The Citing Commissioner Report For NZ Vs Ireland Game Makes For Interesting Reading
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This is insane.
Citing commissioner Bruce Kuklinski reviewed 12 incidents from Ireland’s 21-9 defeat to New Zealand on Saturday and 11 of them referred to the All Blacks, Ireland manager Mick Kearney has revealed.
The physical nature of the game has been called into question in recent days with many criticising the All Blacks for their indiscipline and failure to take their oppositions welfare into hand.
Sam Cane and Malakai Fekitoa have both been cited for high tackles on Robbie Henshaw and Simon Zebo, with All Black boss Steve Hansen saying that they will contest Cane’s citing.
Asked to comment on the citings, Kearney said:
“It doesn’t surprise me, to be honest. What I would say is the citing officer picked out 12 incidents during the game. 11 of them referred to New Zealand. The one that referred to us was a clean-out of Sam Cane at a ruck and we were cleared of any foul play in that incident.
“It is disappointing to be honest. there were a number of tackles and bangs around the head. We received the edict from World Rugby in the last week or 10 days and Joe would have sat the squad down, showed them the various footage – including examples of tackles around the head and neck area.
“World Rugby had said, if these incidents occur then you are liable to a red card possibly. So that obviously didn’t happen at the weekend.
“There was the yellow card for the high tackle on Simon Zebo and they are looking at the other incident involving Sam Cane and Robbie Henshaw.”
Should the All Blacks be punished for their behaviour?
