Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Retro Peter Stringer tackle on Jonah Lomu goes viral after high tackle debate

Little Peter Stringer gets bumped by Ma'a Nonu in 2006, but he had success in 2002 against Jonah Lomu, Nonu's fellow All Black (Photo by Ross Land/Getty Images)

The World Cup is only a week old and already the topic of high tackles has been discussed ad nauseam. The most keenly discussed tackle so far has been Reece Hodge’s hit on Peceli Yato, which saw the Australian cop a three-week ban. 

ADVERTISEMENT

Clive Woodward caused a stir when he said on Twitter that the tackle was no more than a yellow, claiming how hard it is to stop someone as powerful as the Fijian by wrapping your arms around him. 

Although Hodge’s offence was primarily making contact with the head, rather than a no-arms tackle, many people took objection to this, including former Ireland scrum-half Peter Stringer. 

The 98-cap international said on Twitter: “Just because someone is ‘powerful’ it doesn’t give you the license to operate outside the laws.”

The Munster legend also added that players must “find a legal way to bring him down”. 

Since this retort, Stringer’s tackle on Jonah Lomu in 2002 has spread on social media to back up his point. 

When talking of powerful ball carriers, there are few better examples than the All Blacks great and this was one of the greatest mismatches in size the game has ever seen. 

ADVERTISEMENT

However, Stringer felled the winger, scything him down at his ankles despite conceding almost a foot in height and eight stone in weight to him. 

With players concentrating on making dominant tackles, the body position in contact is now getting higher and higher, with tackles like Stringer’s becoming increasingly rare. 

But there is no better way to take the referee and television match official out of the equation than a chop tackle, albeit there would still be the issue of no-arms tackles.

As cards look like they may be given aplenty over the next five weeks, this video may become even more popular.

ADVERTISEMENT

WATCH: Joe Schmidt and Rory Best discuss the Ireland team chosen to face Japan on Saturday   

Video Spacer
ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

LONG READ
LONG READ Why England's defence of the realm has crumbled without Felix Jones Why England's defence of the realm has crumbled without Felix Jones
Search