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Australian fans furious with 'ludicrous' Reece Hodge ban
By Josh Raisey
World Rugby’s decision to ban Wallabies winger Reece Hodge for three weeks has not gone down well with the Australian public.
The Melbourne Rebels utility back faced a hearing on Wednesday following his tackle on Fiji’s Peceli Yato at the weekend. Hodge's challenge left the flanker concussed and forced him off for the rest of the game. Yato also sat out Fiji's shock loss to Uruguay.
The ban was initially for six weeks but was reduced due to Hodge's character and disciplinary record.
However, a number of former players, journalists and fans from Australia have shown their dismay at the ban, believing it sets a bad standard for the rest of the tournament.
Rugby World Cup winner and former Wallaby midfielder Tim Horan said that tacklers will have to be extremely careful for the remainder of the tournament, given the punishment that Hodge was struck with. Others have suggested that there have been far worse tackles throughout the tournament, such as in Samoa’s match with Russia (for which two Samoan players have now been cited).
Continued below...
Whilst there is little doubt that the Samoan players will receive longer bans than Hodge, it is a valid point that there have been tackles so far this RWC that have gone unnoticed and not been cited. Then again, that's not necessarily a reason to go easy on Hodge, with the majority of the rugby world thinking that his tackle deserved a red card in the match.
However, Australian fans still feel that Yato led with his head in trying to bounce Hodge, and the winger simply did not have time to lower his body to make a safer tackle. But ultimately, there was contact to the head with his shoulder, and it did clearly affect Yato.
As the officials have already faced a lot of criticism so far this RWC for missing dangerous incidents, and as head injuries are a major concern for World Rugby, Hodge was not expected to get away with his poor technique.
This has been the reaction:
Hodge is now set to miss the next three pool games, including this weekend’s clash with Wales which will likely decide who will top Pool D.
Fortunately for Australia, he will be back in time for the quarter-finals.
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Latest Comments
I agree.
I’d like to know what constitutes a 208 week ban though?
Must the eyeball be dislodged? Hanging by a vein?
Go to commentsAlso a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.
I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.
I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.
Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.
“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”
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