Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: Matt Banahan harshly carded for hit on Mirco Bergamasco

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Matt Banahan harshly carded for hit on Mirco Bergamasco

Wing Matt Banahan received his marching orders from referee George Clancy during Bath’s meeting with Stade Francais in their tense Heineken Cup meeting at the Rec on the weekend. Stade snuck home with the win late in the match, 29-27.

We’ve featured a few clips lately that have brought up the question of refereeing consistency and leniency. On the Henry Tuilagi video, where we see him absolutely demolish Ben Foden, the referee let the tackle go with out as much as a talking to.

Here though, we see that if a team has been spoken to, the referee gets wound up by repeat offences, and there’s pressure from the opposing team, a refs judgement can easily come into question unfortunately.

The first bit in the clip shows Julien Arias receiving a high tackle, and then a shoulder in the ribs from Shontayne Hape. Arias went off injured, with Bath being penalised and spoken to by Irish referee Clancy.

A little over a minute later, 6ft7 Banahan made a great hit on Mirco Bergamasco. Stade Francais appealed feverishly, from both on the field and the bench. Clancy’s first reaction was to yellow card the giant winger.

Bath coach Steve Meehan questioned the decision, saying that for a yellow card and a penalty to come from it is extraordinary.

"It was a terrific, legal tackle. Where does that come from? He didn't deserve 10 minutes in the bin," he said.

Banahan, still only 22, wants to take his chances to prove that he deserves a regular spot in the England team.

"This is a massive season for me. It's always tough to follow up a really good season with an even better one. But that's what I want to do. I want to improve and show I deserve to be picked by England,” said Banahan.

If he keeps putting in great hits like this, improving his all round game, and charging hard at defences, as we saw on the weekend, he’ll become a top class winger in no time.

Do you think this a great hit by Banahan, or was the referee correct to yellow card him?

Time: 02:55

Looks like his arm was loose, didn't attempt to maintain any sort of hold. Good hit in my opinion.

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2009 7:13 pm
I think it was a good hit. That Bath 12 should have been carded for the shoulder charge. Banahan did nothing wrong. Bergamasco even looks up to see if the card came out. Ridiculous

By Unknown, at October 21, 2009 7:20 pm
just a case of a big guy smashing a smaller guy. good hit. looked worse cos hes 6'7

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2009 7:20 pm
Looks to me that the "tackle" made on the player passing to Bergamaso was worse: there was no attempt with the arms. Banahan appeared to use his arms more. Bad decision by ref but then again he only sees it once.

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2009 7:22 pm
another bad decision by a ref. Its difficult to tackle much smaller people. I know.

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2009 7:32 pm
pathetic decision if players cant put in hits like that then what is legal! i wonder if this ref has every played rugby before.

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2009 7:40 pm
That's a completely legal tackle !!! Very poor decision made by the ref, I hope those kind of decisions won't be made again or else rugby will...

By Toulouse16, at October 21, 2009 7:56 pm
Mirco Bergamasco looks like a soccer player. The tackle was great.

By Elgato22, at October 21, 2009 8:10 pm
Like night follows day, with the advent of cards, players sre milking it like footballers ahve been for years.

Players throw up their arms and scream at the ref to get somoen carded. Stade should be embarassed.

Rugby is getting so soft like wendy ball it's pathetic!

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2009 8:10 pm
great hit.

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2009 8:11 pm
Great tackle. Nothing wrong with it. Poor decision by the ref.

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2009 8:13 pm
Good hit! Looks like it was a big hit at high speed. I think that Bergamasco milked every single moment of that. It also didnt help with the ref shouting ITS YELLOW ITS YELLOW! I think the previous tackling attempt by 12 deserved the yellow.

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2009 8:19 pm
pink jerseys are finally starting to have an effect on paris players...
Banahans tackle was great, and the one on arias is just a simple penalty

By eric, at October 21, 2009 8:30 pm
cant belive he got a card for that!!! it was a great hit he cant hold him in the tackel as he hit the deck so fast.

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2009 8:52 pm
God i hate stuart barnes.

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2009 8:55 pm
Maybe it was a bit high, but it was about as low as Banahan could get. number 12 should have been yellow carded. Stuart Barnes probably thought he ought to punish someone after some illegal hits were made, and it fell on Banahan. Wrong decision.

By piaruskov, at October 21, 2009 9:07 pm
As an Italian I must say... great hit!!!!
Absolutely correct tackle IMO

By madflyhalf, at October 21, 2009 9:13 pm
shantane hape (perfectly legal in rugby league) is the 12 should have had a penalty against him matt banannas hit was close to perfection as you will ever see crazy ref even crazey muppets in pink shouting yellow card they should have all had 10 mins instead if you want to do that f off and play football instead muppets

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2009 9:17 pm
soon they'll outlaw tackling altogether

like one commenter has already said that inconspicuous look from bergamasco at 1:17 just sums it up
starting to creep in a little too much for my liking

none of that in rugby, please

By Fréderick, at October 21, 2009 9:25 pm
We should all wear tutus and put on a dancing show. That is what it is coming to fellas.

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2009 9:31 pm
Rugby is a collective sport. If your teammates made shoulder charges and late tackles before, don't be surprised if the ref is suddenly hard with you to stop the party. Banahan just paid for the previous actions.

By Pitseleh, at October 21, 2009 9:54 pm
It was the second high tackle in 5 minuts, that's why he had a yellow card

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2009 9:57 pm
^ true, but what this shows, imo, is the respect and influence that top players have ie: Sergio Parisse mouthing off to the ref about it.

No disrespect to him (george clancy), but in that instance, he looks totally intimidated and as if he lost the plot totally. Bad call. He didnt even chat to his touchjudge. Clearly he was worked up from the previous tackles, which is poor reffing.

By Shaft, at October 21, 2009 9:57 pm
My 'true' was for Pitseleh btw, not Anonymous.

It wasnt even a high tackle though!? lol

By Shaft, at October 21, 2009 9:58 pm
Not dangerious? God the crap barnes comes out with, it was just below his neck! The tackle before by the 12 (Hape?) was pretty bad as well.

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2009 10:44 pm
I thought the Hape one was ok, I understand the you need to wrap your arms, but come o you lead with the shoulder.

Banahan's was awesome, good body position rising into the tackle. If your 6'7 and best part of 100kg, people are going to hit deck when you put in a hard tackle.

Why the hell is Stuart Barnes employed as a commentator. Such a consistant stance on talking for the point of making stupid noises.

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2009 10:55 pm
I have always hated Bergamasco. Nothing better than watching him get completely smashed.

By T, at October 21, 2009 11:02 pm
I hope referees look back on the game and feel embarassed about some of the decisions they make.

By The Inside Shoulder, at October 21, 2009 11:04 pm
fair enough

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2009 11:27 pm
Piaruskov, it doesn't matter if you are tall or not, the hit still has to be below the shoulders...

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2009 11:52 pm
didnt deserve a card

By Chris, syd Aust, at October 22, 2009 12:09 am
The number 12 from Bath should have been carded an cited for his shoulder charges but Banahan's tackle is "just" a bit high but he doesn't deserve a yellow card, also Bergamasco is acting like a football player and this is very very very poor

By Anonymous, at October 22, 2009 12:17 am
With the replay, it's very to say "good tackle" but at real speed it's very difficult. It's a big impact and the ref has 2 seconds to take a decision

Sorry for my english, i'm french

By CED82, at October 22, 2009 12:20 am
Hang on a second here lads,

Look at it from a refs perspective-

Warning within 5 mins of tackle

One player half- charges a player

Then the second man hits high-ish.

You look at that clip and stop it before the slow motion replays and its a definate yellow card. The ref doesnt have the benifit of sky hd high motion.

Clancy had to bin banahan at this stage- letting it go would result in a fight/ retaillation within 5 minutes guaranteed. After the warnings i think this was correct

By JMS, at October 22, 2009 12:39 am
Looks like European rugby is becoming more like soccer. Soon they will be wearing headbands.

By Anonymous, at October 22, 2009 12:48 am
JMS.........regardless of prior dangerous tackles and the warning, you cannot simply toss out a sympathy yellow mate, the incident has to warrant it! And that was a clean tackle and with no malicious intent. The benifit of the doubt goes to the TACKLER (read the Laws), not the tacklee especially when you got a big guy going on a smaller chap. I know, I am a 5'6" 180 lb. hooker, I get hit up top ALOT

By JimmyEugRug31, at October 22, 2009 12:52 am
See this is why i didnt like tuilagi's tackle....this is very unfortunate because in my opinion banahan's tackle was much better and he didnt deserve the card but here we have it where one referee takes it one way and another the other....tuilagi could have easily been off, and banahan could have got a pat on the back!

anyway nice tackle....the hit to the ribs earlier in the video was nasty....not bad if you get away with it!

By No.7, at October 22, 2009 1:04 am
You only see this card obsession up north, and only really in cup competitions.
This is a good tackle, well executed, shoulder into the ribs, just like every rugby player gets taught.
This obsession with carding every good hit is a reald anger to the game, imo.
These refs are sanitising the game, and it's a very very bad thing.

By Bill, at October 22, 2009 1:06 am
No 7 the irony of you defending benahan but condeming Tuilagi is palpable.
That's ridiculous, if anything Banahan makes less of an effort to get his arsm around.
You're English aren't you?
You guys are ridiculously one eyed.

By Tommo, at October 22, 2009 1:11 am
Ha lol to Tommo's totally out-of-place and ridiculous comment; totally acceptable hit. Yea lets make this a pussy sport, brilliant. Fantastic! Anyway, COME ON EDINBURGH!!!!!!!!

By Alexander, at October 22, 2009 1:36 am
Firstly to all those who didn't watch the game, there were some pretty illegal hits prior to this one. Bath were on a warning as most of the offences were theirs. Secondly from the refs position both hits occured within a second and he may have been blind sided to Banahan's hit from where he was. Hape's was the one that should've been called, but Parisse didn't go down and Bergamasco milked it. Overall, Clancy had a good game, and actually does assert himself more than most. The NZ France game from June shows, even the NZ commentators had good things to say about him.

Also, some people think that because there are big screens at matches refs should use them. They are not allowed and have to make first hand judgements on events when they occur, obviously excluding tries. Next game you watch where Video ref is used, watch the ref, he purposely doesn't look at replays on the screens.

By Huh!! the 3rd, at October 22, 2009 1:48 am
Alexander, it's not out of place at all.
I don't think this tackle was ilegal, or Tuialagis, I think they are both fine.
I jsut find it stupid, that when an English player does it, all the poms leap to his defence, but if an Islander does it, he's clearly a thug and a detriment to the game.
They're both good hits, I wish there weren't even yellow cards in the game, like the old days, when a head high was just a penalty. Everything worked out fine then.

By Tommo, at October 22, 2009 1:57 am
Is no one saying anything about it being HIGH?

He hit him on the chin basically, definitely above his shoulder level.

By Anonymous, at October 22, 2009 2:05 am
Not really a card, or even a penalty unless for a high hit. Banahan has a problem getting low enough on small guys.

By Ref, at October 22, 2009 2:39 am
In a situation like this the player should be publicly exonerated (sp?)

As others have said the ref has made a mistake that is understandable and inevitable without the use of replays. Why is it so hard, then, to say after the game 'having seen that tackle, i made a mistake'

Yes it will make media noise but not as much as reffing and disciplinary incompetence is of late. We would all be much more accepting of mistakes if they were admitted and looked at

By pigdem, at October 22, 2009 2:59 am
All this talk on what constitutes a tackle and what doesn't is extremely bad for a contact sport. I mean Haskell on Johnston, Tuilangi on Foden and this one.

Allow shoulder charges (and rucking) and cut all this crap out or rugby will start losing fans.

By Anonymous, at October 22, 2009 3:03 am
it seems to be a trend, refs send off big guys making hard hits on smaller guys for not wrapping just cause they knock the smaller guy back. In slo mo the hit was legal. In real time though it was a tough call, so i dont really blame the ref.

By FB#15, at October 22, 2009 3:14 am
What a bunch of shit. Awesome tackle. That ref hugely overreacted...What's this game coming to!?

By AKFoyD7, at October 22, 2009 3:22 am
Fine, nothing wrong with that. Yellow for that?? And Henry Tuilagi got nothing for the hit on Foden, crazy.

By Ross Golding, at October 22, 2009 3:24 am
Tuilagi's was fine, so was this.
You can't hold Banahan to a differnet standard because he's bloody English.
The problem is the refs, not the players.
The refs don't understand the way players tackle, or they wouldn't pull this stuff up.
Newsflash : every tackle involves smashing your shoulder into the other guy, it's not ilegal, it's how you tackle.

By Jon, at October 22, 2009 4:40 am
so many of these recently... reminds me of the tuilagi hit. rugbys a contact sport.. stop complaining everytime theres a big hit thats what we watch it for!

By Anonymous, at October 22, 2009 5:56 am
Unlike the Tuilagi hit, this was a legal tackle, as Banahan clearly tried to wrap his arms. I think this was a case of a ref having already been worked up, but there was no reason for a card here.

By istya, at October 22, 2009 7:25 am
Tuilagi made just as much of an effort.
You're just favouring Banahan because he's English.
Bloody double standards.
Both tackles were fine.

By Jon, at October 22, 2009 7:56 am
Good tackle, arm is around. No Yellow, the tackle b4 was a hit and should have been carded plus I think it was a slight 4ward pass.

By Unknown, at October 22, 2009 8:07 am
Question, when he's on the floor and he gives a quick look up to see if Banahan has been sent off, he gets treated with an ice pack on the head... why? This is rugby for Christ's sake.

I've been looking at getting more involved in rugby league and the only reason is because of the sport turning out like this. In league the contact is usually much larger and harder and also when watching its more entertaining with fewer penalties for tackles like this one.

Also, Bergomasco is a right piece of work, that push on his oppo after the chip, stuff like that does my head in, lucky they had the advantage for the Bath 'shoulder charge'

By Anonymous, at October 22, 2009 8:23 am
No way, what a ridiculous call. A hit at that speed and power there's no need to wrap up and bring the player down. His arms were out and it wasn't a shoulder charge, just excellent tackling technique.

Terrible ref, they should institute an international review panel and maybe refs will stop being so big headed and we'll weed out the ones who piss themselves whenever an 'infringement' has occurred.

By Frank, at October 22, 2009 8:24 am
You see if they got rid of the wrapping rule full stop rugby wouldn't have these problems.

You never see League players milking anything, because they know they won't get shit for it.

In Union unless the tackler gets up close and literally hugs you, you can milk a penalty these days.

It's getting too soft.

By Anonymous, at October 22, 2009 9:19 am
Banahan got sin binned because of the 12s pathetic attempt at a tackle just before. It was more like Rugby League and nobody wants that.

Good tackle by Banahan, arm is around and went with Mirco too in the contact. As for people calling Mirco soft, I think most people would be rolling around in pain if they'd been smashed in their exposed ribs by a 6ft 7 monster.

By anonymous no6, at October 22, 2009 9:50 am
great hit! nothing wrong with that. If anything, Shontayne Hape should have been carded for a rugby league shoulder charge.

By Anonymous, at October 22, 2009 10:39 am
Hape's hit might technically have been called a shoulder charge, though I'm fine with it.
After all, every tackle is about using your shoulder to knock the other player over.
Shoulders should be legal.
They've been legal in league for decades and there haven't been any life-threatening injuries.
You've got just as much chance getting hurt in a normal tackle, cuz there's not much difference between them.

By Bill, at October 22, 2009 11:00 am
He wrapped arms , helped the guy to the ground, as in didn't just bosch him. LEGAL! Hape's tackles however should be sorted out!

By Unknown, at October 22, 2009 11:02 am
bergamasco moves to the inside shoulder of banahan and he actually goes down cause he knows he is gonna run onto the shoulder

think the hit was ok, bergamasco should have gotten up straight away

By sebastian, at October 22, 2009 11:29 am
I was at the game and the tackle happened directly infront of me. The Stade bench screamed for the card and Bergamasco stayed down to make sure Banahan received it. After it was shown Bergamasco picked himself up and high fived some of the bench.
Clear example of gamesmanship on Bergamasco's part. Rugby is a confrontational game which should be played with honor, this sort of behaviour is shameful and has no place on a rugby field. Bergamasco should take up kissball and retire from rugby.

By Anonymous, at October 22, 2009 11:44 am
it reminded me of that butch james' hit on mortlock. nothing wrong with it

By Anonymous, at October 22, 2009 11:45 am
Good tackle, deserved nothing, any one who wears pink on a football field deserves a belting.

By redmoose, at October 22, 2009 12:09 pm
Do people not even bother with arms in tackles anymore? the penalised tackle looked bad in real-time but wasnt deserved of a card, but No.12 for blue needed to be marched to the bench for repeated shoulder charges

By Insane, at October 22, 2009 12:12 pm
Good hit and Bergamasco stayed down and made a meal of it.

By Anonymous, at October 22, 2009 12:18 pm
nothing wrong with that

By ybr, at October 22, 2009 12:59 pm
Fantastic tackle. Just looked bad becasue he's six foot something and went in harder than Bergamasco was running at him.

By Andy, at October 22, 2009 12:59 pm
he must have got winded or somthing. Nothing wrong with the hit, the tackle just before it look a lot worse.
The card should be wiped from his record although it wont give Bath the 10 minutes back!

By Bradders, at October 22, 2009 1:54 pm
So basically if u r 6'7 u can hit opponents in the neck because it's hard to get low? Bergo by my accounts is not that short! 3 inches n this is the hit of the year (a la northhampton 12 on de villiers, can we c that rugby dump/giver of life). Ref gave warnings banahan should heed, he's still an awesome prospect.

By Canadian content, at October 22, 2009 1:56 pm
as much as i dislike banahan, it was a legal hit and a great one at that. Hape still thinks he's playing league, he should have been carded for the hit just before banahans... no problem with that tackle. well done banahan. this game is soon going to become pathetic if we blow up for hits like this

By Jim, at October 22, 2009 3:18 pm
i think this tackle was coorect, hard but correct because banahan try to wrap his arms.

The yellow card isn't derserved for banahan. But Clancy punished him because of few high tackles from other bath players. Focus on the number 10, 6, and 12 from Bath

it seemed a collective punishment

By Flooz, at October 22, 2009 3:18 pm
Why does Banahan have tattoos on his hand? Has he done time or something?

By Anonymous, at October 22, 2009 3:40 pm
Well Tommo, i think you'll find im not defending anything, and you might want to get your facts right as Banahan is not english, he is infact from jersey....so do your research before having a go!!

I was not infact defending him, nor was i condeming tuilagi, i was infact saying that with the close call nowadays it is tackles like that which can infact cause players to be sent off (open your 2 eyes and watch the video!!) It could have easily just been ignored, and the tuilagis could have easily been picked up, and at risk of completely rewriting what i said in my early comment use both your fucking eyes and learn to read, or at least learn to interpret what i said!

And i do not think if an islander does something (tuilagis case) it means he is a thug, in all honesty i think Brian Lima made some fantastic hits, and some not so fantastic hits....i dont believe tuilagi is a detriment to the game nor did i say anything of the sort!

By No.7, at October 22, 2009 3:43 pm
I agree it was a fine tackle- my earlier point was that without the replays it looks like a bad and high challenge. Even barnes (the gobshite) says yellow which shows that the general feeling before replays is that it looked like a bad hit.

Theres a lot of people on here giving the ref a lot of abuse but as I said look at it without the replays. Bergamasco's head goes flying forward which is also an indication of a high hit.

Also agree that some players are milking hits looking for yellows and i dont want to see that.

However all credit to banahan in the interview afterwards- he said it was the refs call and he accepted the decision- if that was a footballer he would be bi***ing all the way through!

By JMS, at October 22, 2009 3:56 pm
that's what tackles look like when the tackler has 3 stone and 8 inches on the man he's tackling. good, solid hit, and there have been many worse that have gone unpunished. refs are getting card happy

By kevinb, at October 22, 2009 4:04 pm
I was at the game and a lot further away (obviously) than the ref. Everyone I was standing with thought it was a fantastic tackle.

It's rubbish to give the ref sympathy that 'it all happened quickly'. There also didn't seem to be a bad feeling in the game regarding tackle.

I personally (and I'm not a Bath fan) think that Clancy bottled it when he saw the Stade players rushing towards Banahan from the pitch and the bench. He was pretty quick with the yellow to defuse the situation. Perhaps good reffing to stop a fight but if you have to produce a yellow then it suggests you're a pretty weak ref.

By jackohos, at October 22, 2009 4:50 pm
Should say bad feeling around the tackles in general

By jackohos, at October 22, 2009 4:51 pm
inconsistent.

By Anonymous, at October 22, 2009 5:23 pm
love the way Bergamasco looks up when he's laying on the gorund as if to say, is he off yet?

By goodNumber10, at October 22, 2009 5:33 pm
Bit of shame Bergamasco acted as he did (if he was milking it...) because personally i think he is a great player!

By Anonymous, at October 22, 2009 5:55 pm
Isnt that fellow in the last shot play for Leicaster. Is he French? Sportin' the pink huh.

By Anonymous, at October 22, 2009 6:33 pm
"Tuilagi made just as much of an effort."

You must've been watching a different video. Tuilagi's arms didn't even come around until *after* Cohen was almost, Banahan had his left arm around before the impact. What does Banahan being English have to do with anything?

By istya, at October 22, 2009 7:50 pm
the tackle is high and very hard but correct it s not to high!

By Anonymous, at October 22, 2009 8:08 pm
wHERE THE FOCK IS RUGBY GOING TO

By trryrrt, at October 22, 2009 8:27 pm
Good clean tackle - Bergamasco played it for all he could and got one man off for 10 minutes. It'll come around!

By white knuckle, at October 22, 2009 9:54 pm
one hell of a good tackle....and I'm italian.

By italianflanky, at October 22, 2009 9:55 pm
I can't believe some posters ahve claimed that the Banahan tackle was 'high' and therefor illegal.

It was below the shoulders and legal.

By Anonymous, at October 22, 2009 10:11 pm
Perfect tackle, ridicoulous card.

By Joost, at October 22, 2009 11:17 pm
To th Anon, thats Julien Dupuy the current French Scrum Half, and possibly future for a while at least, and yes he did play for Tigers when he broke Bath last season in the QFs as Sky couldn't stop pointing out every 2 bloody minutes during the game, the analysis and post match interviews.

Again, posters seem to overlook the fact that Bath were under handed all game and someone had to go eventually.

Reminds me of a great tackle Tipoki made on Luke Fitzgearld in RDS in March '08 that started at chest level, went a bit higher, nowhere near shoulder or neck but because of Leinster player's reactions he was binned. It was especially Shane Horgan's reaction, similar to the one against London Irish last week at the end. Lost alot of respect for him then, trying and suceeding to get Tipoki yellow carded. Although Tipoki never usually needed help to be sent off for 10 min.

By Huh!! the 3rd, at October 22, 2009 11:44 pm
Tuilagi put the shoulder into the guy's chest, just like Banahan did, just like anyone does who tackles.
The wrapping thing is almost always an afterthought, it's basically irrelevant to the tackle, you are never hitting the guy with your arms, always with your shoulder. That's how you tackle.
This new-found obsession with how quickly the guy brings his arms around, whther his ahnds are closed or in a fist, whether he manages to hold onto the other guy, whether follows him to the ground, it's ludicrous.
It's nuts.
You only here it from European fans, and I honestly believe it must be your lots exposure to soccer and all the fairy behaviour in that sport.
The wrapping rule was brought in for one reason, to stop players doing all out league style shoulder charges, which is nothing like this hit or tuilagis.
It's when you tuck your arms up into your chest and charge in side-on, to smash the bloke backwards.
And it's not much different from a normal tackle, and doesn't cause any more damage, it just looks more spectacular.

By Tommo, at October 23, 2009 12:38 am
its hard to include your arms im tackles like this because the impact of such a big man causes Bergamasco to bounce away from him making it really difficult to wrap his arms round. still an awesome hit.

By Anonymous, at October 23, 2009 2:05 am
So you retract your bullshit saying its only when an english person does it that its fine, and that i say tuilagi is a detriment?

in all honesty it is a rule, i never said they were bad tackles (i sound like a scratched record because ive been saying it over and over!) all i said was tuilagis was a bit touch and go on whether a ref would pick it up! therefore i didnt like the tackle!! a law is a law, wrapping is a law, headbutting is against the law if a player does a weak headbutt then its a red no matter what! you cant pick and choose!!

By No.7, at October 23, 2009 5:32 pm
to be honest this is just a huge hit. No card. He tried to wrap. His first hit in the vid was more of a card!

As the great Umaga said...

"It's not tiddly winks, its rugby!"

By Anonymous, at October 24, 2009 11:27 am
good hit

By Anonymous, at October 24, 2009 9:23 pm
Hit is ok (though shoulder finish in the chin ...). Probably don't deserve the bin.

However, he took it for the others (12, 6 and 10 if I remember correctly).

Too bad it was him though coz he was clearly bath's best player.

Ps : Btw, don't use the crappy "He is tall, he can takle higher"...

As a ref told me once: "you're tall, deal with it." (+ bin ^^)

By pyo, at October 25, 2009 11:14 am
Good tackle : yes
Wrong decision : yes
Blame the ref : no .. he's human ..
Blame Bergamasco for over reacting : no .. that would have hurt bad
Wanna see more of these : yup
If there was a chance for me to do it in a real amatuer game would I do it : Yeah
Even if it gets carded : Hell yeah

By Anonymous, at October 26, 2009 2:55 am
yet another ridiculous decision from the referee. Arms were round, he just bounced off the shoulder out of them on impact. It's this sort of thing that could be cleared up by implementation of a 'challenge' system using video technology, i.e. coaches could challenge calls they feel are unfair, and the TMO can look at a replay and decide if the referee was correct or not. Also, referees could ask for the assistance of the TMO if they are unsure instead of just going with their (often incorrect) instincts, as i believe may have been the case here.

By Anonymous, at October 26, 2009 3:14 am
Wow TOMMO you must be so hard. Just from reading your comments makes you sound like you're absolute nails. I'd hate to come across you on a rugby pitch you'd probably annihilate me. This video of a solid tackle and the mistake from the ref really does prove rugby is going soft escpecially in Europe where there's too much soccer and it's influencing them. haha what a doofus.

By Anonymous, at October 26, 2009 11:36 am
Great hit .. i don't see how that could be a card! Bergamasco doing a bit of Ronaldo on the floor .. pathetic .. not in this game please!

By The Flying Burrito Bus, at October 26, 2009 12:36 pm
Big hit. he didn't hold the neck
first contact was shoulder-heigth.

By Zoockey, at October 26, 2009 1:35 pm
personaly i think theres nothing wrong with that tackle and if the ref really thinks there is sumthing wrong with it he deffinately didnt deserve a yellow card... shocking decision

By jacques van niekerk, at October 26, 2009 4:44 pm
Bullshit call... great hit! Hape's hit was a penalty and that was it... Banahan jus owned him..

By Anonymous, at January 25, 2010 2:50 am
extremely harsh decision . just a gr8 hit. if bergamoasco was jus stronger den he wudnt of fallen as easy nd therefore no yellow card wud av been given. same can b sed about Palu's hit on Rob Kearney durin de autumn internationals

By Anonymous, at August 26, 2010 1:14 am