Just to explain my point a bit more regarding escort penalties. The referees came up with a mild/moderate/severe grading on the run and applied by the bunker regarding high tackles. Well how about looking at possible escort obstructions as a continuum of unlikely/possible/blatant. The one in today’s NZ v Samoa women’s match I would classify as “unlikely”. The player pinged didn’t look at the chaser at any stage. She was positioning herself in front of her fullback . No problems with that. The fullback might drop it and she could clean up the scraps. Totally different if she was watching the chaser and positioning herself in front of the chaser.
These decisions are not black and white. They require the application of common sense and lots of time watching tapes of matches.
