Toulon center Mathieu Bastareaud was yellow carded late in the game on Tuesday night as his team beat Agen 34-12 in the Top 14. The tackle itself didn't look too bad but the fact that Agen replacement Alexis Bale was injured seemed to force the officials into showing the yellow card.
Harsh call? Feel free to share your thoughts as a comment below.
The arms were used in the tackle it's typical French milking. I think we can all say we've seen worse tackles ignored.
LOL besides my own explanation (refs cannot always make the perfect call when they're in the game) I do agree rugby seems to be getting soft. they're about to supress scrummaging for good and I think when that day comes I'll simply ban rugby, as it won't be rugby anymore.
on a more comprehensive note, these guys are not gladiators! although it feels good to see hard knocks every once in a while, some guys seem to get real stoopid on the pitch (Courtney Lawes, some islanders with their high or spear tackles every other game, Sebastien Chabal, Jamie Cudmore, Gregory Le Corvec and many others who, though a bit more on the legal side than Lawes, seem to actually go on the pitch only to break jaws, rather than play good rugby.... we need not to become sissies, but let's not go trolling around asking for blood all the time!
excellent and funny comment anyway, u made me laugh so hard I threw up a bit!
more than legit it was absolutely brilliant! Bastareaud seems to be coming back! bad call by the ref, but then again, easier to get an idea from tv, the ref's in the middle of it, hears the knocks and the boos, runs a lot and therefore cannot always be as fair as the book says he should...
Stupid decision by the ref. Incompetent officials like these are ruining the game
that was no yellow at all, just the kind of thing that happens to little cheeky halfbacks running across the pitch looking for space, i know what i am talking about ;)
Agree, rugby players are physically bigger, stronger and faster than ever, yet the game is getting softer by the second.
There is no way that is a yellow. Rugbydump you better start thinking of something else to make instead of try savers and rib breakers as you soon wont have any footage to use lol
Sigh, a time passed it was as you said, a few bad decisions every other game which could be forgiven due to the pace of the game and the lack of slow mo replays or the refs to watch before passing judgement.... Now it's just pathetic..
Oh god, no. It will certainly take a lot of burgers to overcome the frustration...
idiot sanction
it was just bad luck for the player, as he was tackle low by a toulon player, his upper body offered to bastareaud 115 kilos..
it recalls me an Olie Le Roux tackle on Ben Tune. it must be hidden in RD old archives ;)
Rugby has gone soft. It's not just one incident every now and then where the refs are gun-ho, it's happening every game, time after time, with a consistence that's not seen in any other aspect of the game.
To think Rugby fans once joked about padding in American Football. Rugby is closer to soccer than real collision sports in 2011.
With the rate the referees are removing physicality from the game, it won't be long until female and male rugby merge and we'll be playing a unisex game. After all, you can't really hurt any one with the soft ref interpretations today - apart from little French players.
Je suis un good tackle, un tackles fair - levez-vous poofter joueur de football, une chanson pour vous,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3L6kNQCkzo
Portugal? Brazil? de vrais amis.
Brilliant, this will be red card worthy next year. Finally I can start wearing my tutu on the pitch and feel safe :)
the officials should be ashamed with this decision, there was nothing wrong with that tankle at all. lagit hit I say
Nothing special: mistake by the ref. He's the boss and even the boss makes mistakes every now and then. Fortunately it had no real impact on the outcome of the game itself...
This was infront of the referee, he obviously saw it. He played advantage because of a knock-on then brought play back when there was an injured player on the pitch. Wasn't even a penalty, yellow card is completely inexplicable. What is going on in the game - I'm thinking someone high up has said something to referees that hasn't been made public...
Huge hit and legal tackle. Not even deserving a penalty. Shameful decision for a clear situation.
I fail to see how this was yellow card worthy? Referee was conned by some football-esque acting. I hate how much we're seeing this creep into rugby (especially in France)
what's the injury? it just seems like Bale just milked it.