Pivac speaks out about protecting players from head injuries

Ross Gibson
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Scarlets coach Wayne Pivac claims officials have gone too far in their crackdown on tackling in a bid to protect players from head injuries.

Centre Kieron Fonotia was a big miss in Sunday’s 14-13 defeat at the hands of Racing 92 after he fell foul of a disciplinary panel. The 30-year-old was deemed to have struck George North’s head with a forearm in Scarlets’ thrilling victory over Ospreys earlier this month. He was hit with a six-week ban, which was halved due to his previously clean record and his admission that he deserved the red card.

But Pivac, who will succeed Warren Gatland as Wales coach on a four-year deal after next year’s World Cup, was disappointed that the panel failed to show him any leniency. “Away from the rugby field, if you go before the authorities for a physical act, they take into account the physical action and the intent,” said Pivac, who was a police officer in New Zealand before becoming a coach. “In rugby we don’t take into account the intent.”

Scarlets are now clear underdogs for their next game in the Champions Cup with well-reviewed sites such as sportsbetting.ag. Pivac is exasperated, because he feels suspension to his key player could have been avoided if officials just displayed more empathy with players. In the incident the Samoan international caught the ball and then seemed to instinctively attempt to fend off the onrushing North, ending up catching him with a forearm. “It was 6ft 4in and 110kg coming towards him,” said Pivac. “It certainly was not intentional, but with these things now, the head is protected and if you come in contact with it you are going before the judicial.”

He described it as a serious amount of time out the game for “a total accident”. Pivac  does not have the budget to go out and replace players and he needs to keep them on the field of play, so instead he is trying to change his players’ tackling techniques to avoid high contact.

Toulouse flanker Jerome Kaino has also been handed a six-week suspension, reduced to five for good conduct at the hearing, for his tackle on Jamie Roberts of Bath during their Champions Cup clash. The tackle left Roberts unconscious and Kaino was shown a yellow card, but a disciplinary panel ruled he should have seen red. Yet the decision has split players, fans and commentators, with some branding it high and dangerous and others claiming it was a fair tackle. Fans on social media have even gone so far as to say these calls are ruining the game.

This one looks set to rumble on until someone steps in to create a drastic rule change that lowers the accepted tackle height. Right now there is widespread confusion and also a great deal of inconsistency, as some high tackles go totally unpunished and others result in harsh suspensions. Rugby bosses want to eradicate tackles that could lead to concussions, whereby two upright players clatter into one another, and that is precisely the sort of tackle Kaino put in on Roberts.

They claim it will protect both players, because the one making the tackle actually has a much higher risk than the one carrying the ball forward. Kaino’s shoulder clattered into Roberts’ jaw and he was indeed knocked out. Yet even referee Andrew Brace was forced to admit he was unsure of the rules during the game, saying he was not sure where the point of contact is. There is not much margin for error right now, but changes to the laws could clear up some of the confusion and players could be better protected.

 

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