Rory Underwood, the former England wing, believes the current yellow and red card controversies afflicting the Rugby World Cup are due to changes to the game’s laws aimed at helping disciplinary hearings not international matches.
With England’s Tom Curry receiving a three game ban ( two if he attends tackle school) after his head on head tackle against Argentina that was upgraded to red after the bunker system was used, the issue is dominating the tournament with other players not being punished for what appears to be similar situations.
In an interview with SafeBettingSites.com, Underwood, the former Lions, England and Leicester wing, said: “Yes I get that safety is of paramount importance but from my perspective, we’re getting into a situation where we’re trying to create rules that are easy to stipulate in a room in the cold light of day but then trying to apply them in a split second in a physical situation with 360 type movement changes.
“ The two things are so far apart. It’s a bit like the rule makers are affecting the game rather than allowing the game to go on. It’s a very difficult balance but for me, I want to see the games decided by what happens on the pitch.”
The ex-British and Irish Lions wing, who played in three Rugby World Cups, believes South Africa’s Jesse Kriel was fortunate to escape punishment for an incident in the win over Scotland.
He added: “The part that’s confounded all of us watching is that you see Jesse Kriel going into a head to head contact in the South Africa vs Scotland game. The Jesse Kriel one wasn’t even picked up by the TMO and that was a head to head and you wonder why it wasn’t picked up at all. So that frustrates us as supporters watching the game. Whether it’s a red, a yellow or whatever, why didn’t the bunker system pick it up? I personally get very frustrated with this whole inconsistency.
“I’ve heard England being criticised for indiscipline but for me that wasn’t indiscipline. Tom Curry got his technique wrong but indiscipline when you talk about foul play, that’s a deliberate action to go and do something.”