Former referee boss Owen Doyle insisted that Ireland star James Ryan was let off lightly for his nasty clearout on Springboks hooker Malcolm Marx.
The Leinster second-row was sent-off in the first half of the Irishmen’s 24-13 defeat to South Africa on November 22.
Ryan received a three-week ban with it being mitigated down from six, but it could be further reduced to two if he completes World Rugby’s Coaching Intervention Programme.
That means the lock could be available for the Irish province’s second Investec Champions Cup games against Saracens next weekend.
Lenient punishment for Ryan
Doyle felt that the punishment handed out was lenient, given the severity of the incident and stated that he is not a fan of the governing body’s ‘tackle school’ idea.
“James Ryan received a three-week suspension for his shoulder to the head of South Africa’s Malcolm Marx. It will be reduced to two weeks if Ryan undergoes the preposterously named ‘coaching intervention programme,’ aka tackling school,” he wrote in his Irish Times column.
“That is frankly nonsense for several reasons. If elite professional players don’t know how to tackle properly, the game has a bigger problem than we thought.
“There are those, count me among them, who consider tackling school to be a device to get the player back on the pitch ASAP. Others will point out that those who do attend the class very rarely reoffend.
“That’s really good news and would seem to offer a solution: all professional teams should carry out a preseason tackling school and confirm that every member in their squad has passed the exam.”
World Rugby rejects law
Unlike Springboks locks Lood de Jager, Franco Mostert and Eben Etzebeth, who were all dismissed in November, Ryan did not receive a permanent red card.
The Ireland second-row instead received the 20-minute variety, which has been brought in to punish the player rather than the team for offences where they have got the technique wrong, rather than for incidents which are malicious or reckless.
According to Doyle, when that idea was being suggested, World Rugby were considering bringing in another law, but that was rejected.
“When the 20-minute red card was being mooted, there was also a parallel proposal for automatic suspensions. In my innocence, it looked good,” he added.
“It would have seen Ryan sidelined for four weeks – a significant deterrent, compared to a paltry two. However, the powers that be did not warm to the idea and the proposal was binned.”