ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Wycliff Palu's yellow card hit on Rob Kearney

BY Grant Constable  ·  Wednesday Nov 18, 2009

Wycliff Palu's yellow card hit on Rob Kearney

One of the biggest talking points from the Ireland vs Australia draw at Croke Park was the Wycliff Palu sin-binning for an alleged dangerous tackle on Rob Kearney. We’ll have another look at it as it’s still a big topic for discussion.

Kearney collected the ball and rather than kick, he chose to run straight into 120kg Palu, who put in a massive hit that rocked the Ireland fullback to the floor.

Referee Jonathan Kaplan was slightly behind where the tackle took place, and obviously saw Kearney bounce off the hit from Palu, leading him to believe it had the impact of a traditional shoulder charge type hit.

“I thought it was a pretty good hit but he obviously saw it the other way,” Palu explained later.

“When I started seeing him reach into his pocket, I was trying to say ‘sorry let’s talk about it’ but I think he’d already made up his mind. I think he said no arms, shoulder charge.”

Palus arms looked to be wrapping around his man as he made the front on tackle. There was no shoulder charging motion, and the hit seemed to be at the correct height to be considered legal.

Weve included comments from the BBCs Keith Wood, Jeremy Guscott, and Jonathan Davies. Interestingly, its the Irishman Wood who is the only one who views the hit as illegal, while the other two neutrals think its perfectly fine.

Ben Tune, in the Australian studio, also couldnt believe Palu was yellow carded.

The Wallabies were playing pretty well at the time and with Palu off for ten minutes, lost a little momentum. Do you feel that Kaplan got it wrong, or was he correct to yellow card Palu?

Time: 03:22

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles

  • 48 WEEKS AGO

    Fiji Drua player Lomani slapped with ban...

  • 58 WEEKS AGO

    The sending off that rocked the Six Nations...

  • 59 WEEKS AGO

    Wrecking ball beats 10 players to score full...



ADVERTISEMENT

Great Tries

  • 3 WEEKS AGO

    Sensational score at the Stadio Olympico

  • 9 WEEKS AGO

    Flying frenchman scores tremendous try for Toulon

  • 9 WEEKS AGO

    Young England hopeful continues to impress with double against Stade Français

  • 10 WEEKS AGO

    Full throttle Premiership final rematch ends in heartache

  • 10 WEEKS AGO

    Santiago Carreras scores a blinder in front of thrilled Kingsholm crowd

View All

Big Hits & Dirty Play

  • 16 WEEKS AGO

    Wallabies wunderkind Sua'ali' and Scotland captain Tuipulotu clash

  • 17 WEEKS AGO

    Ireland 'steal' Argentina's opening try as debate rages

  • 18 WEEKS AGO

    WATCH: The biggest hit from week one of the Autumn Nations Series

  • 22 WEEKS AGO

    'Cheap shot' from Leicester Tigers vs Northampton Saints causing a stir online

  • 22 WEEKS AGO

    Wild moment leads to all in brawl during Welsh derby between Cardiff and Scarlets

View All

See It To Believe It

  • 4 WEEKS AGO

    'A few nuts and bolts out' - Eden Park streaker sheds boxers to achieve goal

  • 7 WEEKS AGO

    SHOCK results in the PWR keeps top four race thrilling

  • 10 WEEKS AGO

    Santiago Carreras scores a blinder in front of thrilled Kingsholm crowd

  • 11 WEEKS AGO

    Fans in awe as Kildunne finishes off STUNNING team try

  • 14 WEEKS AGO

    Supporters can't believe Saracens Sharp's UNBELIEVABLE finish

View All

Funnies

  • 4 WEEKS AGO

    'A few nuts and bolts out' - Eden Park streaker sheds boxers to achieve goal

  • 10 WEEKS AGO

    Nightmare blunder from Exeter winger as try goes wanting

  • 12 WEEKS AGO

    'A dog with a mallet up its arse could’ve written Johnny’s book' Donnacha O'Callaghan

  • 13 WEEKS AGO

    ‘The knee slide was too much’ - Ben Earl reflects on THAT viral moment

  • 13 WEEKS AGO

    U.S. Army Special Operations Sergeant Major makes big claim about rugby

View All

Amateur

  • 10 WEEKS AGO

    Nightmare blunder from Exeter winger as try goes wanting

  • 10 WEEKS AGO

    Santiago Carreras scores a blinder in front of thrilled Kingsholm crowd

  • 113 WEEKS AGO

    You Won’t See Many Better Than This Silky-Smooth Try From Llandovery RFC

  • 114 WEEKS AGO

    Incredible Scenes As Caldy RFC Hand Ealing First Championship Defeat Of The Season

  • 137 WEEKS AGO

    Dubious Score Decides Result Of Rugby's Biggest Schools Fixture

View All

Player Features

  • 5 WEEKS AGO

    The Capuozzo try that jump-started Italy's victory

  • 11 WEEKS AGO

    RugbyDump's top five backrows in 2024

  • 13 WEEKS AGO

    ‘The knee slide was too much’ - Ben Earl reflects on THAT viral moment

  • 13 WEEKS AGO

    Marcus Smith makes big call on his future

  • 16 WEEKS AGO

    'Eligible for England' - Fans react to South African star's contract announcement

View All