Rugby legends Brian O’Driscoll and Ian McGeechan believe the sport is changing before our eyes at the World Cup in Japan.
The two greats of the game, a Lions captain and a Lions coach, feel we could be seeing the end of the big hit.
They made their comments during the Pool A match between Ireland and Samoa after Bundee Aki received a straight red for a hit on Ulupano Seuteni and Samoa hooker Seilala Lam was yellow carded for a challenge on Jacob Stockdale.
Lam’s sanction came after Stockdale dipped into contact, while Seuteni needed a head injury assessment after contact from Aki’s shoulder.
There followed a discussion in the ITV studious that saw O'Driscoll and McGeechan concur the type of hit that has long been commonplace in the game is set to rapidly become a thing of the past.
Speaking about the Lam incident, O’Driscoll said: “Samoa will feel they have been hard done by in this World Cup. It’s their fifth yellow card. And I have to say with this one I don’t know what the tackler is meant to do if a player dips that low.
“Look at how bent Lam’s knees are on the collision — yes, he’s made contact with Stockdale’s head but Stockdale has led with his head into the collision.
“It’s almost impossible for Lam to dip lower than that. So the only thing you can say for the future is the big hit is gone — that big collision.
“It’s going to be all about leg tackling. The big shot is going to be ruled out of our game.
“In my eyes Lam’s done everything right.
“The mitigating circumstance is that Stockdale has dipped into the collision, and the referee, on the basis of what we’ve seen so far at this World Cup, is probably right, but it feels wrong.”
McGeechan suggested there were lessons to be learned from events at the global tournament in Japan, saying: “It’s a re-education process.
“We have to agree the game is changing right in front of us during this World Cup. It has to be a leg tackle now.
“So you cannot set yourself for a tackle above the waist, because you are not in control of the height any more, while the ball-carrier is. If you get it wrong, it’s a minimum yellow card.
“So you have to commit to leg tackles, which means the defensive coaches are going to be looking at the leg tackle, plus the second man in.
“That’s the only way you can guarantee the first-up contact is not going to be deemed dangerous.”
Aki is set for World Cup anguish, with a ban likely as Ireland head into the quarter-finals after their 47-5 win over the Samoans.
There were few arguments about his dismissal.
As the Samoan fly-half lay on the pitch, Aki put his hand up in apology.
The referee watched a replay on the big screen before dismissing the Ireland centre.
“You can hear the referee through the process — ‘Was it high? Was it dangerous? Is there anything to mitigate it?’” said fellow ITV studio guest Paul O’Connell.
“He felt there was not enough from Aki to mitigate it from a red to yellow.
“You can see by the reaction of the Samoan players: they all pat him on the back.
"There’s nothing malicious and it’s not dirty play, but Seuteni is sparked out, he has gone and it looked bad.”
O’Driscoll said: “What players are going to need to do is control that last half-a-metre and the speed at which they go into the collision.
“We have talked about the big hits being outlawed.
“I think you have to be in control of that space when you commit to it, because some varying movement of the head, popping up where you don’t anticipate it, could be the difference between you being off the pitch or staying on it.
“We have defensive coaches all the time talking about owning that space and making sure you are winning the collision either side of the ball.
“Defensively, it’s not in the mindset to stand up and go: ‘I’m not in a comfortable space here: I had better soak this one’.
“Because it’s like a concession from your perspective.
“But you just have to get your timing right earlier to make a better decision.
“We are talking about hundredths of a second. It’s a brutally hard thing to do.”
