Australia Question The ‘Legality’ Of Ireland’s Treatment Of Israel Folau On Saturday

Not happy.

Australia have said they will be seeking clarity from match officials this week regarding the tactics used by Ireland to prevent the threat of Israel Folau in the air, according to their attack coach Stephen Larkam.

Folau caused Ireland a serious amount of problems in the first Test, dominating the aerial battle. But he was kept quiet by Ireland in the 2nd Test, with multiple Irish runners blocking his path on the kick-chase.

But Larkham has suggested Ireland’s tactics may not have been entirely legal.

“I guess it’s in our hands, it’s something that we have to sit down with the referees and discuss,” he said.

“For us I think it’s two-fold – it’s one, getting the kicks accurate so our chasers aren’t running between two or three guys and then two, obviously bringing it to the referees’ attention just to make sure everything is legal.”

Though it was clearly an effective tactic for Ireland, Larkham said he didn’t expect it to catch on with other teams.

“I think if I look at some of the escorting lines or blocking lines that Ireland put in on the weekend, they used two or three players and it seemed quite specific that they were out there trying to impede Israel’s run,” he said.

“When you’re starting to put two players in one position, it obviously opens up a lot of space on the field so I’m not too concerned that every other team will copy this because there are certainly downsides to it, but we certainly need clarification before the weekend.”

Larkham also noted that the Wallabies were warned about their late tackles in the first Test, and believes Ireland should be approached in the same way this week ahead of the final Test, after Will Genia broke his arm as a result of a ‘king hit’ from Cian Healy.

“There was a particular reference to that before the game from the referees towards us, so it was a little bit disappointing that the referees…as a group of four missed some of the off-the-ball stuff, which was quite significant,” he added

“They’d identified some issues out of the first game for us, which we addressed through the week.

“They were spot on but I guess, being conscious there as referees then that it happened on both sides of the ball.”

[Rugby.com.au]

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