Rugby World Cup: Reece Hodge not the first player to be caught in overzealous clean-up of foul play
The citing of Reece Hodge just confirms what most rugby diehards have feared for years, that in trying to stamp out foul play, the sport’s blazers are making the game too soft.
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Reece Hodge isn’t the first player, and you can bet he certainly won’t be the last either, to find himself in the dock because of World Rugby’s clean-up of the game.
While the strict new rules mean players are better protected than ever because the really dirty stuff that used to go has been eliminated, they’re also being busted for incidents that are considered part of the game but are now deemed offences.
It’s left the game’s traditionalists worrying that the sport has lost the plot and there’s plenty of evidence to back those fears with commonsense thrown out the window.
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ISRAEL FOLAU
Last year, when he was still happily playing for the Wallabies, Izzy copped a one-match ban for making contact in the air with Ireland’s Peter O’Mahony while he contesting a kick off.
Even though O’Mahony was being lifted by one of his teammates who dropped him as fell back down, Folau was banned because he had made contact while contesting for the ball.
SAM WARBURTON
The Welsh skipper was controversially sent off in the 2011 World Cup semi-final against France after he was deemed to have tipped opposition winger Vincent Clerc.
His sending off ruined any chance Wales of making the final for the first time and was widely condemned by former players as being too harsh, with 1995 Springbok captain Francois Pienaar bemoaning the decision, saying “that was never a red card”. Warburton was suspended for three weeks and ended up sitting next to Clerc on the flight out of Auckland.
SCOTT BARRETT
The big New Zealand lock was sent off and handed a three-week ban for a no arms tackle on Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper in last month’s Bledisloe Cup Test in Perth.
The Wallabies racked up a record win against the All Blacks but even Australia coach Michael Cheika said he didn’t think the New Zealander’s actions deserved punishment. And England’s coach Eddie Jones said the send off was plain “ridiculous” and warned the World Cup would be ruined if similar incidents received stiff penalties.
ED QUIRK
The Sunwolves skipper was given one of the most ludicrous suspensions ever see when he received a two-week back for a “love tap” in a match against Queensland last year.
Quirk and Reds five-eighth Hamish Stewart were at the bottom of a ruck when Quirk pushed his fist into Stewart’s cheek without any force but still got rubbed out. The Queensland coach Brad Thorn said Quirk did nothing wrong and his send off was an embarrassment to the game: “Seriously. Come on, man. Come on. My sons do that in the backyard. It’s beautiful. Good on them.”
JOE MARLER
Although there was no physical contact involved, England prop was banned for two matches in 2016 for calling Welsh opponent Samson Lee “Gypsy Boy” during a Six Nations Test.
Marler apologised and Lee, who is part of the traveller community, said it was just “banter”.
The Englishman was initially cleared by the Six Nations judiciary but World Rugby stepped in and ordered another hearing at which he was suspended.