Robin Brooke: Rules help teams who push laws to the limit

COMMENT

I was stunned when I heard Scotland flanker Martin Leslie had been banned for 12 weeks by a World Cup judicial committee.

The decision was completely over the top and after watching the incident against the United States, I reckon Leslie probably could consider himself unlucky to have even been suspended at all.

And before anyone jumps up and down, let me explain.

For my money, Rupeni Caucaunibuca's elbowing against France was far worse. He got a two-week ban.

Then look at England forward Lawrence Dallaglio and Irishman Paul O'Connell. They got away with punching a South African opponent on the ground and trampling over a Namibian player at a maul - without even a murmur from the judiciary.

That is some inconsistency.

If you read that someone has been cited for a knee to the head, the tendency is to assume it was a brutal act of thuggery. In that case the immediate reaction might be, 12 weeks. No problem.

But once you see the video evidence you need to think again.

A judicial panel should take into account the degree of force and also whether the incident was deliberate or accidental.

No two incidents are the same and I think it is extremely difficult to operate by a tight set of guidelines, as the World Cup officials are obliged to do.

The worst thing you can do on a rugby field is attack the head of an opponent. When two opponents square off and swap a punch or two it isn't pretty, but a basic instinct takes over and it's rare that any serious damage is done.

But if a player is lying on the ground and gets a kicking, that's entirely different.

I got into one or two scrapes in my career but toughening up regulations about the rougher side of the game is a positive move - with one big minus.

The teams who now benefit are the clever ones - those who can get away with cunning tactics and know that opponents will be reluctant to hand out any retribution for fear of being cited.

For example, a few years ago you wouldn't lie across the ball on the wrong side of the ruck. You would be moved pronto and forcefully.

Now, with rucking very much out of favour with the International Rugby Board, the way is clear for teams to infringe with impunity, unless spotted by the referee.

It is now a game where you can totally infuriate and frustrate your opponents and get away with it. The rules help teams who push the laws to the very limit - such as England.

As the big scorelines have been rattled up in the first fortnight of the World Cup, some have called for the number of teams to be trimmed from 20 to 16. They say it should be done to raise the overall standard of the cup.

Rubbish. If it was up to me I'd increase the cup to take in 24 teams and develop a plate and bowl competition, similar to the international sevens circuit.

Once teams drop out of the main draw they go into a secondary competition, which would run concurrently with the cup. I'd then look at having the plate final played as a curtainraiser to the cup final.

As it is, 12 teams will be packing their bags on November 3.

It's a heck of a long time to train, prepare and qualify for the small matter of four games, which many teams know even before getting on the plane that they are not going to win.

Finally, it's Auckland for me in tonight's NPC first-division final. Setting aside a parochial view on this, I've been impressed with the way Wayne Pivac, Grant Fox and Graham Henry have pulled the team around.

They have performed like two teams - scratchy in the first half of the competition, outstanding in the second.

You can tell they're enjoying their rugby. They're young, they're getting multi-phase ball and scoring some decent tries, all done with a very good pattern.

A win tonight will give them the big three - Super 12, Ranfurly Shield and NPC title - in the year, emulating our 1996 team.

While we had a clutch of experienced All Blacks, this team deserve a big clap. Their achievements this season, considering the youth in the team, are incredible, so hats off to Messrs Pivac, Fox and Henry.

Wellington will be farewelling Christian Cullen tonight.

He is an amazing player who has done some fantastic things and is a loss to the New Zealand game.

Wellington are at home and will be desperate, but this Auckland team will be very hard to beat.


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