Ex-Ireland player makes 'good sign' Six Nations red card prediction
Former Ireland back-rower Alan Quinlan believes it would be a good sign to see red cards shown in the upcoming Guinness Six Nations, claiming that World Rugby are correct to stick with his zero-tolerance approach to eliminate headshots from the game. Safety has become a buzzword in recent times, an emphasis evident in the increased number of players sent off in the championship in recent years.
Between 2000 and 2019, only six red cards were seen in the Six Nations but that number has ballooned with nine shown in the past three seasons – two in 2022, five in 2021 and two more in 2020.
England’s Charlie Ewels and Italy’s Hame Faiva were red-carded last year, Scotland’s Finn Russell and Zander Fagerson, France’s Paul Willemse and Ireland’s Peter O’Mahony and Bundee Aki all saw red in 2021, while England’s Manu Tuilagi and France’s Mohamed Haouas were given their marching orders in 2020.
There has been commentary that these red cards are ruining the sport as a spectacle. For instance, England had to play with 14 men for practically an entire game after Ewels was dispatched just 82 seconds into his team’s March 2022 loss to Ireland while in the previous round, the action in Dublin was reduced to uncontested scrums after sub Italian hooker Faiva was red-carded in the first half shortly after he came on as an injury replacement.
Quinlan, though, claimed that he admires the way World Rugby have refused to budge in its approach and he would have no problem with the upcoming matches witnessing some more red cards given how player safety is now of utmost importance.
'We are not talking that we need the place of Italy or Wales. We don’t need that. We need more good games'
It's a miracle Levan Maisashvili is alive. He tells @heagneyl ??? he's now desperate for @GeorgianRugby to get more games ahead of the #RWC2023 https://t.co/5nbZqEsJQ3
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 29, 2023
Speaking on the Newstalk Hard Shoulder programme ahead of this weekend’s Six Nations round one games featuring Wales-Ireland, England-Scotland and Italy-France, the ex-Ireland forward said: “Of course, there is concern about the concussions and head knocks and all that but World Rugby have been strong in the last number of years in trying to really stick to their guns in the sense that there is zero tolerance around some of the headshots.
“There is a lot of stuff you see in southern hemisphere games and the Rugby Championship if somebody gets sent off for a head-on-head clash where you say, ‘Well, it is just a rugby collision’. You get some of that in the southern hemisphere.
“I have always been speaking openly about this and saying players’ behaviours and body positions have to change and I just don’t know if the coaches are really implementing this. Defence coaches, it’s all about get up, smash them, get in their faces, tag the ball, don’t allow offloads. The behaviours have to change.
“Are we going to see red cards in the Six Nations? Probably. I think there is not a weekend that goes by. For me, that is a good sign that we are not backing away, World Rugby aren’t backing away and saying, ‘Oh god, let’s determine these incidents as accidental and start giving yellow cards’.
“Players know now that if you fly into a ruck with a shoulder tucked and your arm not at least out trying to bind on somebody, you are in a dangerous position. Shooting out of the line, I saw an incident with Richie Arnold. Munster played Toulouse two weeks ago and he shoots out of the line.
“Of course the enthusiasm, the energy as a big forward, you want to try and get at the opposition out-half, but he put himself in a position where he is really risking a red card situation. One or two inches higher and Joey Carbery could be seriously injured but also he [Arnold] is a red card. As it turned out he wasn’t cited because it was deemed at the very top end of the chest.
“Some players might argue this, ‘What am I supposed to do?’ Don’t shoot out of the line on your own trying to smash some fella. Then you say, ‘Well, is the game changing? Is that taking the good out of the game?’ No. Referees and the audience watching will understand if there is an accidental collision or if somebody dips a little bit and then they talk about mitigation.
“But I still see some players who are recklessly kind of swinging arms, dipping the shoulder into people. A lot has changed since I played. A lot of this stuff went unnoticed and we have seen from some of the stories about players with early-onset dementia and all that kind of stuff, so we have got to stick to it and keep trying to protect the players.
“I love the physicality of the game. Sometimes it can look really, really physical but when you are out there the adrenaline rush, I love it and the players love it but they have got to be really mindful and find ways and always trying to find ways to improve the game and make it safer.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments