All Blacks first-five Richie Mo’unga hits out at double standards at rugby judiciary

Richie Mo'unga showing Owen Farrell a safer tackling technique. Photo / Getty

All Blacks first-five Richie Mo’unga believes England captain Owen Farrell should not escape punishment after being sent off for a dangerous tackle.

Mo’unga has slammed the decision by the Six Nations Judicial Committee to overturn fellow first-five Farrell’s red card.

The committee agreed with Farrell’s claim that his no-arms tackle, in which his shoulder smashed into the face of Wales forward Taine Basham last weekend, warranted only a yellow card.

Farrell was banned for four games earlier this season for a dangerous tackle while playing in the English Premiership for Saracens and has a history of suspensions related to his tackle technique.

World Rugby has said it will appeal against the Six Nations panel’s decision, with the appeal to be heard early next week.

As it stands, Farrell is free to play all of England’s games at the World Cup in France, which starts next month.

By contrast, former All Black George Moala, now playing for Tonga, was banned for five weeks - reduced from a starting point of 10 weeks - for a tip tackle during a recent match against Canada.

Mo’unga said the inconsistency had to stop.

“The Farrell incident, someone who has history and who has been banned earlier this year, for them to turn around and say he’s got a zero-week ban, it’s a slap in the face.”

The decisions have left Pacific Island players fuming.

Moala’s Tonga teammate Pita Ahki and former All Blacks Steven Luatua and Lima Sopoaga, who will play for Samoa at the World Cup, were among many to make their frustrations clear on social media, though all wrongly believed Moala had been banned for 10 weeks.

Player welfare advocates claimed Farrell’s initial escape set a poor example and was at odds with World Rugby’s push to decrease the amount of head injuries in the game.

The long-term effects of concussion have been a contentious issue in recent years with former All Blacks prop Carl Hayman one of nearly 400 former rugby, league and football players taking legal action against sports governing bodies over claims that they suffered brain injuries during their careers.

Mo’unga is also incensed by the initial glaring differences between Moala and Farrell’s punishments and said the decisions had angered many of his All Blacks teammates.

“There are boys in this [All Blacks] camp who feel for him [Moala] deeply and a lot of Pacific Island boys in the camp who are pretty gutted about that scenario and the way it’s unfolded.

“It seems there’s a double standard going on, especially with the tier two teams and the Pacific Island nations around how they get judged or how they get treated.

“You look at someone like Farrell – and I’m not having a go at him personally, he’s a good man and I adore his skillset and the way he plays footy – but the different way that he and Moala have been judged is shocking.”

Mo’unga fears the inconsistencies could affect his and the All Blacks’ World Cup campaign.

“It makes me more frightened for things in the future around this sort of stuff and how two teams or players can be treated so differently.

“If I was to do a shoulder tackle I honestly don’t know what would happen because the punishments or judgments are so inconsistent.”

- RNZ