Alesana Tuilagi has been banned for Samoa's last pool game against Scotland on Saturday. He has also been banned for a further four weeks on top of that and will now miss the first four games of the English Premiership.
The big Samoan was judged of foul play by striking Japan's Harumichi Tatekawa with his knee when carrying the ball into contact.
The ban has led to a considerable backlash from ex-players on Twitter with quite a few bemoaning the decision taken by World Rugby.
I'm all for making our collision sport as safe as possible but REALLY? @WorldRugby Suggest you review this decision! http://t.co/tCmxbznpPZ
— Ben Kay (@BenKay5) October 7, 2015
Former Australian winger Lote Tuqiri also thought the ban was a farce and stated that this was a direct result of giving too much power to citing commissioners who have never played the game before:
@BenKay5@WorldRugby absolute joke!!!?! That's what happens when you put people in power who've never played the game or played scared!!?? — Lote Tuqiri (@LoteTuqiri) October 7, 2015
Martyn Williams also worried about the future of the game with such poor disciplinary decisions.
Crazy decision, seriously think by the time we get to the 2023 World Cup it will be a Tag rugby tournament https://t.co/Xzkf7DblYl
— Martyn Williams (@martynewilliams) October 7, 2015
Scott Quinnell, the former Wales No.8, and Jonathan Davies, the former Welsh fly-half and BBC commentator, also chimed in and echoed similar sentiments to Martyn Williams as they questioned the direction rugby was heading in with such rulings.
@ScottQuinnell@martynewilliams next thing will be no lifting of knee when running. Walking rugby? #couldcatchonnot — Jonathan Davies (@JiffyRugby) October 7, 2015
Two clips of the incident can be seen below. In the first clip of the incident Alan Quinlan is commentating. When highlighting the challenge he argues that their was no intent from Tuilagi and that the massive Samoan was only trying to power through the tackle of the Japanese player. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_zOLFHO5Ts However, a second clip of the incident, which shows the side angle, is possibly less favourable to the Newcastle winger and it certainly gives some food for thought.
Fascinating how reactions to the Tuilagi ban become less clear cut when you show people this angle. Guilty or not? https://t.co/7rTX3cys2Z
— Simon Thomas (@simonrug) October 7, 2015
#SAM #AlesanaTuilagi cited for striking a #JPN player w/ his knee during 2nd min of match. #SAMvJPN #RWC2015 https://t.co/ZxVy2nlnd9 — Patrick Yuen (@PatrickYuen_36) October 7, 2015
Whether the ban was justified, we'll let you decide.
Photo Credit: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE
