Former All Blacks Jeff Wilson and Mils Muliaina are fearful that players may fake injuries during the Rugby World Cup to try and draw attention to potential incidents of foul play.
New Zealand lock Scott Barrett was shown a second yellow card and sent off after dropping a shoulder into South Africa hooker Malcolm Marx during the All Blacks’ record defeat to the Springboks at Twickenham.
Marx received treatment after Barrett’s tucked arm made initial contact with his shoulder while the front rower was lying prone adjacent to a ruck, with television match official (TMO) Tom Foley alerting referee Matthew Carley to potential foul play during the delay.
The incident remained a yellow after being sent for review by Carley, and Barrett has subsequently been cleared of further sanction by a disciplinary panel, which ruled that the yellow card was sufficient and therefore no ban required.
Reflecting upon the incident, former New Zealand stars Muliaina and Wilson expressed their worry that players may try to game the system during the upcoming tournament in France by feigning injury to try and prompt a review of footage.
“I’m absolutely worried, because of the inconsistency,” 2011 World Cup winner Muliaina said on The Breakdown.
“A TMO can pick up a bad cleanout. Someone’s gone down and they’ve reacted because of [a player] faking an injury, and it has massive consequences for the game.
“When you’re looking at the most hotly contested Rugby World Cup and it comes down to a moment of refereeing inconsistency, that could cost a team.”
Ian Foster’s side, winners of the Rugby Championship, were thrashed 35-7 in their final warm-up fixture before the World Cup begins.
It reprsented a significant blow to the All Blacks’ preparations ahead of an opening night meeting with hosts France on Friday 8 September.
Wilson, who scored 44 tries in 60 tests for New Zealand, believed Barrett was unfortunate to receive a card of any kind for the collision with Marx, suggesting that it was the sort of incident that “happens all the time” during a match.
“The fact that [Barrett] is in front of the judicial process is ridiculous because ultimately, for me, this shouldn’t even be a yellow for going off his feet,” Wilson said, comparing it to two South African cleanouts on Marx’s opposite number, Dane Coles, that did not draw a sanction.
“The contact wasn’t direct with the head, it was on the body, it was on the shoulder. Watch where the first contact is.
“There is no doubt he’s gone off his feet, but he’s hit him in the shoulder first and then there has been a collision with the player beside him. The number of cleanouts that happen in the game like this, this happens all the time.
“The fact is that he got it wrong, he made a mistake. But there is no way we go into a Rugby World Cup and that this is going to be the standard.”
