Bok warns that rugby is becoming 'a soft game'
SPOTLIGHT: Former Springbok prop and current Lions scrum coach Julian Redelinghuys has warned that rugby should be wary of going soft.
Redelinghuys’ comment stems from a highly debatable incident during the Lions’ defeat to the Bulls last weekend when Carlu Sadie cleaned out an opponent in the ruck.
The tighthead prop made a controversial charge on Bulls hooker Johan Grobbelaar without the use of his arms and was only penalised for the offence.
While the consensus in the rugby fraternity is that the clean was dangerous, Redinglinghuys has warned that awarding penalties for such incidents could lead to the game losing its physicality.
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“I’m all for player safety,” Redelinghuys said.
“The one thing I enjoyed about rugby growing up was watching guys like Bakkies [Botha] cleaning out players at the ruck. I think a lot of us fell in love with the toughness of rugby.
“I’m scared we lean too much, and I know I’m in dangerous water when I say this, and rugby does well allowing players to be tough but we must be careful that it doesn’t become a soft game.
“If there is a good clean-out it should be rewarded. It is nice to see guys putting in the effort, putting in a tough tackle and carrying hard. That is what I fell in love with.”
The Springbok also addressed another murky area of the game, namely the scrums.
However, he sympathises with the referees in their effort to clarify the area.
“It is very difficult to ref the scrum,” Redelinghuys admitted.
“There are so many things that change and so many things to look for.
“We try to pick up what cues certain refs look for. We try to give them good pictures on those cues and also good pictures that work for us and our systems.
“So there are a lot of things they have to look for and I do have sympathy for the refs.
“But we just try to give good pictures, which are stability, control, not to have too much movement, so that’s how we try to prep our guys.
“Hopefully then if you dominate a lot of scrums in a row you will start to get favourable calls and when there is doubt you hope to get the 50/50s.”
He added: “Tappe Henning is heading up the refs in the URC [United Rugby Championship]. I like the way they are doing it at the moment.
“They chat to us on a weekly basis to get our points of view. We try to get solutions. We don’t want 100 reset scrums in a game. We want the right calls to be made most of the time. In time those processes will deliver results.”
Redelinghuys played eight Tests for the Springboks between 2014 and 2016.
He was forced into retirement at the age of 27 after he suffered a serious neck injury during a Currie Cup match.
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