Ian McKinley said he was "gobsmacked" that Romain Taofifenua's first half tackle on Uruguay's Santiago Arata was not upgraded to a red card during a Rugby World Cup match on Thursday.
In the 27th minute, Uruguay scrum-half Arata received a blow to the head from the left shoulder of France second row Taofifenua. He was shown a yellow card by referee Ben O'Keeffe with the expectation that it would soon be bumped up to a red.
However, Taofifenua was not sent off and only spent 10 minutes in the sin bin for the tackle.
"The yellow card will remain a yellow card," O'Keeffe explained to France captain Anthony Jelonch.
"There is direct contact with the head, there is height danger. However, there is mitigation. Because of the second tackler, the player drops. He will come back on after the 10 minutes."
Taofifenua yellow card tackle vs Uruguay at Rugby World Cup
"Gobsmacked."
Ian McKinley in disbelieve that Romain Taofifenua's yellow card was not upgraded to a red card. #FRAvURU | #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/5ZEfgfV0Dn
— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) September 14, 2023
Former Italy international McKinley said it was the "incorrect decision. Hugely wrong."
"I think we're both gobsmacked," McKinley said about himself and commentator Dave McIntyre on Virgin Media's coverage of the game.
"Yeah, there is height difference in terms of the player but no wrap, elbow directly to the head, and this the thing that just frustrates players, coaches - the consistency in these yellow and red card decisions."
In the studio at half-time, Matt Williams said the incident "looked really, really bad".
"He does get his arm up a little bit," said Williams.
"I thought when I first watched that he doesn't. Now they're saying that's mitigating circumstances, the player is falling. Gee whiz, if the player is falling, it's only by centimetres. I've got to say that I thought that was a red as soon as I saw it."
Former Ireland international Fiona Hayes added: "Where my issue is, if he's leading with his arm, how is he going to wrap that arm after the tackle? You're looking at the legality of that first. There's a slight fall and a slight dip but I thought he was lucky to get away with that."
Andrew Trimble described the lack of clarity about what constitutes a red card as "a real problem".
"It's a problem for pundits but more importantly, it's a problem for coaches and players," said the former Ireland winger.
"If we can't predict that... It looked very predictable. If he drops, he drops slightly. Macalou, whenever he makes that hit, it's not like he hits the deck straight away. He actually doesn't make much of an impact on the ball carrier's height.
"To Fiona's point, it was never legal. His arm was always tucked. He was always making that style of tackle."
France won the game - their second at this year's Rugby World Cup - 27-12.
🗣 "That looked really really bad."
🗣 "If he's leading with his arm, how is he going to wrap?"
🗣 "It's a real problem."
Matt, Fiona and Andrew on Romain Taofifenua's shoulder to Santiago Arata's head which was 𝐧𝐨𝐭 deemed a red card...#FRAvURU | #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/rr0GZXkwat
— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) September 14, 2023
See Also: Rugby World Cup Organisers Blame Beer Shortage On Heatwave
