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Hodge's disciplinary hearing excuse doesn't wash with fans

By Josh Raisey
Reece Hodge has left himself open to ridicule (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

There has been a new twist in the saga surrounding Reece Hodge’s three-week ban as it was revealed the Wallabies winger said he has no knowledge of World Rugby’s decision-making framework regarding high tackles and had not been trained on it.

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This excuse from Australian has been met with utter disbelief from the world of rugby and has been roundly dismissed.

Fans on Twitter simply do not know where to start when it comes to picking this excuse apart, saying it is impossible for any rugby player to not know the laws.

This is an area of the game where World Rugby have tried to clamp down and be stricter over the past year, and there is absolutely no way that Hodge was not aware that any contact to the head of a player would spell trouble.

The winger himself has already played in matches this year where players have been punished based on the current framework in place. Scott Barrett’s red card in the first Bledisloe Cup Test earlier this year is an example and Hodge was only metres away when it happened.

(Continue reading below…)

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A player does not even need to play to understand the new framework, rather he has to just watch a match on the television to have a rough idea.

But if Hodge’s explanation is actually the case, fans have also said that Michael Cheika, Rugby Australia and the Melbourne Rebels must be blamed for not briefing their players on what is to be expected at this World Cup.

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This excuse, though, doesn’t seem to be fooling anyone. This is what has been said:

Hodge is set to miss the rest of the pool stage for the Wallabies before returning for the quarter-final should his country get there.

His tackle on Peceli Yato has set the benchmark for what is and what is not acceptable at this RWC but, more importantly, if Hodge’s excuse is actually taken at face value, it is an alarming insight into how the players are not briefed and how little they actually know about the laws.

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Jon 8 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 11 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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