{"id":292379,"date":"2023-09-25T00:34:17","date_gmt":"2023-09-25T00:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/?p=292379"},"modified":"2023-09-25T00:34:17","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T00:34:17","slug":"gregor-townsend-left-disappointed-with-world-rugbys-bunker-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/rugby-union\/gregor-townsend-left-disappointed-with-world-rugbys-bunker-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Gregor Townsend left &apos;disappointed&apos; with World Rugby&apos;s bunker system"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Gregor Townsend hits out at World Rugby&#8217;s disciplinary process claiming is not fit for purpose after Afusipa Taumoepeau was sin-binned for a high-tackle on Scotland captain Jamie Ritchie during 45-17 win vs Tonga<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Gregor Townsend has been left baffled by World Rugby&#8217;s disciplinary process\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><span>Afusipa Taumoepeau was sin-binned for a high shot on Scotland&#8217;s Jamie Ritchie<\/span><\/li>\n<li><strong>Townsend claimed &#8216;he didn&#8217;t know what the TMO bunker were looking at&#8217;<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Latest Rugby World Cup 2023 news, including fixtures, live scores and results<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Gregor Townsend has hit out at World Rugby\u2019s disciplinary process around high tackles \u2014 insisting it simply isn\u2019t fit for purpose.<\/p>\n<p>Townsend watched his Scotland side kickstart their World Cup campaign by scoring seven tries in a clinical bonus-point win over Tonga in Nice.<\/p>\n<p>But the match was soured somewhat by the incident which forced skipper Jamie Ritchie off the field in the first half following a failed head-injury assessment (HIA).<\/p>\n<p>Tonga winger Afusipa Taumoepeau was sin-binned for an appalling high tackle which saw his shoulder catch Ritchie on the chin. However, the controversial bunker system inexplicably failed to upgrade it to a red \u2014 and Townsend blasted the officials for failing to make the correct call.<\/p>\n<p>Following a similar incident involving Scotland\u2019s Jack Dempsey and South Africa\u2019s Jesse Kriel a fortnight ago, Townsend insists it\u2019s just not good enough.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/25\/00\/75792411-12556193-image-a-70_1695599015729.jpg\" height=\"443\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Gregor Townsend (pictured) has hit out at World Rugby\u2019s disciplinary process around high tackles<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/25\/00\/75792733-12556193-image-a-71_1695599058755.jpg\" height=\"421\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>It came after Scotland ran seven tries past Tonga to claim their first victory at the Rugby World Cup, 45-17<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/25\/00\/75792711-12556193-image-a-72_1695599104461.jpg\" height=\"466\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>But Scotland captain Jamie Ritchie (middle) was removed from the game after failing a HIA after\u00a0Afusipa Taumoepeau struck him high with his shoulder<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It\u2019s very disappointing that our captain, one of our key players, was hit in the head and had to be removed from the game,\u2019 said the Scotland head coach.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It\u2019s twice now that\u2019s happened. Against South Africa, Jack Dempsey was hit in the head. Nothing happened that day, and today it was only a yellow card.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I just don\u2019t understand what the TMO bunker and the three officials \u2014 who are there to say if it\u2019s a red card \u2014 are looking at.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We\u2019re trying to look at ways to not give red cards rather than referee what isn\u2019t a legal tackle and should be a red card, in my opinion.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Under the new bunker system, the Foul Play Review Officer and other officials involved have eight minutes to decide whether to upgrade a yellow card to red. Townsend says the system isn\u2019t working as intended, with the high shot on Ritchie a perfect example.<\/p>\n<p>Ritchie will now face a 12-day stand-down period as per concussion protocols, but Scotland are confident he will be fine to face Ireland in Paris on October 7.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The TMO bunker is not being delivered as what I thought it would be,\u2019 said Townsend, who was also highly critical of the decision not to cite Kriel a fortnight ago. \u2018That is only if the referee is not sure at the time whether it\u2019s a yellow card or a red card.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I don\u2019t believe there\u2019s been a red card issued by a referee yet \u2014 they\u2019ve all gone to the bunker.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It\u2019s to help referees when they are not sure whether it\u2019s a yellow or red card, but it\u2019s taking the game away from the referees to make those decisions.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018If there is mitigation there for a player who runs into contact and gets hit in the head, I don\u2019t see it. It\u2019s supposed to be a late or sudden change in movement, but Jamie didn\u2019t even carry the ball that low and got hit in the head.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018This is our showcase, our opportunity to show what is legal and what is illegal, what we want out of the game.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018That\u2019s two tackles now, both upright, both hit the head of our players, one had no sanction, not even a penalty, and the second one just had a yellow card. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s good enough.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It will be a 12-day thing with Jamie because he\u2019s had previous head injuries. Twelve days still makes him available for our final pool game, but it still takes him out of our next game (against Romania on Saturday) which is very disappointing.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018He\u2019ll be able to return at his level if he gets through all the return-to-play protocols. I\u2019ve no worries about him coming back at his best level.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Townsend was pleased to see his side get their campaign up and running, with seven tries and seven different scorers.<\/p>\n<p>Scotland now head to Lille and need another five points in the Romania game ahead of the showdown with Ireland.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We knew it would be a tough match,\u2019 said Townsend. \u2018Tonga are a very good side with very good individuals. They are very physical. We talked about the fact that the work we did in the first 20 minutes might not necessarily lead to points on the board but we believed we could take away their fitness.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/25\/00\/75792713-12556193-image-a-73_1695599200177.jpg\" height=\"367\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>It was a nasty impact, with the Tongan winger being sent to the sin bin before coming back onto the field after the TMO bunker were not satisfied it should be upgraded to a red card<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/25\/00\/75785387-12556193-image-a-75_1695599269700.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Scotland went on to win with Duhan van der Merwe (middle) scoring his first try at the tournament<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/25\/00\/75785379-12556193-image-a-76_1695599299323.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Blair Kinghorn (pictured) wrapped up the scoring, with Scotland set to now play Romania on Saturday\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It was a bonus \u2014 literally \u2014 that we got those four tries in the first half. It was probably a bit ahead of what we expected. Credit to the players for doing that.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Asked for his thoughts on Ireland beating South Africa on Saturday night, Townsend added: \u2018Reading a few comments after the game, it looked like Ireland were already in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Even chatting to a few people, they were saying it will be Ireland against New Zealand. Maybe that\u2019s already been decided.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We know we have to win our next two games, and it\u2019s likely now we\u2019ll have to win with either a bonus point or deny Ireland a bonus point. But we\u2019ve got a game next week to focus on and we\u2019ve got to get maximum points from that one first.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/rugbyunion\/article-12556193\/Gregor-Townsend-hits-World-Rugbys-disciplinary-process-claiming-not-fit-purpose-Afusipa-Taumoepeau-sin-binned-high-tackle-Scotland-captain-Jamie-Ritchie-45-17-win-vs-Tonga.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gregor Townsend hits out at World Rugby&#8217;s disciplinary process claiming is not fit for purpose after Afusipa Taumoepeau was sin-binned [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292378,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Gregor Townsend left &amp;apos;disappointed&amp;apos; 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