The slippery slope of the Hunter Paisami ban

I can't help but draw parallels with the Andre Esterhuizen ban against Portugal. Executing a perfectly legal, dominant tackle, full wrap below the shoulders, but heads meet and suddenly you're out of here for 4 weeks.

What situation was Paisami facing? "Australia in trouble here" goes the commentator with the Boks having a clear overlap and numbers outside. Paisami does the logical, instinctive thing - he tries to wrap Sacha man and ball to prevent the pass from going. His wrap is below the shoulders, in all events a legal tackle, nothing malicious in it. But there's a contact of heads as Sacha goes into a lower posture.

This, apparently, warrants a 4 week ban in rugby.

Now, the undiscerning rugby supporter will say "oh, just tackle lower", as one dude on FB opined in response to Steve Hansen's very pointed comments about these contacts and their cards.

But it's not that simple when you also want to prevent the offload, as Hunter was trying to do. Rugby is now expecting defenders to just hand the offload advantage to the attacking side because going for the man and ball wrap exposes you to the risk of head contact.

It's silliness, completely out of whack with the nature of the game and carding it does nothing - as Hansen says in his comments, it's already happened, so what does the card help? Players will always look to stop the ball in certain situations, especially when the defense is under pressure. Card it to death if you want, you won't change the nature of the game or the purpose and importance of dominant contact, which is an integral part of the game.

In the heat of the moment you act on instinct and reflex - there's an overlap outside you, you try to stop the ball from going, that's why we see so many slapdowns despite it also being a card offense. It's a square peg/round hole situation.

Card deliberate foul play, leave the incidental contacts. The latter is a risk every player has to accept when they choose to play a fast paced contact sport. There was no malice in this tackle, no attempt to hurt the player, just an attempt to stop the pass from going.

I am in full agreement with Hansen on this. How is this helping the game? It needs an urgent rethink.

Look, I hate card, it spoils the game, but I also think there has been a level of malice been brought in the game.

I remember David Campese moaning about being tackled so hard during a club game and that rugby is no longer about skill the moment it became professional. I thought, that is just Campo crying over not being able to man up.

I also recall my friend telling me how he was with some journey man called Jan Harm Van Wyk in Newlands and the SA sport science institute and how they would practice how to hit the player legally with a swinging arm disguised as a wrap around the players shoulders.

I also recalling Rene Ranger just dropping the shoulder into his opposite numbers back, marginally legally, but the player had no protection.

There is a difference between tackling a player fairly and trying to hurt the player. I think in modern rugby as in Rassies own words. 'Let's fuck them up' mentality.

When a player is loaded like that, to hurt the player, it no longer becomes about rugby about thuggery.

Who could forget those rugby days when player would go mountaineering on players heads and faces, then it moved to the body and on their back that you could tap dance, or the scrummy that would put his feet on a players hands or in ankles around the ruck.

I think rugby is better for it.

So hear is my take, head on head, I don't think a defending player intent to hurt himself unless you are Bakkies Botha and charge with your head in.

But I also think a fake tackle to pretend you are trying to wrap and then make contact to the the head is not acceptable. But it is hard to judge because you want to hit the player on the ball. However, more skilful players like Sasha will always be able to get the ball away 9/10 times.

I also hate it when a lock like look has one knee on the ground and he is still to high.

So there is a question, does a tackler always have to hit the player that hard or should it just be about grabbing the player and bringing them to ground.

In NFL you can only make front on tackles with both hands in front, the practice this day in day out when the line up for the hike.

But I think the Aus player should get a ban as there was no reason for such a tackle and he could have avoided it.

It is different when it is ding dong tackle where both heads collide.

Rather than picking over bones, just remove both players from the field for an HIA check