Shocking spear tackle on Olly Barkley

Olly Barkley stood out for England in what was an otherwise dismal performance. The United States are hardly a rugby super-power but managed to at least look competitive against the World Champions, England.

Here, in the final seconds of match, we see an unfortunate incident. Olly Barkley is upended by American centre Paul Emerick. Surely there was little malice, but it was still very dangerous. Luckily Barkley got up and seemed fine afterwards.

Update: Emerick received a 5 match suspension for this tackle, therefore ending his World Cup.

As the tournament wears on, the games will get bigger. Which means the hits will get bigger. Keep coming back as we add to the biggest archive of great rugby clips on the internet, Rugbydump.com.

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Marius Joubert soft spear tackle

After seeing Morne Steyn get red carded for a spear tackle a couple of weeks ago, Marius Joubert was only yellow carded for this tackle a week later.

It was definitly not as dangerous as Steyns, but the question has to be asked - should it be a red card for any spear tackle, or is each tackle judged according to the severity of the impact?

It may have been a spear tackle, but it wasn't a "true" spear tackle, as Joel Stransky points out.

Both fans and players alike need consistancy from the refs and the IRB rulings. My feeling is that each tackle should be judged accordingly. Therefore, a yellow was sufficent here. Your thoughts?

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Morne Steyn red carded for a spear tackle

The Bulls vs The Sharks last weekend in the Currie Cup met for a Super 14 finalists rematch. The Sharks scored two tries in each half for their bonus point in a match of great excitement for the 27 000 spectators.

The game was effectively spoilt in the second half for a short period with the instant red card given to Bulls flyhalf Morne Steyn by referee Mark Lawrence for a spear tackle on flanker Jacques Botes.

The IRB clearly is attempting to stamp out on any form of the spear tackle. In my opinion, very harsh, and I'm a Sharks supporter.

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Ma'a Nonu spear tackle on Darcy

Ma'a Nonu somehow escaped further punishment after this tackle on Gordon Darcy in 2005. The commitee ruled that the refs penalty and the subsequent chat was enough.

Nonu was booed by Irish fans still incensed at the incident during the Lions tour of New Zealand this year when their captain Brian O'Driscoll was hit by a double tackle in the opening minute of the first test.

Both coaches condemned Nonu's tackle after the game.

"We don't want those sorts of things happening in the game," said All Blacks coach Graham Henry. "I know they're not done deliberately but we need to try and make sure they don't happen."

Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan said D'Arcy had been turned upside down.

"It's not safe to do that to anybody," he said. "It's not a pretty sight and a bit scary to see."

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Brian O'Driscoll spear tackled 2005

In 2005 the British and Irish Lions Rugby union team toured New Zealand for the first time since 1993, suffering a 3-0 whitewash at the hands of the New Zealand All Blacks.

For the Lions, having toured Australia in 2001 and South Africa in 1997, it was the first time for 22 years they lost every test match on tour.

The squad wasn't helped, of course, by losing their world-class captain less than a minute into the first Test match. It was highly controversial at the time, with accusations being fired back and forth. The guilty party were Tana Umaga & Kevin Mealamu.

Umaga being involved particularly shocked people seeing as he was known to be one of the better behaved players in the game.

The issue resurfaced violently, after someone taping the game from the stands anonymously submitted controversial footage that the stadium's cameras didn't pick up.

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