Opinion is split among fans after All Blacks prop Nepo Laulala was sent to the sin bin on Saturday for a dangerous tackle against Wales in Cardiff.
The tighthead tackled Ross Moriarty in a double hit with Ethan Blackadder in midfield which forced the Welshman to retire from the action just before half time.
After an extensive TMO referral referee Mathieu Raynal presented Laulala with a yellow card, however fans and pundits have widely criticised the decision.
While the New Zealand commentary team suggested Moriarty carried with his head in a dangerously low position, other fans believe that both Blackadder and Laulala were at fault and deserved heavier punishment.
Blackadder does not wrap his arms. Laulala does not wrap his arms and makes direct contact to the head. Moriarty is injured and cannot continue as a direct result of these two acts of foul play. Refereeing outcome – just a yellow for Laulala. It’s crooked. #WALvNZL pic.twitter.com/5ELAJQQkYK
— David Slade (@SladeDJ) October 31, 2021
REACTION:
Laulala nailing the prop in the sin bin look 🟨 #AutumnNationsSeries pic.twitter.com/UK4zOWviGm
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 30, 2021
Barrett should have been yellowed, Blackadder is lucky to not have been yellowed and Laulala is extremely lucky to not be red carded.
— Andrew Forde (@andrewfrugby) October 30, 2021
Blackadder does not wrap his arms. Laulala does not wrap his arms and makes direct contact to the head. Moriarty is injured and cannot continue as a direct result of these two acts of foul play. Refereeing outcome – just a yellow for Laulala. It’s crooked. #WALvNZL pic.twitter.com/5ELAJQQkYK
— David Slade (@SladeDJ) October 31, 2021
Such a hard call either way. Ross bending but head contact by Nepo Laulala with force. Should be a yellow and is. #WALvNZL
— Jim Hamilton (@jimhamilton4) October 30, 2021
Both Blackadder and Laulala tackle Moriarty with no arms… two yellows, minimum?#Wales #NewZealand
— Will Kelleher (@willgkelleher) October 30, 2021
Raynal says mitigation that Blackadder’s tackle moved Moriarty, and he was low. So only a yellow for Laulala.
He and Blackadder should be off for at least 10 mins each.
Head contact, with force for Laulala. #Wales #NewZealand
— Will Kelleher (@willgkelleher) October 30, 2021
Some of the rulings in rugby are baffling – i understand the mitigating factors in a player dropping their height, but Laulala is always committing foul play leading with shoulder (Yellow) hits the head so should be upgraded – if Moriarty is upright it’s already yellow #WALvNZL
— Owain Evans (@OwainEvans39) October 30, 2021
Laulala can’t do anything about that. If there’s a red, then the game has gone mad.
— gxz🇬🇭 (@Gezza_Ayy) October 30, 2021
Raynal searching desperately to find a reason not to send Laulala off. Weak officiating #WALvNZL
cc. @WorldRugby
— Dan (@DanS258) October 30, 2021
If its a yellow card for not wrapping in the tackle, Blackadder should have been carded alongside Laulala#WALvNZL
— Vicky Finlay (@VixFinlay) October 30, 2021
All Blacks head coach Ian Foster was pleased with his side’s 16-54 win in Cardiff, saying: “I thought the first 50 minutes they [Wales] were competitive. They played with a lot of passion, they held the ball like we expected them to, ran hard, but I thought our defence was outstanding.
“We were disciplined and put them under pressure and then once we started to pick up a few turnovers and force a few weak kicks we started to get the opportunities we were looking for.”
Saturday’s Test match was also Beauden Barrett’s 100th for the All Blacks and Foster was delighted with his man of the match performance.
Foster added: “He did what he does, and I know it’s an eternal debate back home. We’ve got two, if not three, outstanding 10s, but I think the focus should be on Beaudy right now. His 100th game and, you probably couldn’t script it better in many ways when you’re playing your 100th, and you get the opportunity to show some of your skill sets.
“He guided us through a tense time because you are always going to get that when you come up here in that first 40-50 minutes, and I couldn’t be more proud of his game.”
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