Nigel Owens has admitted that Ardie Savea could have been red carded had his tackle on Jasper Wiese been an \u201cinch higher\u201d but that the right call was ultimately made.<\/p>\n
In one of the key moments from the opening Test at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, the All Blacks star escaped punishment for a hit on his opposite number.<\/p>\n
Referee Matthew Carley was asked to look at the incident by TMO Mike Adamson after Savea<\/a> went into the tackle upright, eventually resulting in his shoulder making contact with Wiese\u2019s head.<\/p>\n Ardie Savea tackle causes \u2018whiplash\u2019 motion<\/p>\n However, it was determined that it only occurred due to the \u2018whiplash\u2019 motion which followed a perfectly legal tackle according to Owens<\/a>.<\/p>\n Carley felt that the initial contact was on the shoulder of the Boks<\/a> loose forward and the Welshman agreed with the call.<\/p>\n Owens also didn\u2019t blame the television match official for coming in after he himself thought that it deserved another look while watching the game.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be fair to the TMO when I was watching that live, I thought, \u2018Oof, they\u2019re going to check this\u2019 because it looked high,\u201d he said on World Rugby\u2019s Whistle Watch.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst of all, let\u2019s look at what a high tackle is; a tackle above the line of the shoulder and making contact with the head or neck. What happens after that is degree of danger, head-on-head, shoulder-to-head, then you go into the yellow or red card zone.<\/p>\n \u201cThen they look at it. The key thing for me is this, the initial contact seems to be right on the shoulder and the South African number eight\u2019s head goes forward into the New Zealand player because of the force of the tackle.<\/p>\n \u201cJust remember, an upright tackle is not illegal as long as you\u2019re not leading with the shoulder. An upright tackle is legal unless there\u2019s contact with the head or neck.<\/p>\n \u201cThere isn\u2019t that direct contact with the head or neck here so it\u2019s unlikely they will identify this as foul play.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018How does this happen?\u2019 \u2013 Victor Matfield and Nick Mallett baffled by vital referee calls that went against the Springboks<\/a><\/p>\n Why Savea was fortunate<\/p>\n Savea was not far from getting it wrong, though, as he took a big risk. While no punishment was handed out, the All Blacks<\/a> number eight could have been sent-off had he been slightly higher.<\/p>\n With the 32-year-old completely upright and Wiese not dipping or taking a late step into contact, no mitigation would have been applied in this instance, leading to a 20-minute red and a ban.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s very lucky because if he had been an inch higher and it\u2019s direct contact to the head, you\u2019re probably looking at a 20-minute red card but, to be fair, a strong on-field decision by the referee,\u201d he added<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe key for me is the ball carrier\u2019s head goes into the tackler rather. I would say a very followable decision here.\u201d<\/p>\n