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Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper has urged rugby officials to start taking neck rolls more seriously after loose forward David Pocock was ruled out of their weekend clash against the Springboks.
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All Blacks players were accused of targeting the No.8 and using illegal neck rolls to take him off the ball during their Bledisloe Cup win in Auckland two weeks ago.
Pocock reportedly couldn’t turn his neck to face reporters during interviews post-match.
“It’s a significant injury and a significant issue,” Hooper said of Pocock’s neck injury.
“As a coaching group we sent clips to (World Rugby and SANZAAR) and the coaches told me that it didn’t meet the red card threshold.
“Neck injuries are a pretty big part of the game and being in a similar position to David, you want to be protected and safe. This is what it’s about – player safety.”
Coach Michael Cheika was optimistic Pocock would feature on Saturday night but the loose forward was a late scratch from the lineup.
Earlier in the week Cheika said the 30-year-old needed more support from his teammates at the breakdown.
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“He’s taking a lot of action to his head and neck and we need to protect him a bit more if he’s out there,” Cheika said.
Hooper said he doesn’t believe the All Blacks’ actions were intentionally malicious but said the issue needed revisiting.
“I know, as a player, you’re not looking to intentionally inflict pain on someone or serious injury,” he said. “Sometimes these things do happen, but how we can avoid that is the conversations that we need to be having.”
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