5 weeks for Obano

[MarleyWasp]

Deemed a top level offence due to the injury to Morris (broken nose which will require surgery in the off season).

[Neils]

Deemed a top level offence due to the injury to Morris (broken nose which will require surgery in the off season).

Geez another injury. Thought it looked smashed but nothing was said afterwards.

[baldpaul101]

Geez another injury. Thought it looked smashed but nothing was said afterwards.

Morris is deemed in the report to be available to play this weekend, the required surgery will be done in the off season.

[hookender]

I noticed the next tackle Obano makes against JTA (72:19) looked like a shoulder into neck area .Again JTA is in an upright position.
 
 Perhaps they should the RFU should bring in a tackle awareness course like they for  speeding drivers !

[Shugs]

Fair enough I think. It was a very poor tackle for me.

[Garuda]

 Perhaps they should the RFU should bring in a tackle awareness course like they for  speeding drivers !

Owen Farrell could run it.

[JF]

When the incident was being reviewed by the ref and TMO I was thinking that, yellow or red, it was the same for us as the aggrieved party given how little time was left in the game. For the rermaining duration of the game it was irrelevant to Bath what colour the card was, either colour would result in the same effective punishment for the game in which the incident took place.

The old law student in me thinks this is unjust but I can't come up with any further sanction or punishment that might change that.

It could just be that I need to get out more.

[MarleyWasp]

The reality is now, if you aren't making a significant effort to tackle low and end up making contact with the head of the player you're tackling, it's going to be a red card and at least a 3 week ban, 5 if you cause an injury. The message is clear.

[Peej]

Jeez, that still seems harsh given how comparatively little the gouger got.

[Brandnewtorugby]

Jeez, that still seems harsh given how comparatively little the gouger got.

That was my first thought.

[Shugs]

Agreed. Bizarre that because he broke a nose he gets the same as someone who tried to damage an eye but failed.

[DGP Wasp]

Yes, I understand and support the clampdown on reckless head contact, but the fact that Morris's nose was broken as a result doesn't mean that Obano's actions were any more reckless than those of anyone else who was fortunate enough not to cause immediately obvious damage.  The whole point of this is to protect players from the long term effects of repeated head contact.  Just because someone's nose got broken doesn't mean he will suffer any more or less from those long term effects.

A deliberate act of foul play with the intent to cause injury (and in the case of eye gouging it's not over stating it to say life-changing injury) should still carry a heavier penalty than an accidental act, however reckless and regardless of outcome.

[baldpaul101]

I too thought this harsh, given it was an accident, although an accident caused by his mis-timed tackle.
He didn't deliberately go out head butt Morris & break his nose

[Rossm]

I too thought this harsh, given it was an accident, although an accident caused by his mis-timed tackle.
He didn't deliberately go out head butt Morris & break his nose

Well he probably didn't. However he made no effort whatsoever to tackler lower. So the end result was much the same. No sympathy from me. As for the eye gouger getting a lesser sentence; that is really irrelevant. He got off light and should have had a lot more.

[Bloke in North Dorset]

There are three elements to any punishment:

1. Punish the incident
2. Send a message to discourage others
3. Protect others (this is more about thugs an sending them to jail for long periods, but does have an element in rugby for repeat offenders of foul play)

In the case of 1 the penalty seems relativity harsh, but when you consider that the the authorities are trying to reduce this sort of incidence in light of 2 it might even be considered lenient.