the field....So I guess that further highlights my points in the past regarding how difficult it is to penalised someone for feigning..

  • drg
    2:06 PM 07/02/2017

    The jump, the contact and the fall all looked - in this day and age, worth a yellow I guess... The landing, the roll and the hand to the face looked milked as shit!.... Also a yellow in this day an age... Or should be...

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