Paul Lewis: Playing stud is a big gamble

One of the most interesting facets of the recent week of red cards and disciplinary sentences was the hard-to-escape conclusion that rugby league deals with foul play better than rugby union and that rugby league fans are not so much in denial.

With Ruben Wiki, the Warriors viewed the tape, obviously decided there was a case to answer and made an early guilty plea.

John Hopoate's ludicrous flying forearm jolt was destined to provoke a stiff sentence and/or end his career after his other ludicrous misdemeanours - and so it proved.

But Ali Williams' six-week ban - and the lesser sentences handed out to David Gibson and Sam Tuitupou after Richie McCaw was given the skull samba as he stopped the ball from coming back into play - provoked a fine old bout of whingeing.

In the aftermath, fans and observers - even All Blacks - were heard to mention the following: McCaw wasn't hurt. It wasn't his head, more the neck. He was cheating. It wasn't intentional. Blues players had some stud marks in troublesome places as well.

Some of this was obfuscation, people trying to lessen the impact of Williams' impending sentence. Some of it was denial - McCaw wasn't hurt and continued the game so the crime was surely minimal. As for it being more neck than head, well, words fail me.

At this stage, let me put my cards on the table. I love a bit of biffo. I was brought up in a rugby era when players did not touch the ball with their hands in the ruck and, if they obstructed the ball, they were fair game for a decent clog dance. Referees would blow the whistle and penalise the bloke who got the leather-and-aluminium massage.

Occasionally, if the ref didn't put a lid on things, an exciting exchange of opinions was delivered. I'm sorry it's gone but it had to.

The game changed. In New Zealand, rugby has lost legions of kids - often white and middle-class - because mums do not want their little Jason or Jeremy coming home sporting the results of rucking or other mishaps. Apparently, a broken nose on an eight-year-old is not quite the badge of honour it used to be.

So, for this and other reasons, the game got tough on foul play. Now the action is watched by a ref, two touch judges and a video ref. Citings for actions not seen by match officials are common. Which means that if you do a cranial examination on McCaw, there's an excellent chance you will get caught and punished fairly severely.

I've never met Ali Williams but he seems to be a personable, intelligent guy, if prone to occasional over-excitement. There's no way anyone not wearing a strait-jacket could describe him as a violent player. He is to John Hopoate what Spongebob Squarepants is to Hannibal Lecter.

But - even before it was written into law - there has long been an unwritten law in rugby: not the head. Never the head. If a player was given a decent shoeing on the bottom of a ruck, it was with a clear head, so to speak. The head was sacrosanct, a place you didn't go.

That same ethic is very much alive today. That's why it doesn't matter if McCaw was uninjured. That's why it doesn't matter if it was unintentional. That's why it doesn't matter even if it was more neck than head. That's why Ali Williams has been banned. No one is saying he is a serial killer. But he rucked the head and paid the price.

Rugby fans complaining about this need to go and have a lie down and a cup of chamomile tea.

In league, fans know that theirs is a physical and emotionally-charged game and, when people commit dangerous fouls, they are dealt with severely for the good of the game. In other words, it's a man's game and you make your mistakes and take your punishment like a man.

League probably had a little bit longer to get things right. Many rugby fans may still be living in the past a bit. After all, when Richie McCaw does what he does for the Crusaders, he's a cheat. When he does it for the All Blacks, he's a national hero. Imagine the outcry if one of the Lions was to rake McCaw on the head.

What a strange bunch we are.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY