Referee Fails To Punish Wallabies Star For Horrific Shoulder To Head On Halfpenny
Jason Hennessy
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Late.
Consistency. That’s all we’re after. That’s all we want when it comes to rugby’s directives for any tackles that land on the head.
We’re not complaining about the influx of penalties, yellows and red cards. We’re not complaining that the game’s ‘gone soft’ at all. We just want to see a level playing field and as a safe environment for players – across the board.
Whether it is intentional or not, if you make contact with an opponents head you are directly responsible for his well-being. That was made very clear a couple of years ago by World Rugby.
But for some reason – referee Ben O’Keefe didn’t get the memo, after he decided this horror collision between Samuel Kerevi and Leigh Halfpenny didn’t warrant punishment.
Ben O'Keefe said it [Kerevi's challenge] on Halfpenny wasn't a "deliberate act of foul play".
Acts haven't had to be deliberate to warrant a red card for a few years now; a reckless challenge can be enough to warrant a red. #WALvAUS pic.twitter.com/zd1buj9fhg
— rugby (@theblitzdefence) November 10, 2018
His reasoning? It wasn’t deliberate. Come one Ben. It doesn’t have to be deliberate. We’ve been through this. Kerevi is responsible and could have done serious damage to Halfpenny. It was an outrageous decision, and people should be fuming.
“I was angry because I thought if we wanted to make it clearer and obvious what we do moving forward is that anything shoulder to the head should be a penalty offence or more.” Sam Warburton said after the game.
That’s what we thought too Sam. That’s what we thought too.
