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'Wow': Crusaders lock red carded for 'dipless' high shot on Michael Hooper
By Sam Smith
Crusaders lock Hamish Dalzell was red carded for an awkward high shot on Wallaby captain Michael Hooper at a pivotal moment in the 24-21 loss to the Waratahs in Sydney.
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With the Waratahs deep on attack inside the Crusaders’ 22, Dalzell clattered into the Waratahs openside as he peeled off the back of a lineout leading to a head clash between the two forwards.
Dalzell was the second man in the contact after Sam Whitelock took Hooper around the waist, who was falling to the ground as the Crusaders reserve lock went to wrap.
The Leichhardt Oval crowd was up in arms immediately over the hit, with boos clearly ringing around the ground. On replay, Stan Sport’s commentator could only claim ‘Wow’ about the ‘dipless’ tackle after Dalzell had got away with a similar attempt moments earlier on flyhalf Tane Edmed.
Same player there. Should have been a red before and if he got a red before, Hooper isn’t going off with a HIA.
Dalzell knew what he was doing both times.
O’Keefe is directly responsible for that.#WARvCRU— Gregg 🏴 (@GreggC_CC) April 30, 2022
If Dalzell correctly would have received a yellow for his earlier high shot, he wouldn’t have got the red card….#WARvCRU
— Ashwin Ranchhod (@NZFatso) April 30, 2022
Hamish Dalzell in trouble here. Same player caught Tane Edmed a few minutes prior. #WARvCRU #SuperRugbyPacific
— Ross Barnett (@rbarnett08) April 30, 2022
By leading with the head, both players were sent reeling by the tackle which head coach Scott Robertson labelled as ‘technically poor’ although he reiterated there was no malice in it.
The red card came in 67th minute with the Crusaders back in the game at 17-14, and the loss of Dalzell was felt moments later as the Waratahs mauled over for a penalty try. Compounding matters, blindside Pablo Matera was sent from the field for collapsing the maul.
Head coach Scott Robertson said there was no doubt that Dalzell had to work on his tackle technique, but that every incident is different and it is hard to judge every tackle.
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“It’s hard to know. The second one was red. You look at it, it’s such an interesting and difficult one to judge on,” he said.
“Every one is so different. There is no sort of clear line.
“So look, obviously Dalzy’s [Hamish Dalzell] tackle technique needs to get better, I know that. He’s a big man and could have done better around it.
“It’s a bit disappointing for Hoops [Michael Hooper] to take that head knock. There was no malice in it but it was definitely technically poor.”
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I feel a bit for Dalziel here. He had barely turned to make the tackle and, unfortunately, copped Michael Hooper in the head. Dalziel notably reeled away also.
My view of this was it was accidental.
The other point I would make is that, while we need to protect the head of players as much as possible, these guys know the risks of playing such a physical game at a high level where the margins for error are so small.
These guys are not machines and mistakes and inaccuracies will happen. Especially as players tire.
I think we need to keep a lot of this in perspective. It's too easy for us armchair critics to pass judgement on players. Would we do any better? Probably not.
Maybe the law needs to be no tackle above the nipples. You can still wrap the ball at that height without risking the head.
However, it's never going to avoid all head contact with the speed that ball carriers can change body position sometimes.
I think the way to deal with this is to have a tackle technique run by national technical coaches and the result of a red card for a head high tackle is suspension for two weeks during which time the player has to attend the tackle coaching clinic for say two days a week. The clinic then reports on the player’s attitude to the training. Did he understand why he was there. Did he understand the consequences of head injuries and did he adjust his tackle technique. That should sort this out quick time.