‘World Rugby are an absolute joke!’ – Ex-coach fumes after Sam Cane ban

Fans and pundits in New Zealand have been left fuming after All Blacks captain Sam Cane was handed a suspension following his red card in the Rugby World Cup final.

Cane became the first player in World Cup history to be sent off in a final when he made head-high contact with Springboks centre Jesse Kriel in the 29th minute of the clash at the Stade de France.

The skipper was initially yellow carded, and the incident was sent to be reviewed by the Foul Play Review Bunker, which deemed that his actions warranted a red card.

Cane was then left to watch the remainder of the final, with the All Blacks finishing the game with 14 men and ultimately losing to their fiercest rivals, South Africa, 12-11.

Over a week on from the final, Cane attended an independent Disciplinary Committee to determine whether his tackle warranted further sanction. While the flanker argued his actions did not meet the red card threshold, the committee disagreed and duly handed him a three-match suspension – reduced to two if he completes the World Rugby Coaching Intervention Programme.

“Absolutely ridiculous”

That decision has left a good deal of All Blacks fans angered, many of whom feeling that being red-carded in the final and his team losing was punishment enough.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous that he has to now be pulled in and taken through this whole process again, having been the captain, getting sent off with 50 minutes to go and watching the World Cup from the sideline,” former rugby league player and coach Tony Kemp said on SENZ.

“All for a tackle on a player who didn’t go off; he has not been for an HIA. There’s been no repercussions, and then Sam Cane, two weeks later, has to go and deal with this.

“World Rugby are an absolute joke. Seriously, you know, Sam Cane is going up to Japan, they don’t play that many games up there. You’d seem to think that the guys would have common sense and say, well, I think it’s punishment enough for this kid that has captained the All Blacks having to sit there and watch that unfold.

“You look at Siya Kolisi, there’s no intent other than to make the tackle on both of them, but it’s such a foreign law, and when you look at Siya Kolisi’s one actually, when Ardie Savea comes up, he has a bleeding nose. So he’s actually drawn blood; Sam didn’t draw blood.”

While Kolisi’s yellow card was not upgraded to a red because of mitigating circumstances, as he came in low and was the second arriving player, Kemp argued that his kind of tackle is often worse.

“Sometimes it’s worse when the second man comes in; it’s one of the biggest problems in rugby league at the moment, that catch and grab of players and hold them up and the third man coming in, it’s the third man that does all the damage,” he said.

“So I feel I feel for Sam Cane, I think that punishment enough was to sit there for 50 minutes and you’re wondering what was going through his head while his team was trying to fight back and get that win.”

"World Rugby are an absolute joke!"

Do you share Kempy's sentiments around All Blacks captain Sam Cane being handed a three-game ban from his red card in the Rugby World Cup Final?@SENZBreakfast | #AllBlacks pic.twitter.com/rAenoNTcsX

— Sport Nation NZ (@SportNationNZ) November 7, 2023

Social media’s reaction

Like Kemp, many fans had sympathy for Cane and agreed that it was punishment enough.

“Having being red carded in a final so early on and then losing while you watch from the sidelines feels like punishment enough. I bet no one feels worse than he does,” one fan wrote on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

Another added: “Mercy man! This poor man has taken a beating…”

Others felt that it was important that it was done and that New Zealand and Super Rugby needed to look after the players better.

“Seeing NZ fans response to this just goes to show that SR needs to catch up to the rest of world in how head contact is refereed,” one fan wrote.

Sagheer Osman wrote: “He’s been found guilty of similar before, it’s just bad technique, people complaining about a red card when he could’ve seriously injured his opponent are insane.”

“Red card, all day. Got stepped, found himself in the wrong position, couldn’t get low enough in time so made a high tackle. Not good enough. At the same time Kriel should have had an HIA, world rugby needs to protect players from ending up like Carl Hayman and Steve Thompson,” another fan added.

READ MORE: What the Springboks ‘do better than anyone else’ according to ex-England captain