Nigel Owens: World Rugby must take ‘zero tolerance’ approach after introducing ‘very divisive’ law
Former Test referee Nigel Owens and the Sam Underhill tackle on Davit Niniashvili which led to four-match ban.
Former Test referee Nigel Owens is concerned about World Rugby’s decision to put the 20-minute red card to a global trial.
It was revealed last month that the law will be used in elite competitions from August 1 ahead of a vote which will determine whether it is fully adopted.
Owens has never been a fan of the 20-minute red and has reiterated his stance on the law which he believes could have a negative impact on the game.
‘It certainly hasn’t changed players behaviour’
“Then there’s the very divisive 20-minute red card, which has just been put through for a global trial. As I’ve said before in this column, it certainly hasn’t changed players’ behaviour,” he wrote in his WalesOnline column.
“It’s not a deterrent and I think a red card offence should always be met with a straight, permanent red card. If it’s an accident or just unlucky, then it shouldn’t be a red card in the first place.
“Despite all the changes that are being made, the thing that is still cropping up time and time again is head contact. Even though we’ve seen a huge increase in red cards, we still haven’t really seen a change in player behaviour, in terms of clearing out and trying to make lower tackles.”
Owens’ point about “player behaviour” was perhaps best demonstrated by Sam Underhill, who was suspended following a dangerous tackle in the Challenge Cup final.
It came just over a month after he was red carded for a similar type of hit in their victory over Pau in the same competition.
“We saw it with Sam Underhill during Bath’s Challenge Cup final win over Lyon – he went high and it was a head-on-head collision,” Owens wrote.
“He’s now been handed a four-match ban after initially being shown a yellow card, but that should have been a red card from the start.”
Going down the wrong path
That Underhill tackle would likely be a 20-minute red card next season but Owens insists that is the wrong direction for World Rugby to go down.
“It’s one area that those at the top of the game are really trying to grapple with but we haven’t seen much positive change in practice,” he wrote.
“There has been more emphasis placed on dangerous behaviour and a crackdown on head contact, but why are we still not seeing a change in player behaviour? It is still happening far too often.
“For me, there has to be zero tolerance. If you go into a tackle like Underhill did, that should be a straight red card, end of.
“A lengthy ban should follow too, if we’re going to stamp it out of the game effectively. Either that or they need to change the tackle height law, and that certainly will be a hot topic for debate.”
READ MORE: Opinion: The real embarrassment of Sam Underhill’s controversial non-red card
