TheRam
Coach
- Messages
- 13,457
On the Rapana/Semi tackle. If anyone is OK with it then they have no idea and double standards. Sure if we go back 10 years, it is a brilliant tackle, but it is 2021 and the shoulder charge has been outlawed for years.
What makes it even worse is that you have bonehead commentators that can't think on their feet and live in the past like Ennis, Slater, Smith, Thurston and so on.
Look an easy way to look at it is this. What is the difference if a player leads with their feet and misses the ball and instead hits the ball carriers arm or even misses completely and doesn't hurt the player but dislodges the ball with another part of his body and it is not a try versus a shoulder charge that misses its mark because the player lowers himself enough and the defenders hip then hits the player into touch? Leading with your feet period is deemed illegal. Same should be with the shoulder charge that misses its mark but then allows the tackler to prevent the try.
I don't see any difference at all. If you lead with your feet it is always a penalty at the very least whether you injure or hit the head or not. Same goes for a shoulder charge that has missed its mark but then due to the advantage that attempting a shoulder charge allows the remainder of your body check the player into touch.
The fact is, if he hadn't attempted a shoulder charge in the first place he would never have stopped that try from being scored.
Even the video ref(not surprising Paranara) ignored this little but significant fact. By allowing this to stand as fair and legal it will now encourage all players in a similar situation to attempt a shoulder charge and hope that they too only collect the ball carrier with their hip and legs. I thought that the whole idea of outlawing the shoulder charge was to prevent the incidence that they go horribly wrong and the shoulder collects the player in the head ala Inglis. So it is irrelevant if you have made contact or not, it is considered illegal if your arms are not coming up in a wrap around motion. Did anyone see an arm even attempting to be raised in that way? No? Then it was a failed shoulder charge that should have seen Parra awarded a penalty try and Rapana put on report.
Where is the duty of care shown here? What so the video ref thinks that it needed to have made contact with his shoulder to be illegal, when it was premeditated and deliberate because Rapana knew there would be no other way to stop the scorer with a fair and legitimate conventional tackle. Like I said what is the difference between leading with your feet and missing? They still penalise you for that because of the potential danger and to make sure it stays as a deterrent. Same for the shoulder charge. If it is a deliberate attempt like that was to stop a player, whether or not it misses its mark should not matter if he makes contact with the player. The whole point is to make sure it stays a deterrent.
What makes it even worse is that you have bonehead commentators that can't think on their feet and live in the past like Ennis, Slater, Smith, Thurston and so on.
Look an easy way to look at it is this. What is the difference if a player leads with their feet and misses the ball and instead hits the ball carriers arm or even misses completely and doesn't hurt the player but dislodges the ball with another part of his body and it is not a try versus a shoulder charge that misses its mark because the player lowers himself enough and the defenders hip then hits the player into touch? Leading with your feet period is deemed illegal. Same should be with the shoulder charge that misses its mark but then allows the tackler to prevent the try.
I don't see any difference at all. If you lead with your feet it is always a penalty at the very least whether you injure or hit the head or not. Same goes for a shoulder charge that has missed its mark but then due to the advantage that attempting a shoulder charge allows the remainder of your body check the player into touch.
The fact is, if he hadn't attempted a shoulder charge in the first place he would never have stopped that try from being scored.
Even the video ref(not surprising Paranara) ignored this little but significant fact. By allowing this to stand as fair and legal it will now encourage all players in a similar situation to attempt a shoulder charge and hope that they too only collect the ball carrier with their hip and legs. I thought that the whole idea of outlawing the shoulder charge was to prevent the incidence that they go horribly wrong and the shoulder collects the player in the head ala Inglis. So it is irrelevant if you have made contact or not, it is considered illegal if your arms are not coming up in a wrap around motion. Did anyone see an arm even attempting to be raised in that way? No? Then it was a failed shoulder charge that should have seen Parra awarded a penalty try and Rapana put on report.
Where is the duty of care shown here? What so the video ref thinks that it needed to have made contact with his shoulder to be illegal, when it was premeditated and deliberate because Rapana knew there would be no other way to stop the scorer with a fair and legitimate conventional tackle. Like I said what is the difference between leading with your feet and missing? They still penalise you for that because of the potential danger and to make sure it stays as a deterrent. Same for the shoulder charge. If it is a deliberate attempt like that was to stop a player, whether or not it misses its mark should not matter if he makes contact with the player. The whole point is to make sure it stays a deterrent.