Is the IRB going crazy over these "tip tackles"?

I think they are going too far - it's a contact game. I think a yellow card was enough for these two particular offenses. The reason Fourie got 4 weeks as he has been cited & banned before for a tackle on Ma'a Nonu last year (not actually conspiracy to be inconsistant) but 4 weeks is very harsh given Dick Brown got up no trouble. I do think they need to be reviewed as on slow mo one can see if it was bad and from then a decision can be made. If you get carded twice, a match ban for that tackle ought to be enough and then onwards for these two.

That said, I once played in a game in Canada with a shoddy ref who didn't even penalize the worst spear I have ever seen (this was in '97) and the poor bastard was very badly hurt so I can see why the IRB are tough on it. They clearly want to kill it before it gets bad and someone sues them.

I got practically every type of rough treatment when I played but I was never speared, even playing league as a kid, so I don't know what it feels like. I also do Judo to a high level so being upended doesn't scare me as many throws have it, so maybe that explains my attitude, someone who has may think different.

Rugby is one of the most dangerous sports for participants and there is nothing more chilling than seeing a player carried off the field on a stretcher, with a suspected spinal injury.

Given that horrendous injuries can occur - quadraplegia being one of them, I think the IRB are right to be very strict and have zero tolerance for these types of tackles. The onus is on them to minimise the risks to all players and to veto dangerous play.

I, for one, am delighted that Fourie and Cooper were cited and have been penalised.

As part of protecting itself, the IRB is also going to use a broad interpretation; the tip-tackle might not actually be that dangerous, but it's close enough superficially to a piledriver that they're going to aggressively penalize anything of that sort. Even if they penalty is given later because of advantage, no ref is going to decide penalties based on the result, i.e. tackled player was fine versus wasn't.

Just a general observation: every trainer I know of has a limit in how spoiled/crazy a horse they will attempt to rehabilitate. Sad to say, some horses are ruined beyond redemption before they're handed off to someone who might actually have had a chance to fix them if they'd been given a chance early. Most trainers I know of will refuse to work with a horse that's known to rear because of the danger this poses to the rider. Horses that buck and bolt are borderline. At some point you have to ask yourself: is the chance of getting hurt/disabled justified by the talents this horse has? Sometimes the answer is "no."

No, it was fair. The rules have been in place for ages. All players know they can't turn a player past the horizontal The penalties handed out have been consistent so no real problems there. I was hoping that as this was Copps first time he may have only got a week but it doesn't look that way. If nothing else it is good to see consistency.

Its simply too dangerous, and there is no legitimate reason to do it. The other player is already down, he has to plant the ball and he can't protect himself while doing so -- why is it necessary to risk dropping him on his head as well?

Just because the tackled player doesn't get injured most of the time does not make it acceptable. Heck -- you are just fine, five times out of six, playing Russian roulette but that doesn't make it "safe", or a smart thing to do.

I don't think they are going crazy, but some common sense should be used. It's not illegal to lift in the tackle, but it is illegal to lift a man's legs above his head and tip him. It's a dangerous situation, someone landing on their head can easily be crippled or even killed and a tackle (as any player knows) can go pearshaped very very quickly.

I pretty much let play go on after a lifting tackle, provided the tackler makes an effort to bring the man to ground safely (ie, stop lifting or putting the legs back down), but if he continues to tip, a yellow card he receives!

it was known as the spear tackle ,commonly was used in rugby league , but as players were getting neck injuries after being driven into the ground ,

both codes voted any tackle over the horizontal was deemed to be dangerous .

i thought cooper was hard done by

in fairness theyre is no reason 2 dump a player on his head. sometimes bein dropped on your back is worse as u can be winded stunned, where as bein put on your head hurts for a couple of seconds at themost, and is also unbelievably dangerous.

if i guy ends up with his neck broken then the irb is gonna have a sh*t storm on their hands. basically they are just covering their asses so that if sh*t does hit the fan then they have an excuse to fall back on.