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Head hits need equal penalty or World Cup discredited
Evening Standard
|September 12, 2023
Three different outcomes over similar clashes not good enough
REFEREES must find alignment on head-on-head collisions, and fast, otherwise this World Cup could be compromised by inequality.
Three similar incidents across the opening weekend of the global tournament in France and zero consensus on the refereeing outcome.
If one player cops a three-match ban and another walks away unpunished after similar incidents, then the knockout stages could be spoiled by imbalanced officiating.
World Rugby's drive to lower tackle height and improve player safety remains vital. But when even the world's best referees cannot adjudicate similar incidents in one clear way, then the sport is in big trouble.
England's Tom Curry could wind up with a suspension tonight for his head-on-head collision with Argentina's Juan Cruz Mallia on Saturday. England prevailed 27-10 in Marseille, despite playing all but three minutes with 14 men.
But it does not mask the fact that Curry's dismissal was uncannily similar to Chile captain Martin Sigren's collision with Japan's Kotaro Matsushima. Sigren was handed only a yellow card.
This story is from the September 12, 2023 edition of Evening Standard.
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