Pundits say that head collisions are a big issue for the game of rugby right now.
Speaking after Ireland’s 32-15 win away to England at Twickenham, former Ireland fullback Rob Kearney says high tackles are a big issue for rugby now. Head collisions and red cards were a big talking point among the Virgin Media panel after the game.
Kearney makes the point saying that we know the long term damage taking bangs to your head can have. Matt Williams when referring to the Charlie Ewels red card inside the first minute of play is “definitely a red card, there’s no arguments”. The solution Williams offered to get rid of these types of tackles is “you give them six months. That’s how you do it”.
Williams says World Rugby should start penalising clubs and organisations in order to change the behaviour of coaches. “We have to change the behaviour of everyone in the game”. Williams adds “it needs more than just a red card to work on this within the game”.
So far in this 2022 Six Nations Championship we have two red cards for high and dangerous tackles. One red card in the Ireland v Italy game, forced Italy to play with 13 players for the majority of the game rather than 12. Granted, that was an incredibly unlucky situation for the Italians. The second red card came from the aforementioned Ewels hit on James Ryan, which forced Ryan to leave the field of play and unable to return. I think most people don’t want to see players leave the field concussed after a high and dangerous tackle.
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