Assignment 5
Rugby-The Dump Tackle
The rule Im going to be looking at is that a rugby player is not allowed to dump tackle another. The rule states, the dump tackle is a tackling technique favoured mainly by rugby league players. The tackler wraps his arms around the ball carrier's thighs and lifts him a short distance in the air before forcibly driving him to the ground. The tackler must go to ground with the ball carrier for the tackle to be legal. In 2005 the IRB ruled that "" the act of lifting an opponent off his feet in a tackle AND dropping or 'spearing' that player so that his head and/or upper body comes into contact with the ground first, is a dangerous tackle." therefore in order for a dump tackle to be legal the tackler must make sure that his opponent lands flat on their back and not on their upper backs and or neck.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dump_tackle
I agree with this rule because dump tackles are dangerous and could cause a fatal injury or in a rare case even death. I agree with it to an extent though, i believe that if it is intentional and the ball carrier is driven to the floor then it should be a red card but if it is not intentional or brutal unlike allot of the New Zealand dump tackles they get away with then it should be a yellow.
This rule is highly debated among the rugby community especially because in the latest rugby world cup the Wales captain (Sam Warburton) got sent off very early in the semi-final for a dump tackle. At the end of the game we lost by a point and many people, including myself, believe that his sending off was a huge factor to losing the game. It is also very debatable because there have been many worse tackles than his that in other games of rugby that have either gone a miss or just been given a yellow. I will now show you the sending off then talk about it and share my views.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReAs14KlFCQ&feature=related
He was given a red card for that tackle but the commentators didnt realize it in the video. As you can see Warburton did dump tackle the ball carrier, his legs went above his head and he did land on the top of his neck. In my opinion looking at that video it was a dump tackle but not a red card offence because he didnt drive the french player into the ground but he didnt go to ground with the ball carrier which is why i would of accepted a yellow card. A red card i think is very harsh especially so early in the game because the adrenalin is pumping and he would of felt the pressure of being in the semi final. This might sound strange but it is possible to accidently dump tackle someone. i know this because when i used to play rugby it happened to me many times. It happens when a small player (baring in mind the person who Sam dumped what a small winger) runs into you and you try and get him to the floor as quick as possible but because of momentum and the lightness of the player it looks like you are dump tackling him intentionally which is what i think has happened here.
Now another reason why alot of welsh people are annoyed at this is because there have been alot of dump tackles which have been much worse than this one which either no punishment has been given or just a yellow was shown. Here is an example of a worse tackle which got a less harsh punishment. In the first video the tackler received no punishment and in the second one the tackler only received a yellow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8xwHVMGEQc&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpM0NFb8Xog
From these videos we can see that the defenders picked up the ball carrier with their legs above their head and then drove them into the ground head first. In my opinion they were both definite red card offences and they were both much worse than Warburtons tackle because they purposely dumped them on their heads where as with Sams it looks like he dropped him in mid air by accident. Even the commentators were saying that he is lucky to be getting a yellow in the second viseo. This situation happens allot with dump tackles and it is as if the referees are not sure what to do, to give a red or a yellow?
Another thing that i have a problem with in the Wales game is that the ref was biased. The reason i think this is because we had just knocked out Ireland and he is Irish. We were playing France and his dad is French. The reason im saying this is because you can get a different punishment depending on which who is refereeing the game. So because we had a referee with the same nationality as the team we just beat and also the same nationality as the team we were playing at that moment in time this most probably tilted his decision towards the red card. I think if there were a different ref the situation would have been different.
I dont think this rule can be improved because no matter how much they try and improve it there are so many different factors that can effect a refs decision. For example the personal views he has on a team, the position which he saw it, personal opinion, strictness and if he has played rugby in his life or not. Although personal opinion shouldnt come into this situation i think it did have an effect on Allan Rowland because of what Wales did to Ireland and the fact that his dad is French.
Badminton - Dont touch the net rule
This rule doesn't have a specific name but the rule is that any part of you, the racquet or the shuttle is not allowed to touch the net. This can cause problems because when you do a drop shot the margin for error is so fine that allot of the time the shuttlecock touches the top of the net but still goes over. Having played badminton, it is very frustrating when this happens because it was still a very skilful shot but yet it is disallowed. Another thing that frustrates me about this rule is when you are up close to the net and to do a powerful shot at the floor, the shuttle hits the floor and you would have gotten the point but your racquet touches the net. In my opinion this rule is picky and annoying because you give away points for very small mistakes. The positives to this rule is that you can earn points from your opponents mistakes. So if you do good shots against your opponent he/she might get frustrated and make these mistakes by touching the net. This happens to me because when its a tight game I get competitive so when i make a mistake i tend to follow them up with some more mistakes and then i get angry and get even worse then make more mistakes ect.. So for players like me it is a stupid rule which should be abolished but for the calm, clever players it is a great rule. Another positive to it is that it makes the game much more exciting, especially if its pros playing because like I said earlier, the margin for error is very small. This, in theory should make the game score much closer and then more exciting for anyone watching the game. In my personal opinion this rule should be taken away from the sport of badminton but I don't think it will happen because it wont be as tense for the people watching. So if it is a boring game then no-one will watch it. So all in all I don't think the rule will be changed but in my opinion it should be
