Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: Lote Tuqiri tackle on Jean De Villiers in Perth

Monday, July 21, 2008

Lote Tuqiri tackle on Jean De Villiers in Perth

As South Africa struggled to create an attacking opportunity that would bring them back into the match against Australia on the weekend, Lote Tuqiri made sure that he was going to do what he could to halt their progress.

Tuqiri came in off his wing and timed the tackle perfectly, hitting Springbok center Jean De Villiers hard, causing the ball to be spilt and the turnover to the Aussies.

It was yet another moment of frustration on the night for the men in green, and meant that once again they'd turned over ball, losing possession when it was so vital to hang on to it late in the game, with the scoring of a try m

Tuqiri, who was injured against France a few weeks back, had a stormer of a game, getting on the scoresheet and showing one or two glimpses of what makes him one of the most potent forces in world rugby with ball in hand.

This hit, while not the biggest we've ever seen, was probably more significant for the manner in which it broke down the Springbok attack. That said, it was still a great example of perfect timing and technique.

great tackle! technically perfect!

By Anonymous, at July 21, 2008 3:13 pm
Nice tackle for sure and yet I think this is a very interesting example : Had Devilliers been unable to keep the 2nd leg on the ground, this might have been a highly dangerous spear tackle...looking from the way Tuqiri is raising his back...
In any case I thought this tackle along with one from Smith (not very impressive visually, but the guy loses the ball straight away) were a good symbol for the game.

By jay, at July 21, 2008 4:29 pm
gr8 hit perfect timeinng

By Anonymous, at July 21, 2008 5:14 pm
great tackle and thats from a springbok fan, 105 kgs stopped dead.

id like to see beasts little break out run if possible:)

give us bokke something to smile about

By Anonymous, at July 21, 2008 6:42 pm
Nice hit. Flew in at him, and you could hear the impact too.

Jay, I think because of the way Tuqiri drove him down, it wouldn't have been a spear in any case. The technique was pretty good, and his momentum drove through the player, rather than just standing and tossing him.

Ironic thing about the 'dangerous tackle' or 'spear' ruling is that if you drive the player into the ground (hurting him more), it's legal. :)

By Anonymous, at July 21, 2008 7:44 pm
if you look towards the end on slow mo it looks like lote is grabing a feel if you know what i mean.. puts all those suspitions to rest about the aussies.
ben

By Anonymous, at July 21, 2008 10:29 pm
BRILLIANT!

By Don, at July 22, 2008 2:08 am
Might be true shaft for the tackle (didn't happen so we'll never know ^^)
On another note, a brilliant play from BOTHA... :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJBKpcM9l7M

Now again, people here have a tendency to point out french players for their roughness... as far as I know the guy should get suspended as the only goal here is to injure someone, in which he succeeded, just my 2 cents.

By jay, at July 22, 2008 11:53 am
SMASHED

By Anonymous, at July 22, 2008 12:57 pm
Totally disagree on that one Jay. You've never driven into a ruck/tackle situation with your shoulder?

Unfortunate that Stirling got knocked out, but
A: It may have happened before that, we can't say for sure
B: Commentators have an amazing knack of influencing the viewers view on things.

Anyway, it's a contact sport so of course he's going to go in hard, but to say that he perfectly aimed his shoulder at Mortlock's head, trying to knock him out, is pretty extreme IMO.

Unfortunate and unlucky I think. My two cents. :)

By Anonymous, at July 22, 2008 2:23 pm
Yes I have, but never aiming just at a face and coming from the side (then again the ruck has not yet been formed or is about to).
The only point I'm saying is that it has nothing to do with the ball and yes I do think Botha is one big bully who has been lucky through his life for not getting more suspensions, unlike Betsen who even got suspended for things that weren't done on purpose (RWC 2003) !!
Commentators were french when I watched the game... ;P

Finally yes Botha has had a tremendous career but unlike Mattfield, whom I think is here to play ball, a lots of his actions have nothing to do with the actual game.

By jay, at July 23, 2008 10:35 am
Yeah Bakkies is totally there as the enforcer. Every team needs to have one. He intimidates, pushes the line, and gets away with what he can. It's the physical presence that can go a long way to getting an advantage over the opposition.

Besides the dirty stuff, he's also a great player who has excellent hands and is more mobile than most. Unfortunately all the off the ball stuff overshadows that a lot of the time.

He plays hard, and because of the way he plays, I don't think it's fair to say this was deliberate or even a cheapshot. I'd understand Mortlock fans being a bit aggrieved by it though naturally.

By Anonymous, at July 23, 2008 12:03 pm
Agreed ^^
As for Mortlock I like the guy, maybe cause symbolically as well as on the field he represents a lot for Australia, but being french and all, I can't say I'm a fan... ;) (Smith is da man as far as I'm concerned)

By jay, at July 23, 2008 12:16 pm
I personally think Mortlock is superb. I'm a bok fan, but have a huge amount of respect for that bald b*stard. He's so strong with ball in hand. Look how he scored that try vs SA. So powerful, he made it look easy. Great player.

He'll be missing the big game against NZ cos of his sore head though unfortunately.

By Anonymous, at July 23, 2008 12:52 pm