Hurricanes’ Julian Savea is on the touch-line, five meters out from the corner when he receives a pass. He never gets control of the ball, but keeps it in front of him. As he drives towards the line, the Chiefs’ Tom Marshall bundles Savea into touch causing the ball to spill to the turf in the in-goal.

Referee Chris Pollock calls for the TMO to review, “Try or no-try?”

During the review, the referee team notices that Marshall did not bind in the tackle. They decide a penalty for the shoulder-charge (something not noticed or penalized during the play), penalty try because the try “probably” would have been scored and yellow-card for Marshall’s foul-play.

When did a shoulder-charge become a yellow-card offense? I can agree with the penalty, and, grudgingly, agree to the penalty-try. I think it is a stretch that the try “probably” would have been scored “except for the foul play by Marshall”. Savea didn’t have control of the ball and would have had to regain control while dealing with Marshall’s tackle, which if it had been legal, surely would have stopped Savea from re-gathering.

My real issue though is the yellow-card. Is a shoulder charge at the half-way line a yellow-card offense? It never has been in my recollection. It’s a penalty with a warning, “Don’t do it again!” Then, on with the game. So, why make it a yellow-card at the try-line?

This amounts to double-jeopardy in my mind. Marshall and the Chiefs are penalized twice for the same offense. Once with the penalty-try and once with the yellow-card. That’s overkill.

Rugby is a hard game. Why are we softening it up? From a fan’s perspective, I want to see the best competitors playing hard. Surely, safety is a concern, but this is not really a case of an issue with safety. Marshall’s ill-advised “shoulder-charge” was really him turning his back in the tackle. There was no danger to anyone but himself. The referee’s overreaction reduced one team to 14 players. Removing players from the game diminishes the competition.

Let’s swing the pendulum back towards keeping players on the pitch. There are too many yellow-cards being given without enough cause.