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Former All Black Aaron Cruden red-carded for clean out on Faf De Klerk

(Source/J Sports)

Former All Black first five Aaron Cruden was handed a red card for a clean out gone wrong which collected Springboks scrumhalf Faf de Klerk directly in the face, knocking him to the ground in the latest round of Japan Rugby League One.

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De Klerk was in the process of delivering a pass from the base of a ruck as Cruden charged through with an attempt to a counter-ruck.

The former All Black’s shoulder connected directly to the forehead, sending the Springboks No 9 reeling.

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After a review from the TMO, the officials has no choice but to issue Tokyo Sungoliath a red card in the 17th minute leaving them down to 14-men for the match.

The Tokyo Sungoliath No 10 had just scored a try from a brilliant read at the other end, scooping up a bizarre chip kick from fullback and Japanese star Kotaro Matsushima to level scores after an early try to Canon through Jesse Kriel.

Despite losing Cruden, Tokyo built a 13-8 lead before De Klerk was sin-binned himself for an early challenge on a Sungoliath kicker, receiving a yellow card for attempting to charge down from an offside position.

A breakaway try to former New Zealand under-20 star Tevita Li right on half-time for Sungoliath looked to have blown the lead out to 20-8 heading into the sheds, but the try was ruled out.

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Tokyo Sungoliath scored first in the second half through right wing Seiya Ozaki before a set-piece try from Canon Eagles was rubbed out after Springbok midfielder Jesse Kriel took out a defender in the lead-up.

Some late magic from Kriel closed the gap to 25-23, as the centre produced some crafty play to put his winger Viriame Takayawa in for a long range try.

With two minutes to play, a cross-field kick from Tokyo’s inside centre found the mark to a wide open Ozaki to cruise over for his brace and seal the 32-23 win for the Sungoliath.

The Sungoliath moved up to second in division one with the win with two wins from their first three matches, while Yokohama Canon Eagles dropped to 6th with one win, one draw and one loss from their first three games.

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J
JW 22 minutes ago
Crusaders outlast fast starting Blues to reach another Super Rugby final

Yeah nar, but that’s kinda the thing, I don’t think the old approach was working either!


You might have it right though, leading up, in all rugby/competitions mean, to the last WC it did feel like there had been better discipline/less than the normal amount of cards. Well, at least a certain demographic of teams improved at least, but not so much NZ ones is my point.


I bet you also think going harsher would be the best way to go reducing head contact and the frequency of concussions?


I would hate to have your theory tested as it requires subjective thinking from the officials but..

AI Overview

In Super Rugby Pacific, a red card means the player is sent off for the rest of the match, but with a 20-minute red card, the team can replace the player after 20 minutes of playing with 14 men. If the foul play is deemed deliberate and with a high degree of danger, a full red card is issued, and the player cannot be replaced. A second yellow card also results in a 20-minute red card with a replacement allowed. 

is there to stop that from happening. The whole subjective thing is why we have 20min cards, and I worry that the same leniency that stopped them from red carding a player who ran 30 meters and still didn’t get his head low enough would stop them straight redn them too.


Back to the real topic though, right after that WC we saw those same angles getting red carded all over the show. So do some players actually have control over their actions enough to avoid head collisions (and didn’t gaf after the WC?), or was it pure luck or an imaginary period of good discipline?


So without a crystal ball to know the truth of it I think you’ll find it an immeasurably better product with 20m red cards, there just does not appear to be any appropriate amount of discipline added to the back end, the suspensions (likely controlled by WR), yet.

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