Mafileo Kefu yellow carded for solid hit against Castres
This has been a year of both on and off the field misdemeanour's and subsequent suspensions. The offences have tarnished the image of the game slightly, with the strains of professionalism perhaps finally taking it's toll.
We won't list all that's happened, as you've been part of it right here on RD, so are fully aware of the good, the bad, and the downright ugly.
It's with that in mind though, that it brings up the question of suspensions and severity of refereeing decisions. As the image of the game might have taken a step back, it feels as though the men in charge are doing everything they can to clean it up.
That means extra pressure on the men who control the on-field goings on - the referees. What this all means, is that at times the refs are going to get it wrong, incensing both players and fans alike.
When Toulon played Castres last weekend, Mafileo Kefu was yellow card for this hit which was deemed to be a high shoulder charge. On first glance, combined with the reaction from the crowd and commentators, it seems like a pretty dirty hit.
Watch it again though, and you'll see that the man he tackled, Yoann Audrin, was leaning down into the tackle which made it seem high and clumsy. Kefu also actually managed to wrap both arms all the way around him.
Shoulder contact was probably made with Audrins face, but taking all into account, perhaps the ref and assistant overreacted with the yellow card.
On the other hand, I'm sure everyone will agree that we'd rather have officials that are overly strict rather than carelessly lenient.
Feel free to give your thoughts on this hit as you might disagree with our view. I've no doubt opinions will vary. Remember though, please keep things clean and respectful.
Time: 01:59
We won't list all that's happened, as you've been part of it right here on RD, so are fully aware of the good, the bad, and the downright ugly.
It's with that in mind though, that it brings up the question of suspensions and severity of refereeing decisions. As the image of the game might have taken a step back, it feels as though the men in charge are doing everything they can to clean it up.
That means extra pressure on the men who control the on-field goings on - the referees. What this all means, is that at times the refs are going to get it wrong, incensing both players and fans alike.
When Toulon played Castres last weekend, Mafileo Kefu was yellow card for this hit which was deemed to be a high shoulder charge. On first glance, combined with the reaction from the crowd and commentators, it seems like a pretty dirty hit.
Watch it again though, and you'll see that the man he tackled, Yoann Audrin, was leaning down into the tackle which made it seem high and clumsy. Kefu also actually managed to wrap both arms all the way around him.
Shoulder contact was probably made with Audrins face, but taking all into account, perhaps the ref and assistant overreacted with the yellow card.
On the other hand, I'm sure everyone will agree that we'd rather have officials that are overly strict rather than carelessly lenient.
Feel free to give your thoughts on this hit as you might disagree with our view. I've no doubt opinions will vary. Remember though, please keep things clean and respectful.
Time: 01:59
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43 Comments:
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!! that noice by the commentators! priceless! i gotta get that as ringtone :D
By opfazonk, at October 09, 2009 5:34 pm
It wasn't a high tackle and it wasn't a bodycheck... (?)
By Titus Klumper, at October 09, 2009 5:54 pm
@Anonymous: Sorry? I don't get it.
...
Gotta love these French speakers oooouuuuuuuuhhhhhh
...
For me that's a clear yellow.
By Threma, at October 09, 2009 6:02 pm
I forgot: YYYYYYYEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!
Rugby made it to the olympics today.
By Threma, at October 09, 2009 6:03 pm
yellow? whats that for then?
By Anonymous, at October 09, 2009 6:03 pm
There's no way that deserves a yellow. At the very most a penalty if there had been a lot of high tackles throughout the match, but it appears to be completely accidental, with the player ducking into the tackle.
By Unknown, at October 09, 2009 6:05 pm
BS call...the ref should make fair calls and not use the crowds reaction to determine..2016 Rugby in Olyimpica!!! yea baby!@!
By Anonymous, at October 09, 2009 6:09 pm
Well for once rugbydump didn't show everything as Kefu had already done a(or will do another) high tackle during the game.
Again I tend to find that France is a bit more strict when it comes to those kind of tackles and yes Rodolphe Pires's reaction is funny...
By jay, at October 09, 2009 6:14 pm
nothing wrong with that. there both centres so theyre around the same height weight etc. kefu stood his ground to defend the other guy tried to give him the slip. he ducked right into kefus shoulder. use the video ref for suspected dirty play.
By Unknown, at October 09, 2009 6:17 pm
It wasn't a high tackle His shoulder caught the other player around chest level or just above it. And the tackler also made an attempt to wrap his arms around the 12. What was going through the Touch judge and Referees mind!?!
By Anonymous, at October 09, 2009 6:19 pm
WUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!
By Anonymous, at October 09, 2009 6:21 pm
very harsh yellow but the ref doesnt have replays and can see where he was coming from
commentators reaction is a classic
By Anonymous, at October 09, 2009 6:22 pm
When the French referee explains the yellow card to the captain, he says Kefu tried to hit the player with his shoulder and not actually tackle him. Also he says it's the second time which is,I think, the real explanation for the card.
By Threma, at October 09, 2009 6:22 pm
horrible call. nothing wrong with that tackle. Maybe we should all put on tutus and start taking dancing lessons.
By Anonymous, at October 09, 2009 6:40 pm
^ I agree.
By PDV, at October 09, 2009 6:41 pm
fair tackle. ref over reacted.
yay rugby in olympics finally.
By Ben, at October 09, 2009 7:08 pm
Rugby sevens is in the olympics !!!!!!!!!!!!!! yeahhhhh !!!! great day for rugby !!
otherwise, the hit seems dangerous because 12white is leaning backwards
if the hit had been outside the 22 and with 12white standing straight it would only have been a penalty.
By luxi, at October 09, 2009 7:48 pm
Not a yellow!!
By Caduceus, at October 09, 2009 8:07 pm
Agree with the general consensus - not a yellow, but having refereed sports matches before (football) I can sympathise with the ref.
By Phil, at October 09, 2009 8:09 pm
Bit harsh!
Remember in the words of a wise man "rugby is a contact sport. And so is dancing."
By Anonymous, at October 09, 2009 8:18 pm
did the commentater just whitey or something
By pete, at October 09, 2009 8:45 pm
who won?
By Unknown, at October 09, 2009 8:52 pm
Why is it that when a ref makes a call people consider too strict, references to girlish activities always come up? From the refs angle, he thought it was a high tackle, so he gave a yellow. That doesn't make rugby any less tough. Stop with all the macho nonsense and go back to playing/watching.
By istya, at October 09, 2009 9:27 pm
silly silly stuff really, straight red, could of split his face open with his padded knifes on his shoulders, im amazed thst guy is still here today. these stupid french refs are crap, he could of poked his willy though the guys ear, did u see it hangin out the bottom of his mini shorts.
By Chuck Norris Killed 2 Stones with one Bird, at October 09, 2009 10:14 pm
Chuck norris - sort yourself out mate, and don't post redicious comments again. Red? pfff.
The tackle was fine as a one off tackle, but if JAY was right and he had been doing it before in the match, yellow seems fair.
By Promethean, at October 10, 2009 12:38 am
It was a solid attempt to wrap so it wasn't "illegal" but it was pretty close lol. I see where they would card him. Sick hit though :)
By Toners, at October 10, 2009 5:12 am
There was absolutely nothing wrong with this at all. It shouldn't even have been a penalty. It was in fact a very good tackle.
This is supposed to be a part of the game.
I have noticed in the T14 in particular they are very quick to reach for cards for nothing incidents. They seem to assume that any powerful tackle must be in some way illegal.
By Rocky for President, at October 10, 2009 5:42 am
Rodolphe Pires comments are awesome, i really love him when he comments Rugby League.
See that, it's Rodolphe Pires again:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mF2l1L5tEM
RD it's possible to see the Haskell's tackle on samoan prop Census Johnston in Stade Toulousain vs Stade Francais, the link is in the forum 'Request'.
By Anonymous, at October 10, 2009 9:42 am
No way was that a yellow,. Tana Umanga made a similar tackle few years ago and was hailed as an awesome tackle. guy ducked and the tackle rode up from below the shouldder where initial contact was made.
Unlucky Kefu.
By Anonymous, at October 10, 2009 11:39 am
Again had you seen the whole game... that's two more or less dangerous tackles within 5 minutes... from Kefu..; who btw has played for Australia so even though his origin is Maori, the guy is used to international rules (he's not even famous for being a hard tackler...)
By jay, at October 10, 2009 12:08 pm
That wasn't an illegal tackle though, so it doesn't matter if he made an illegal tackle earlier, because he did nothing wrong with this hit.
It was actually a very good tackle. It almost seems like the French don't know what a good hit looks like.
By Bill, at October 10, 2009 1:04 pm
"It almost seems like the French don't know what a good hit looks like."
Cut the crap already will you? The ref made a slight mistake, Kefu made a slightly dangerous tackle, thess things happen, particularly in a very tough league as is T14
Nobody cares about your anti-french assumptions
By Oli, at October 10, 2009 1:46 pm
Well i have to agree i saw nothing wrong with that.... it looked like a solid hit and an unfair yellow....
Its hard to say, i agree with RD comment on we'd rather have overly strict than carelessly lenient refs but this tackle seemed quite legitimate....sort of a ball and all....
Anyway, unfortunate yellow, but the referee might have seen it at a bad angle so who knows....
good video
By No.7, at October 10, 2009 6:05 pm
was high in my view, just a penalty
By Cheis, at October 10, 2009 6:46 pm
seemed cool to me people and for those of you that are reading this check out a video of tongan Nili Latu putting a hit on a guy from Japan and its a hit very similar (in my mind) to this hit here and all that happened was the they took a couple minutes to make sure that the dude could still play
By Anonymous, at October 10, 2009 7:54 pm
Latu's hit was against England, Moody gets destruct :D, the ref says penalty for England for high tackle.
In Castres - Toulon that was not the first hight tackle in the match by Kefu.
By Anonymous, at October 10, 2009 8:26 pm
I think if I was the ref, I would have seen that as high or flagrant, but here on the web - watching the video - we have the benefit of seeing it 3x at different angles.
Translations:
The commentators said it was a penalty and perhaps a yellow, explaining the tackler engaged the ball-carrier with his shoulder. After the card was issued, he seems to think something was a bit too harsh - I'm just not sure if he meant the tackle or the card.
The ref said that he saw a shoulder tackle previously, and that this second one would earn Kefu a yellow.
By Crosser, at October 10, 2009 10:40 pm
Fair play, only ten minutes, a red would of been over the top. It has a dangerously near high tackle to begin with (just catching the very tip of his shoulders) so yeah. He should of been tackling low anyway, no reason to go high.
In the 22 -tackle the legs, try and pilfer the ball-, -outside the 22 wrap the ball up with your hands and try to steal it by holding them up-
By Lynne, at October 11, 2009 3:21 am
Players are taught to tackle chest to chest, for a number of reasons.
Probably the main thing is that you need to stop the opposition player offloading the ball. If you go round the legs or hips every tackle, you will simply allow the opposition player to offload the ball. That's why you try to wrap up the ball, something you can only do chest to chest.
Another thing is that players are trying to put on the biggest hit possible, to stop the guy in his tracks, put him off his game, and just generally bash him (sorry but yes, smashing other people is definitely part of the game).
And also, if you always go round the hips and lift, you end up dumping players on their heads, and it can actually be alot more dangerous.
And this was a good tackle, shouldn't have been even a penalty. Wasn't high, got him on the chest, arms wrapped around (which is a silly rule anyway).
By Tommo, at October 11, 2009 4:58 am
great hit, pitty the ref is a fool.
By Anonymous, at October 11, 2009 9:07 am
Fair tackle, unlucky call! At 6'6" I have been in that situation several times. A guy ducks into a tackle at the last second...
I always try to hit as low as possible now. My poor, pretty face!
By BigScottyJ, at October 11, 2009 5:07 pm
no way a yellow, he hits his shoulder/chest region first and wraps up. its more of a forearm to the face.
By Anonymous, at October 12, 2009 5:53 pm
I thought the initial contact was borderline but probably legal then slid up. You can see why the ref gave the yellow as it looked bad.
By Andy, at October 14, 2009 11:40 am
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