Wallabies forwards Rory Arnold and Taniela Tupou say they are now constantly vigilant at contact zones during games to avoid being shown a card and sent from the field.
The issue of World Rugby’s crackdown on dangerous contact with the head and neck bubbled up again at the weekend after All Blacks lock Scott Barrett was red carded by referee Jerome Garces during the Wallabies’ win in Perth.
Barrett was sent off in the 40th minute for connecting with Michael Hooper’s head with his shoulder, after failing to use his arms in the tackle.
According to World Rugby’s protocols, introduced to try and reduce head injuries, Garces applied the correct sanction but it hasn’t stopped debate flaring since.
England coach Eddie Jones urged World Rugby to apply “consistency” rated the red card as “ridiculous” after his team’s win over Wales.
"We can't have that in the game. There has to be some common sense applied,” Jones said.
Not unlike Michael Cheika expressing sympathy to Barrett for being sent off, all international coaches are instinctively anxious about one of their players being red carded in a crunch match at the World Cup.
Perhaps this is the ultimate goal of World Rugby, but players, too, are now on edge - particularly those who’ve had dangerous contact issues in the past.
At 209cm, Arnold was pinged often in Super Rugby for making neck contact on much smaller players. And Tupou received a yellow card in Johannesburg last month for a clean out that looked fair but was pinged for no-arms.
"I’ve always copped a few penalties here and there for high tackles and I’ve got to watch out and got to drop my hips and stay a bit lower there, but I’m always thinking about it,” Arnold said.
"It’s different for tall fellas. But obviously trying to keep as low as you can and get that body height down.
"Obviously the ref had to make a decision there (with Barrett). But it’s there to protect the players, their wellbeing and it’s unfortunate what happened. It’s part of the game.”
Asked if he’d done any specific work to address his tackling technique, Arnold said it was more about being conscious of making the effort to get low.
"It’s about noticing when you’re tackling smaller blokes that it’s going to be that bit harder to get that bit lower so you’ve got to work harder,” he said.
After the Ellis Park card, Tupou said he now thinks hard about where and when he makes contact, and not let a rush-of-blood in the moment open the door for card.
“When playing against Argentina this one time I went to hit the ruck and the same thing as happened in Africa, so I stopped and thought, 'no I'm not going to do that, cause I don't want any card cause I'm one card away from not playing ...so I can’t,” Tupou said.
“It's not like I'm worried about it but I'm doing what's best for the team. I learnt my lesson so i've got to be careful. Be more careful on what I'm doing.”
Arnold said discipline across all areas was an important focus in the modern game.
"I think it's just knowing in big games at international level, a full-on penalty, it's the corner, they can all hit them from 50m out,” Arnold said.
"It puts your team under a lot of pressure and can be the difference in those game. Just knowing that and trying not to give away those penalties.”
The Wallabies are preparing in Melbourne for the second Bledisloe Cup clash in Auckland on Saturday, and will fly in on Thursday.
Though Barrett is set to join Brodie Retallick on the sidelines, Arnold hosed down talk there was a locking crisis in the All Blacks camp.
"They’ve got a lot of good depth there in New Zealand,” he said.
"I’m sure the next bloke that comes in for those fellas will be just as good as what they are. They’ve always had that depth in their squad. I don’t think we’ll be targeting saying ‘we can get one up on them there’. I think it’s going to be a very close contest."
Many were shocked by the Wallabies knocking off New Zealand in Perth, and while Arnold said the team always believed they had the capacity to beat New Zealand, he was quick to hose down any sense of over-confidence.
"Look, they’re a world class side. If we play our best footy we’re confident we can get a win against anyone,” he said.
"But this weekend’s different, it’s over there, it’s in their backyard, they’re a different beast there."
