Common sense finally prevailed Koroibete cleared free to play Bledisloe opener

By Sam PhillipsUpdated July 19, 2021 â€" 11.03pmfirst published at 8.51pm

Rugby Australia chair Hamish McLennan lauded a World Rugby judiciary decision to not uphold Marika Koroibete’s red card and pointed to the incident as the perfect example of why a 20-minute red card should be introduced in Test rugby.

Koroibete was sent off in the fifth minute of the series deciding win against France at Suncorp Stadium for a high tackle on French captain Anthony Jelonch.

But at a World Rugby hearing on Monday night, the judiciary cleared the superstar winger after finding the initial contact was made with Jelonch’s shoulder. He is now free to play in the Bledisloe Cup opener at Eden Park on August 7.

Marika Koroibete’s red card tackle against France.Credit:Stan

McLennan said Koroibete was ‘unjustly’ sent off and believes the incident is further proof northern hemisphere nations need to come around to the idea of Super Rugby AU’s red card rule â€" which allows teams to replace a player 20 minutes after he is sent off.

The Herald last month revealed RA successfully lobbied for the goal line drop out and 50-22 kick to be introduced in August, but the 20-minute red card was blocked.

“I think Marika was unjustly done,” McLennan told the Herald.

“But I think common sense finally prevailed tonight. Imagine if that was a World Cup final, where the game could have gone off the rails.

The red card against Marika Koroibete was overturned by the World Rugby judiciary.Credit:AP

“Despite having everything against them with a very strong French side, this proves the Wallabies have true grit and have turned the corner.

“Our 20 minute red card rule, I think, should pave the way for Test rugby. It should be adopted in case of an incident like this.”

Jelonch showed good sportsmanship by congratulating Koroibete on social media. In a post of a message shared by Koroibete on Instagram, Jelonch said: “”Very glad you don’t have anything further than a red card, you’re a great player! I wish you the best for the future with Australia. And thanks for this tour”

A World Rugby judicial panel made up of three New Zealanders agreed with the Wallabies’ argument there were mitigating factors in Koroibete’s high contact.

“The player Marika Koroibete admitted to technically committing an act of foul play worthy of a red card. Having reviewed all the evidence, the committee deemed that Marika Koroibete’s tackle on French loose-forward Anthony Jelonch initially made shoulder to shoulder contact at the fifth minute of the game,” a World Rugby statement read.

“Subsequently, through the impact, any contact to the chest and neck was incidental by Koroibete. Therefore, World Rugby’s Head Contact Process was not met due to mitigating factors, and the act of the foul play was secondary.

“On that basis, the committee did not uphold the red card and the player is free to play again immediately.”

Koroibete’s red card drew widespread criticism. Sonny Bill Williams was one of many former players to slam the decision.

“We’re in a tough place in the game at the moment where we’re trying to get that balancing act between protecting the players and protecting the game,” Williams said on Stan Sport.

Injured Wallabies playmaker James O’Connor couldn’t hide his frustration during a half-time interview.

“It’s pretty frustrating,” O’Connor said. “If you’re playing in the spirit of rugby, that’s not something you do. To me, it looked like blatantly he’s been hit and because he’s dropped the ball, he’s reacted to that.”

Rennie said afterwards he felt Jelonch had milked a penalty and that Wallabies officials would fight the charge at a judiciary hearing.

The Wallabies coach was backed by RA director of rugby Scott Johnson, who took a stand against the increase in players ‘staying down’ to earn a competitive advantage.

“First and foremost, I want to say that we are really supportive of safety and player welfare at all levels. We’re really supportive of that,” Johnson said.

“The frustration from our perspective is that it appears we are looking for ways to give cards. We want the game to be safe, and we understand that there is mitigation but it’s a contact sport. If you slow everything down to minute details, you’re always going to be looking for issues.

“The one thing we’re also concerned about as a sport â€" and is a really big concern of mine â€" is the amount of players that are staying down. That’s not what our sport should be about.

“If it’s genuine, no issue. But we shouldn’t be playing for penalties or cards. That’s for another code. That’s not us.

“We owe it to the sport and we owe it to the next generation not to do that. If you’re genuinely hurt, no one has an issue. We don’t want that in sport. And I’m not having a specific go at (Jelonch). But that’s what we’re getting in the game.”

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Sam is a sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.

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