If you didn’t believe there are never really any winners when an early red card has a huge impact on a game, you just needed to listen to the SuperSport panel dissecting the Sharks’ win over the Bulls in their post-match discussion.
The Sharks hadn’t won in a franchise game in Pretoria since 2011 and they had finally broken that long drought, but instead of giving them kudos for their achievement, the panellists criticised them for not putting the Bulls away when they were playing 15 against 14 from the 10th minute.
Make no mistake, I agreed with the criticisms. Even though the Bulls were stunned by the early sending off of their experienced game-driving flyhalf Morné Steyn, they still managed to dominate possession and territory for most of the game. In the final 20 minutes, when the imbalance of numbers was redressed by the red card to Grant Williams, it was the Bulls who were by far the better team.
Would the Sharks have won had Steyn not been sent off? I’d say it was unlikely, but who knows, and that really is my point: Those technical red cards of the type shown to Steyn and later Williams are becoming more prevalent and are in danger of ruining the game.
Steyn’s card for what was effectively a slip of the arm when he went in too high as Lukhanyo Am tried to get past him was the correct call from referee AJ Jacobs and TMO Quinton Immelman, according to the law.
But my money says that if you asked them, even some of the referees might admit that in this case the law is an ass. They know that having a main player removed from the game so early has a dramatic impact that could effectively ruin it, for why else do they take so long to adjudicate on something that is clear and obvious from the first viewing?
That there is a need to be strict on high tackles was underlined by the Williams incident later in the game. The clash of heads resulted in the Bulls’ replacement flyhalf, Chris Smith, having to be carried from the field. The law is there to protect the likes of Smith.
At the same time though, because it is so easy for the Steyn type of incident to overshadow a game, there must be concern over what the frequency of red cards is doing to the game. There was no malice in Steyn’s tackle, it could effectively happen to anyone and at any time.
And here is the concern, it could easily happen in the early stages of a World Cup final. Maybe Saturday’s incident will quickly be forgotten as it was just another United Rugby Championship game, but if it happens in a World Cup final that defines a four-year cycle, it won’t be forgotten. Do we have to wait until then before the rugby legislators address the problem?
Rugby has always been a physical sport but a red card used to be a rare thing. Indeed, it took until 1993, when the late James Small was sent off for back-chatting English referee Ed Morrison in Australia, for a Springbok to be sent off in a Test. If you think of the many tempestuous battles that took place in the first 102 years of Bok history, that just shows how much times have changed.
The solution to the problem created by the increase in red cards due to increased focus on technical infringements, with banished players not needing to show intent or malice, does not require a degree in rugby rocket science to find. We had the solution in 2021 when during the Rainbow Cup a different approach to red cards was trialled whereby the teams that had players sent off were down on numbers for just 20 minutes instead of the rest of the game.
The player red carded was not allowed back onto the field and had to be replaced by a player from the bench, so the individual and the coach were still penalised. But at least after 20 minutes the authentic 15 against 15 battle was restored.
The malicious and dangerous acts of foul play that have merited red cards throughout the history of the game should still be seen on a different level. Those players should be sent off and no replacements allowed. But red cards given for tackles that are the product of inaccurate execution rather than malicious intent and those which apply to players who clash in the air, which is another all too frequent cause for a red card, should be placed at a different level.
Had the Bulls been able to go back to a full complement of 15 players after 20 minutes at Loftus we’d have had a better idea afterwards if the Sharks fans really had something to crow about. Instead, much like that Super Rugby final a few years ago where Kwagga Smith was sent off, even the winners should have been left feeling a little flat. That’s not good for the game.
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