Australia lock Rob Simmons has been cited for a dangerous tackle on France flank Yannick Nyanga during his team's 33-6 loss in Paris.
If found guilty, the Wallabies forward will miss the tourists' second game of their European tour against England at Twickenham on Saturday.
The incident occurred in the 65th minute, when Simmons hit the French flanker with a late, lifting tackle shortly after replacing captain Nathan Sharpe.
Nyanga spilled a bomb before Simmons picked the Frenchman up and drove him into the turf with the flanker landing heavily on his back.
Luckily for Simmons, neither referee Nigel Owens or his two assistants, could pick up the number of the tackler with the referee telling acting stand-in captain Stephen Moore his side was very lucky they didn't see who made the tackle.
The hearing will be held on either on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Comments
trelawney says...
@nabberuk If your had read all reports on the Scotland/NZ game you would have found out that the no 6 (Thompson) has been cited!
Posted 17:30 14th November 2012
APV1 says...
This from a poster on another site:
"Being a ref myself (albeit not much experienced) I sometimes ask the captain to find the guilty person if I didn't get the number. I tell him that if no culprit is found he will be the one sent out. I pretty much get my guy 100% of the time. But at this level he professionnalism expected from the refs does not allow such a move I'd think."
Interesting idea...
Posted 13:09 14th November 2012
Trinats2 says...
Ramage:
Blind support ???
I'm one eyed, the other is covered in spit !!!
Posted 05:59 14th November 2012
jamesliveinhope says...
can we drop this "beyond the horizontal" nonsense as though its in some way a measure of dangerousness. Yes its written in NRL rules but I can't find any reference to it in the IRB laws or clarifications.
Nyanga was lifted high and off his feet and apparently driven head first into the ground - that's dangerous the ref would have given straight red but was unable to identify the player. Contrast that with the Care tackle (not cited to the best of my knowledge) legs "above the horizontal" but not fitting any of the rest of the IRB definition.
Posted 16:14 13th November 2012
Ramage says...
@ nabberuk your post epitomises all that is bad about the parochial posts we have on here. My argument wth you is not what you say because I believe and have said Thompson deserved Red. However to bring it up here as if the actions of Simmons is somehow justified because Thompson hadn't at that stage been citedis ridiculous. As you are now aware he has been cited and gosh there is no conspiracy. By the way Jonesy you really take the cake. You didnt see it but you think it sounds like a pretty good tackle. Interesting, and so ,because of this, Owens is a useless referee when clearly he is one of the better referees in the game.
Finally I believe Simmons could have seen red and the fact that the twins in crime Trinuts and georgesmith are on his side tells us everything. One through blind support the other sheer ignorance.
I bet when people read the far fetched excuses made they must shake their heads in disbelief. It must have been really disappointing for georgesmith that his lovechild spent less than a minute on the field before he was dismissed after replacing Sharpe and will probably be banned for two further weeks making it sure that some of georgesmith's hated few will get more gametime because of his prodigy's mistake. Thompson however will cop a much heavier penalty which will hasten the end of his All Black career.
Posted 15:04 13th November 2012
waz4before says...
@ Trinats ... I assure you at full speed it was much worse!
But we disagree then and if, as expected, he gets a lengthy ban this very video footage will be evidence that damns him - slow motion or not ;-)
Posted 11:28 13th November 2012
Trinats2 says...
Waz4before:
I watched your facetube thingy, and I agree in slow mo looked like a dangerous tackle But watch it in real time and of the 6,000 + views, only 5 dislikes !!! says a lot.
Slow mo is great, but doesn't factor in REAL time play.
Posted 10:58 13th November 2012
paulynz says...
georgesmith = Rob Simmons mum
Posted 10:36 13th November 2012
ArmchairGeneral says...
Ban or no ban hopefully this will disrupt Ozzie line out preparation. Tom Youngs seems to have that key gift of luck.
Posted 10:25 13th November 2012
jamesliveinhope says...
@bigb6969 - it is that simple in this case because Nyanga wasn't brought to ground safely.
In fact the law relates specifically to dangerous tackles - if its safe then the law is irrelevant.
Posted 09:29 13th November 2012
bigb6969 says...
flyman - no not that simple mate, you can still bring them to ground safely, but of course lift someone up you are leaving yourself open
Posted 05:29 13th November 2012
Waz4before says...
Simmons lifted the player off the ground after the ball had gone, turns him upside down so his opponents ankles are above his (Simmons) head, drops him to the ground and for good measure collapses down on him - it ends up more like a Judo throw than a tackle. A clear red card and most likely a lengthy ban. For the doubters and those attempting to rewrite this tackle, the wonders of the interweb have the tackle on YouTube: http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=JdtGU9B1lOA&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DJdtGU9B1lOA
For hose arguing it wasn't a foul tackle I challenge you to watch his and repost your views: jonesy2, trinats2 ....?
Posted 03:32 13th November 2012
Sprogrugby says...
I believe the issue is which part of the upper body contacts the ground first - a flat back regardless of where the legs is would be deemed ok. The issue is first contact with neck, head or shoulders. Looking at the tackle, it seemed pretty ok to me in that he landed heavily (ohh dear) on a flat back - no prob ?
Posted 00:03 13th November 2012
Sprogrugby says...
I believe the issue is which part of the upper body contacts the ground first - a flat back regardless of where the legs is would be deemed ok. The issue is first contact with neck, head or shoulders. Looking at the tackle, it seemed pretty ok to me in that he landed heavily (ohh dear) on a flat back - no prob ?
Posted 00:02 13th November 2012
J_HDK says...
To those whinging about the Owens on this. Owens was the referee, not the Citing Commissioner
Posted 18:54 12th November 2012
hybrid187 says...
georgesmith ya boring mate. plug it.
Posted 17:30 12th November 2012
APV1 says...
@ jonesy2 - stop being a prat. Even you, "Australia can do no wrong and are the best in the world, even when they're beaten", can see that it was a dangerous tackle.
@ Trinats2 - I expect better from you. You've let yourself down on this one - have another look. Yes he was committed, but he didn't need to do that.
Posted 17:12 12th November 2012
jappers1983 says...
Pretty sure it's the hips which have to be beyond the horizontal, and it's only Nyanga's own body shape that prevents it from being a spear tackle.
Either way, it's a dangerous tackle. The fact Nyanga doesn't have the ball probably doesn't help matters either. Simmons should be able to see that, considering it's right in front of him.
Anyway, here's the tackle....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=JdtGU9B1lOA&NR=1
Posted 12:42 12th November 2012
markpat says...
Simmons is a dirty player, always has been for the Reds as well. Makes Botha look like a saint, but at least Botha is a good player.
However, Reds players never seem to get the bans they deserve.
Posted 11:10 12th November 2012
Waz4before says...
Jonesy2 - you didn't see the same tackle as me then - whilst I saw no malice or intent it was careless, unnecessary and a very dangerous tackle worthy of a ban, it wouldn't surprise me if this ends his season. If you're in any doubt try asking someone to turn you upside down and drop you on your neck, then see what you think ...
Posted 10:45 12th November 2012