**** come on!

I know England can feel a little hard done by with some decisions but even before that their discipline was terrible.

Well look, massive congrats to Ireland what a great grand slam, look forward to watching them do well in the RWC.

England turned up, but unfortunately robbed at the scoreline. Even Angry Pieper admits mitigation on the lift but sends Willis off anyway.

England turned up, but unfortunately robbed at the scoreline. Even Angry Pieper admits mitigation on the lift but sends Willis off anyway.

Cry me a river.

YES!!!

Not quite as emphatic as it should have been but England only have themselves to blame.

Thanks, England definitely turned up, gutsy performance with a limited game plan. Knocked Ireland out of their stride.

Even Angry Pieper admits mitigation on the lift but sends Willis off anyway.

Mitigation stopped it being a red.

Well done Ireland – deserved champions and I kinda hope they do the same at the WC.

…….. But that wasn’t the kicking a lot of people said they were going to give England who can come away from that with some definite positives.

I think England really stepped up. I was concerned about Manu being too aggressive but he was controlled.
There needs to be a dynamic front row on the sun bench. Genge gets too stroppy sinkler was pretty good. I like dombrandt but I’m not sure he’s an international 8.
There’s also a weakness at 9 Mitchell is a better sparky 9 and there’s a few in the prem that seem faster than jvpf.

Congratulations Ireland DD enjoy your hangover tomorrow 😂😂😂

I look forward to Jones, Monye, Dawson etc spinning this as a moral victory for England for the rest of the week. 😀

St. Patrick’s weekend and a Grand Slam that deserves a swift half.

Huge improvement from England but ill discipline ruined their chances of being party poppers. Thank God.

A wonderful tournament for Ireland. Grand Slam !!!!!!!!

Ireland worthy champions, better from England, as always couple of decisions could have been different but at the end of the day architects of their own downfall.

And please please please can they stop the celebrations of any decisions in their favour, it is pathetic and makes them. Erg hard to like.

I hoped Borthwick might clamp down on it as it seems to be a Jones thing.

I hoped Borthwick might clamp down on it as it seems to be a Jones thing

I just thought it was a nasty England thing

Deffo a Saracens thing!

Maybe I’m just used to blaming Jones for everything that is wrong with England.

It’s a Salaries thing,worst offender is Itoje.

Again yes Duckman, for such an intelligent, interesting, articulate person I find it difficult to like him on a rugby pitch.
Get on and do your job, by all means celebrate success’s but more genuinely and less a deliberate attempt to get in the opponents face.
Maybe it is my dislike of fakeness as it appears to be so put on.
Old man grumble over.

When we played them a few years ago Itoje was inserting himself into Glasgow huddles and clapping our players on the back when we conceded penalties in a close fought pool game. Cue his after match interview; first words out his mouth were “Somebody has broken my nose!”
Fair play to England yesterday though, they made that a game as they defended so quickly and flooded the midfield with the defenders they weren’t commuting to the breakdown so that they stifled Irelands speed of attack. I think they would have tired though,red card or not. The ease at which Ireland play their game is incredible and players are so aware of their role in every scenario. Best team I have seen since probably the Kiwis of 2 world cups ago. 4th most popular sport in a country that size as well!

I think the lesson is that Ireland have had their structures ( both playing and off the pitch) right after the game went pro and the only real aim has been to improve the national side.  Everything is geared to that.

The head contact / foul play protocols / process

https://resources.world.rugby/worldrugby/document/2021/03/10/e597c9c8-e852-4e19-875f-18e02e7f7e24/Head_Contact_Process_EN_v1.pdf

clip of the incident

Interesting, so basically the question is foul play yes or no. If yes it’s a red if no then it’s play on. Foul play includes reckless but also avoidable.

The collision was arguably unavoidable, but given the way the game needs to change then Steward was always going to struggle after dropping his shoulder in, even if that was not maliciously intended.

Thats how I see it.   No attempt at a legal tackle,

Don’t watch the clip of Ryan I think hitting a ruck, or rather Ludlams head….

Stewards red could have been viewed as a yellow if you took the view that he was going to compete for the ball and was not making a tackle, Irish player was at lowered height. I’ve think it could have been a different outcome with a different ref that’s why there is debate. No problem with it being red just feel it’s a bit harsh on a player trying to avoid a collision.

As for Ireland I heard the other day one of their schools has a rugby budget of 1 million! Production line starts right there.
And Baird is going to be some player!

Don’t watch the clip of Ryan I think hitting a ruck, or rather Ludlams head….

This one?

This is ok though? pic.twitter.com/eTyvpgOW0N

— Gav Cox (@theofficialcox) March 18, 2023

Ref stood right in front and does nothing!

To me the biggest inconsistency yesterday was the yellow for tip tackle by Willis, but just a pen for Fickou doing the same in the France game. That seemed even clearer for Fickou but the ref in France/Wales did seem to let more go generally.

Yes but that was one of probably several from both teams in the game.
My point was meant to be it is a very hard game to ref, stuff gets missed, interpreted differently by different refs, there are very view deliberate acts of foul play these days, but the game has to change.
The jackal is possibly the most exposed position, players get repeatedly hit in this position, also when carrying bent at the waist as they do now nearly always will involve head contact. The game will change in the next few years.

Stewards red could have been viewed as a yellow if you took the view that he was going to compete for the ball and was not making a tackle, Irish player was at lowered height. I’ve think it could have been a different outcome with a different ref that’s why there is debate. No problem with it being red just feel it’s a bit harsh on a player trying to avoid a collision.

If you are serious about trying to prevent concussion-inducing tackles, even where there is no intent, by handing out reds, then you have to accept that there will be instances where reds are given which look pretty harsh. It’s a conscious decision by the sport that it is prepared to accept collateral outcomes like that to improve overall safety for players.

But it is a contact sport, and intent is just as important as action.

Sexton is a fine example of milking head contact for the ref’s benefit. He was rolling around the floor trying to eke a penalty in the first half. Farrell asked the ref if it was so bad he’s clutching his bonce, why is he not off for an HIA?

It’ll turn the game into football, and no-one really wants that. It’s bad enough the scrum half waving their arms around all the time, rather than getting the ball out.

It’s a shame that the red nullified the contest. Ireland looked rattled and kindly old Jonny Sexton was losing his rag long before Jamie George squashed him flat.

Ok boomer.

Ok boomer

Tee hee, have a like.

It’s difficult because a red card early on is often a game losing moment – but if the sport doesn’t adapt to minimise the brain injury risk then it will end. Need to be careful we don’t macho our game out of existence

Yup I accept that there will be reds like yesterday, I feel that maybe the repeated collisions of jackal and ball carrier dipping maybe more problematic. If the lower tackle height they are going to have to make ball carrier not dip into contact

If the lower tackle height they are going to have to make ball carrier not dip into contact

Yeah, at the moment the responsibility for the nature of the collision falls entirely on the tackler, if you are going to penalise even inadvertent bad contact based on the positioning of the defender, at some point you’ll have to look at how the attacker enters contact and pass some of that responsibility on. The end goal is simply to reduce the number of head vs hard bit collisions.

It will feel even more harsh when you’re carding someone as they’re getting a concussion test!

to me the answer is we need to revise the whole card system.  Perhaps have 3 levels.  Deliberate action – red card.  You team plays the rest of the game with 1`4 men.  Accident / careless ( like Stewards) orange card – off for 20 mins then a replacement comes on.  Yellow card as now

In Gaelic Football they have a black card whereby the player is replaced – you’ll still 15.

I’ve watched that several times. If Steward had gone lower it would have been a much more serious head to head. What choice did he have?

Not to jump / turn into him then it would have been passive thus a yellow or even no foul as the Keenan would have run into him or put his hands out then its an attempt at a legal tackle – yellow at worst.

the two actions jumping and turning into him and tucking his hands down by his sides make it the red card once the head is hit