Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: Owen Franks hit and head-clash with Flip Van Der Merwe

Monday, April 11, 2011

Owen Franks hit and head-clash with Flip Van Der Merwe

In one of the most brutal clashes of the weekend, Bulls lock Flip Van Der Merwe was smashed by Crusaders replacement prop Owen Franks, adding to the misery on the night for the visiting side.

The Crusaders, missing key men Richie McCaw and Dan Carter, managed to out muscle the defending Super Rugby champs as they came out 27-0 winners in Timaru on Saturday night.

The Bulls were outplayed in most departments, with the power of the Crusaders up front beating them at the breakdown, at lineout time, and one more than one occasion, in the collisions.

This hit on Bok lock Van Der Merwe turned out to be quite symbolic, as he came off worst in the hit and head-clash with Franks, leaving him battered and bruised, much like the visitors overall.

Franks said that having been on the bench for most of the game, he was frustrated and raring to go when finally getting on, which probably added to the venom of the tackle.

"You're pumped up, you want to make a difference and that's what it did hopefully.

"When you are sitting on the bench you can see where their runners are going and I saw him from a while away – I picked it pretty well I suppose," he said, adding that he wasn't surprised to see Van Der Merwe left prone, bloodied, on the floor.

"Not really – I went into it pretty hard and I didn't come off it perfect myself so it was good to see him down longer than me. I was just a bit dazed at the time but I stayed on my feet."

Time: 01:40

Rugby is an inherently dangerous game - this clip shows how dangerous it is according to the rules you sign up for when you step on the pitch, never mind when guys step outside the laws and risk even more serious injury.

Hope we see him back on the pitch in a couple of weeks.

By Mike, at April 11, 2011 5:15 pm
wanted to, but didn't

By Cmon, at April 11, 2011 5:15 pm
massive hit!

By Jeroz, at April 11, 2011 5:17 pm
part of why we teach tackling (proper) drill to the youngsters and warn them of tackling high... but, all in all, an experience for both players to remember when advancing the ball and advancing on the ball carrier.

Good luck to both players and hope to see them both back on the pitch together again!

By Anonymous, at April 11, 2011 5:25 pm
Kabooom!
Hope he gets well soon.

By Guy, at April 11, 2011 5:26 pm
Oooouuuchhhhhh.......

By Ronan, at April 11, 2011 5:30 pm
he was going in way two high, its the simple things professionels tend to forget. "get low and then drive up" who hasnt heard this from his coach??? obviously he couldnt remember.

By Anonymous, at April 11, 2011 5:32 pm
Forehead to Cheek. Ouch.

By Stephen Jones' Wellies, at April 11, 2011 5:33 pm
Awesome tackle, just what your team mates want: Injuring legitimately the opponent with a massive tackle. That's great motivation for the rest of the team!

By Anonymous, at April 11, 2011 5:36 pm
Thank you Fourie, for that "killer pass"

Filipe

By Anonymous, at April 11, 2011 5:36 pm
Bosh.

VDM would have seen him very late I reckon. Franks sort of appeared quite suddenly from behind the ref didn't he - had to go round the ref to make the tackle.

Anyway, am I being a bit sensitive or is this a bit of a c*ntish thing to say:
it was good to see him down longer than me.

By Von, at April 11, 2011 5:36 pm
Agree Von. Does that not constitute not wrapping the arms? He obviously uses the arm/shoulder but I though no wrapping = penalty.

By gf, at April 11, 2011 5:48 pm
What a tosser. Fine, it was a legal hit, but a bit of a sh*tty thing to say that he was 'glad' that he stayed down. I hope he's back up and playing again soon.

By SmellyNerfherder, at April 11, 2011 5:49 pm
"Rugby is a contact sport, and so is dancing"

No tutus needed here, that was a bruiser!

By Xavier, at April 11, 2011 5:57 pm
average hit, unfortunate head clash. Leicester/Leinster game bigger hits were ten a penny

By Anonymous, at April 11, 2011 6:50 pm
Unfortunate to see anyone hurt. Franks is turning into a massive player. Good scrummager, great in the loose, and brings real mongrel to collisions. Exactly what you want in a tighthead.

By Anonymous, at April 11, 2011 6:53 pm
Rugby is a great sport and these accidents happen, which is all part of rugby. Some people here, leave stupid comments and i bet know nothing about rugby or have even played it.

By Anonymous, at April 11, 2011 7:13 pm
HOSPITAL PASS + BAD TACKLE.

By Anonymous, at April 11, 2011 7:47 pm
Bad clash, good to see both walk away, christ his eye swelled up with a quickness..... So very glad it wasn't worse, but this is what we sign up for, the possibility of this happening, as it has to me this season lol

By English Neil, at April 11, 2011 8:00 pm
I think it is the understated NZ sense of humour coming through. Instead of saying 'yeah I smashed him', he just says 'well I'm glad he stayed down longer than I did'.

I remember when I was played for a team with a couple of Kiwis and one had an amazing game and I said to him 'Wow Jacko, you were awesome today'. He responded, 'oh yeah mate, I managed to get a bit of ball'.

For my mind the tackle is fine because he doesnt tuck his arms in and shoulder charge him, he tries to get his arms wrapped around but the bounce off because of the impact.

By Anonymous, at April 11, 2011 8:15 pm
"I think it is the understated NZ sense of humour coming through. Instead of saying 'yeah I smashed him', he just says 'well I'm glad he stayed down longer than I did'."

Good point - it was actually good self-deprecating humour if you look at it that way.

By Mike, at April 11, 2011 8:27 pm
Damn ... he went out like a light straight away!

Both of the Frank brothers are really doing some damage! Big hits, very good scrummagers and carry an awful lot.
The All Blacks and Crusaders must really be wringing their hands at the prospect of having them on the roster for about the next 8-10 years...

Seems NZ have an incredible wealth of choice in most positions, the exception maybe the lock and fly-half position. Even though the world has been spoilt with Carter around!

By Sander, at April 11, 2011 8:53 pm
Hopelessly offsides.

By Anonymous, at April 11, 2011 9:03 pm
ouch!

By Chris Boy, at April 11, 2011 9:49 pm
Anonymous said...
I think it is the understated NZ sense of humour coming through. Instead of saying 'yeah I smashed him', he just says 'well I'm glad he stayed down longer than I did'.

I remember when I was played for a team with a couple of Kiwis and one had an amazing game and I said to him 'Wow Jacko, you were awesome today'. He responded, 'oh yeah mate, I managed to get a bit of ball'.

Fair point, think you could be right and I've misinterpreted him. Love your quote too, sounds very similar to other Kiwi comments I've heard. :)

By Von, at April 11, 2011 10:38 pm
i dont know why people are saying thats a bad tackle. unfortunate that the heads hit but sh*t happens, its a contact sport.
those hits spur a team on and can give a mental boost. you ont run into a tackle just to put them down you hit them to try and smash the living cr*p out of them.
scott quinnell 'when you get that ball you want to kill that person'

well he did try n kill him them. carrier was too high for a start.
dont blame the tackler blame the target.

By Anonymous, at April 11, 2011 11:45 pm
didnt try*

By Anonymous, at April 11, 2011 11:45 pm
Good hit, put his body on the line.

By the way players at the top level are not taught to tackle low, they are taught to tackle chest to chest. This is because players are too big and too strong to bring down if you go low, at pro level.
Also you can bring alot more physicality to your play if you go chest to chest.

And another thing, there is no wrapping rule. Wrapping is not ever mentioned in the laws.
There is a lawthat forbids shoulder charges.

In order to not be seen as shoulder charging, all you have to do is make some attempt to involve your arms in the tackle. Nothing to do with wrapping.
The law talks about attempting (not succeeding but just attempting) to grasp the other player in some way.

That's it.

Besides it's a bit of a non-sensical rule anyway.

By Jono, at April 12, 2011 1:57 am
what didn't help his cause was the tactic the bulls seem to use with the trailing teammate pushing him through as well.... unfortunately this time it added to the collision! ouch!

By Anonymous, at April 12, 2011 4:02 am
EEhhhh. Ok tackle, more of the headbutt than the tackle. Love playing rugby, but I don't ever want to put people out of the game because of a tackle. He was kinda high when he hit him so.... ehhhh.

By Hendrick, at April 12, 2011 6:22 am
Dear RD, hope you're not going to erase this comment, although it does not concern the subject.

Marc Cueto's taken only 9 weeks for a blatant eyegouge.

Only 9 weeks.

THATS A SHAME.

By Anonymous, at April 12, 2011 9:12 am
That Pink song in the background just makes this clip pretty surreal.

By Anonymous, at April 12, 2011 9:24 am
Bad luck - the ref was in between them and moved in the last moment, so they couldn't really see where they were going (both attack and defence players). Attacker put his head down and went into the unknown...

By tvrdoglavi, at April 12, 2011 11:03 am
Richie Rees gets 12 weeks for unintentional contact.

Cueto gets 9 for a blatant gouge....

RFU justice right there.

By Anonymous, at April 12, 2011 1:11 pm
Ouch ouch ouch

By Wessel, at April 12, 2011 3:57 pm
Sickening clash, although there was nothing wrong with it. But the insinuated notion that Franks was somehow the tougher of the two because he got up immediately and stayed on while Flip stayed down and came off is just daft. It’s clear that a very hard part of Frank’s head collided with Flip’s eyebrow. I’d estimate that roughly 100% of the time the guy taking the knock to the eye would come off worse.

By katman, at April 12, 2011 3:57 pm
btw folks,

soccer is a contact sport, rugby is a collision sport.. and that was one hell of a collision.

By Anonymous, at April 12, 2011 5:03 pm
@Xavier, i think you mean "Dancing is a contact sport, rugby is a COLLISION sport"

By Anonymous, at April 12, 2011 5:03 pm
Just shows what happens when your mate pushes you into a tackle. especially when the fella coming the other way is a Prop.

By LDR, at April 12, 2011 5:19 pm
Fucken' smoked!

By Russel, at April 13, 2011 1:46 am
Legit tackle? What tackle? There was no tackle, just an unfortunate clash of heads. Only a dunce would consider Franks a harder man because he didn't stay down. Even Franks would agree with me.

By codescalpel, at April 13, 2011 8:25 pm
Oh dear. This is not a big hit at all in my opinion. Its a clash of heads. Franks needs to get his head down so he makes contact with his shoulder, therefore making it a legitimate tackle.

By Anonymous, at April 14, 2011 10:14 am
Owen Franks had another headclash with Tanerau Latimer in the Crusaders vs Chiefs game. Latimer had to leave the field too.

By Haol, at April 18, 2011 11:35 am
Where is Adi Jacobs' huge hit on Jaco Taute?

By Anonymous, at April 18, 2011 3:02 pm
Good question. Do you remember when it happened?

By Greiffel, at April 18, 2011 7:24 pm
Great defensive hit, maybe a bit high but then the pros will always live right on the edge of the law, thats why they are at the top of their game. Hope the two guys shared a beer after the game.

Have to disagree with Jono's comment that pros tackle high because players can resist low tackles, thats just not right. A tackle round the legs will 95% of the time bring a guy down and wrapping his legs will stop his ability to keep running. You are however using his momentum to bring him down so he will still make a few yards. High tackles are defensive to wrap up the ball and prvent the offload that modern pros are so good at.

By Gary, at April 22, 2011 11:29 am