Loose Pass: Refereeing inconsistencies and rugby union unites USA in World Cup push

This week we will mostly be concerning ourselves with the vagaries of tackles and laws in the current climate and the remarkable unifying power of rugby…

Within four incidents over two games, the Premiership this past weekend encapsulated perfectly the horrendous time officials, players, TMOs and lawmakers have in balancing out safety concerns, rugby accidents and wanton aggressive niggles.

To two similar incidents first, one in the Saracens-Leicester game, the second a day later in the Exeter-Sale game.

In the former, Saracens scrum-half Aled Davies clashed heads with Leicester’s George Ford. Davies had shot off his line, with his angle of run very obviously covering Ford’s inside shoulder.

Ford stepped off his outside boot and thundered straight into Davies, himself thundering forward at full speed. The heads met, both fell to the floor somewhat stunned. Ford took slightly longer to get up, but both players felt the force of the collision.

Granted Davies was upright, but until Ford opted to step, Davies looked as though he wasn’t even considering the possibility of making a tackle. In reaction, he barely had time to lift his arms. The initial contact was shoulder-to-chest, it was mostly the jerk of the collision snapping the heads forward a bit that caused them to clash.

Yet Davies was yellow-carded. Harsh? Definitely. Letter of the law? Yes too – mostly anyway. Davies can be said to have had the onus upon him, as an onrushing possible tackler, to be lower. But it also seemed incredibly harsh: after all, the contact as it was, was wholly initiated by Ford’s cut inside, otherwise Davies would have not taken the contact. Still, the laws is the laws. Got to be safe, and if safety is threatened, out come the cards, however