Australia’s Michael Hooper has been cited for the below clear-out on Mike Brown during the Wallabies’ win over England at Twickenham on Saturday evening.
World Rugby announced that Hooper has been reported by independent citing commissioner Steve Hinds for allegedly “charging into a ruck or maul without use of the arms or grasping the player”. But what do you think of the incident?
Yes please!
Should have been carded. Not bad enough for a ban IMO – even though it would help Wales! :-)
A shoulder straight into an opponents head area not worth a ban? What would be then?
It certainly should have been a yellow at least, and possibly a red. There is certainly a case to answer.
carded but not a ban
Banned for the next game.
Should have been a yellow in the game, which I believe equates to an ‘official warning’ or something similar when cited, but not a ban.
People this is rugby and not tiddlywinks..
It’s identical to the Ireland v Italy match incident for which the Irish player was yellow carded. He should have received a yellow card during the match.
What does that have to do with it Rob?
This is clear foul play. There’s no intention to join the ruck legally. He just launches himself at Brown’s head.
Or do you think this kind of play is somehow ‘hard’ rather than idiotic and dangerous?
This is exactly the kind of action that the IRB said they would be cracking down on in this world cup. It should have been a yellow, possibly even a red, as to my mind, this is deliberate foul play that could easily have badly hurt Brown
Without a doubt this should be a citing and a ban.
I’d also question wtf the TMO was doing when this happened as it was quite clear.
Doubt whether a yellow card would have made a difference mind, but who knows
Pablito, Rick means rugby is a contact sport where you expect to get hit if you go over a tackled man to ruck. This is not soccer where a referee is influenced by complaint or by a performance to be reviewed by the Actors Guild.
“you expect to get *legally* hit if you go over a tackled man to ruck”
There, fixed it for you.
Except giteaus performances for the Farrell yellow?
It should have been a yellow at the time. After the match, he should get the same treatment as Burgess and Wood – slap on the wrist.
This was far more dangerous than either Farrell or Burgess and with no reason either – at least with Farrell you could say that Giteau was blocking him and with Burgess that Hooper started to stoop when he lost the ball and Burgess’ arm which would havbe been on his chest, instead went round his neck
That’s not to excuse either offence but to point out that there is a reason for both. Whereas with Hooper, his shoulder was clearly aimed at Brown’s head and he clearly dived off his feet to get maximum power when he hit Brown. There’s absolutely no excuse or reason for his actions
To bad you writing doesnt match the facts. He did not leave his feet. He did not target head. He lead with his arms.
WTF are you watching? It can’t be anything to do with what we’re talking about
Sound the troll alarm!!!
“he should get the same treatment as Burgess and Wood – slap on the wrist.”
I know two wrongs don’t make a right but … that is an excellent point. Wood should also have been banned. His wasn’t deliberate but it was reckless and knocked a guy out. By the rules he should have a ban as intent doesn’t, apparently, matter.
Also a ban for Hooper. I read it as a clear (and directed) attempt to wind up Brown. It worked brilliantly but Hooper has to go for it.
Has to be a ban. Dangerous, needless and wreckless. Is that not he definition of foul play?
Should have been yellow carded
Not enough for a ban
I thought at the time it was borderline red, mainly as I thought he hit Brown’s chest. Having re watched it, it’s a clear red card.
Be interesting to see if the TMO has any come back as he was awful for the whole match.
considering it should had being yellow,i think it would be fair to consider 1 match ban.
Play the game to understand contact. Play the game well to understand that is not a head shot.
Clearly the wine’s already been served down your way.
Got to be a ban!!! He got lucky not to miss the game against NZ in the warmups for a punch on Nicolas Sanchez, hopefully this time he gets the punishment he deserves
Well he’s been cited. I’d be very surprised if he doesn’t get at least a one match ban – which would be getting off lightly
Was astounded that he didn’t get a card at the time, ref & touch judge fell down badly. Hooper is a great player but he is prone to do this type of thing ….. a one match ban would be sufficient imho seeing as he got off scott free at the time !.
Much as I would like to see him banned for the Wales game, I don’t think he should be – it was clumsy and a bit stupid, but dangerous? Seriously? Whoever is deciding these sanctions, and the same goes for the idea that if you lift a player beyond the horizontal it’s ‘dangerous’, needs to realise that you can’t remove all risk and that every time you’re tackled (legally) there’s a risk of injury.
Look at the Welsh players ruled out of the World Cup: Webb – someone fell on him; Halfpenny – nobody even touched him; Allen – pulled hamstring; Scott Williams – legal tackle; Amos – hand off. How many players have been ruled out due to so-called dangerous play?
Farrell’s yellow card was ridiculous too. I thought all the replays were looking at Burgess, but again, it was neither a dangerous tackle or a professional foul so why the yellow card?
Stop all the rubbish about trying to define what’s dangerous in all circumstances, have a look at the individual instance and try to apply common sense!
No arms, full contact with head, has to be a red.
As Australia have already qualified for QF a 1 match ban to take effect after the Wales game would be the correct punishment, i.e. effective in the knock out phase where it matters
Hey, next Saturday isn’t a dead rubber. Win that and face probably Scotland in the QF, lose it and face South Africa. Well worth trying to win that one.
Also worth noting the winners of the Wales/Aus can’t see NZ until the final.
Red card…no doubt in my mind!
I thought the same at the time and was surprised it was not noticed by anyone. When you look at the yellow given to England later on it makes for an interesting comparison.
For me a yellow during the game, it was missed, so now a warning but not a ban
If they don’t give him a ban, they might as well get rid of the rule. Clearly malicious and dangerous.
I remember seeing this at the time thinking ‘ definite yellow’ and then being completely bamboozled by the TMO and ref, despite watching it back, deciding it was nothing. I agree with Graeme, the TMO made some really poor decisions which favored Aus. I am not saying England lost due to refereeing, just that they weren’t helped by, what I thought, was quite harsh interpretation of certain incidents.
Yellow at the time, caution after, no ban. Nobody got hurt.
No arms, aimed at the head and off his feet at point of impact. I was dumbfounded during the game, the most obvious of infringements for the TMO to judge on. If the commitment is to try and eliminate reckless and dangerous play then the only option is a ban….
It was a clear yellow and should have been given during the match. Banning him for one whole game is not appropriate. I have seen similar shoulder tackle offenders sin binned in this WC…
Should of been a yellow at the time so no ban just a warning. Despite his absence would help Wales I don’t want that, I want us to beat Aus at full strength
If he’s banned then I guess the IRB should also ban O’Mahony, du Plessis… It’s one thing for ref’s to be inconsistent in the heat of a match, but a citing commission has no excuse. I’m often surprised at the amount of illegal activity that isn’t cited.
I suspect if it had been seen at the time a yellow would have been given (I noticed it during the match & was surprised nothing was noticed). A ban for 1 match seems reasonable.
it was an obvious yellow card which i was amazed was not acted upon during the match – to lose hooper for 10 mins could have changed the context of the game, as Australia were excellent in the areas that hooper was covering – The ban now is what is expected for a citing, but gives Brown and Co. no comfort. No excuse for Burgess, but certainly puts Farrells yellow card into perspective. I think Farell had no choice to go for the tackle, but did not use his arms – If he had used his arms and it was shown on slow mo, not sure australia would not have had a penalty against them for blocking. Sadly Burgess just went in far too high