Liam Messam puts the shoulder in

Heavy

that was a quality hit! ive heard that if a player is bounced back by a hard hit making it impossible to wrap arms around then its fine.......but thats wat ive heard!

That is definitely an illegal tackle, typical of a big guy with origins in the Pacific Islands, the refs at the RWC will have to keep an eye on these so called tackles, they are Very dangerous and no have place in Union.

The impact of the hit, so sudden and hard, the guy running with the ball bounced off him or jolted back, making it hard for the tackler to get his arms around him. Therefore making it look like an illegal tackle. Just are real solid hit, with not enuff time for him to get his arms around him. That is pacific island players for you, solid and hard hitting.

That's a great hit. It's so gay to say there is no place for that in Union.

not even close to legal

btw it was England Saxons in the final wiv the maori dis was tha semi finals.btw Saxons won :D

Yousef, this was 2006. We're in 2007 now.

he wasn`t trying to get his arms around.so it is illegal though I always enjoy seeing such hits!

The guy ran into a brick wall thats why it looked like an illegal hit.

Guys this tackle is illegal, he made no effort to even use his arms!!! so stop saying "he didnt have time" etc etc! it obviously doesnt have any place in Union hence why it is illegal!!!

Craig, so do u think he purposely went in for a body check and no arms? Kiwis dont go in and purposely put a hit on like that, kiwis are fair players and know the rules. Harden up pussys.

union is such a good game n yea its an illegal hit aight but man sure in some instances u can hit like that.. sheesh harden up its not as if he's tryin to take his head off!!

Typical of the Bloody Kiwi's- if say an England player had done that to a Kiwi they would def spit their dummies. I cant stand how two faced they are like simon shaw and grewcock getting banned- shaw did nothing and as for grewcock what the hell was melamu doing with his fingers in dannys mouth?? surely he deserved to get bitten! Messam should def have been banned for this as he makes no attempt to grab Beattie just drops his shoulder. I blamme the welsh ref myself.....

daff, we would have said fuck off and had a beer in the changing rooms after the game. Harden up man, its not like the guy head highed him, do you english complain about everything? sheeks.

Its an illegal hit, you can see his right arm crossed over his own body as he goes to make the contact. Therefore I see no attempt to wrap the arms. Names Dave by the way but it won't allow me to sign in! Crazy thing.

Dave, this really isn't rocket science. Just click 'Other' and type your name in there.We're working on a new sign in and commenting system though so in the future this will be easier and quicker.

ITS ILLEGAL FULL STOP!!! there was no effort to wrap his arms around, im not saying anything about being hard or not, im saying that in the rules of Rugby Union this tackle is illegal!!!

quit nancing about like a bunch of catholic schoolboy, trust-fund, soft-cock, overweight english wimps and start playing the game hard like the rest of the world.... liam messam is one of the WORLDS greatest union players atm (ted's an idiot 4 not picking him 4 AB's yet): his workrate round the track iis undeniable, he runs in a backline like a scoulded cheetah with a mend second only to sione lauaki, and will damn near kill you on D. this video is proof of the far superior game that has been and is still being developed in NZ, and for you lot to winge and moan about a freakishly good bit of work like that is simply insulting to our fine game of rugby union.THANKYOU...... morons

nz players will clean u boys up anydae they hit hard and legal . if you cant take that its legal get on the field on ill show u

"if you cant take that its legal get on the field on ill show u"Er... did you watch the clip?It's not legal at all. There was no attempt to use his arms. It's not a question of "taking it" as you put it so well. It's simply illegal. Still, nice hit though.

personally i think such hits are great and so long as the target area is the body and not neck up they are fine. also imo this is not a body check, a body check is when both players are travelling in the same direction and the defender uses his shoulder and not his arms. if the defender is stationary and doesnt use his arms,techinaclly its no more dangerous than any scrum

How can you call that illegal it was just plain and simply a massive hit. It's not Messam's fault he hit him so hard he bounced straight to the ground.

You guys are too funny. This is obviously illegal (not allowed for those who are abit slow), so then you go with all your pacific pride, i'll show you on the pitch, stop whinging pussies, mine is bigger, bla bla bla....Go and check the rules, IT IS ILLEGAL by the rules of Union, nothing to do with pride or whatever

I am fascinated to read all the comments about a game that many people are so passionate about. I congratulate the person who submitted the suggestion of title about the tackle, it has definitely drawm interest for us all. Congratulations to all those who made a choice to comment on the tackle and not to make suggestive remarks about Liams hereditary connections and assumption of the action of the tackle. In conclusion Liam would not be priviledged with the progress that he has accomplished in rugby, without making some judgements of error in play. If the tackle was illegal and Liam did so with intention then I can assure you he would have been feeling the consequnce of his actions, hence judgement already accomplished. In conclusion I still enjoy rugby although I do get concerned that there is a principle that eminates truth in measure and that is "what you do or say will soon come back to you in whatever way shape or form" you reckon??? I am quite sure there has been someone as a friend or family if not oneself who has experienced or performed that very same tackle playing rugby...The focus for comment is the tackle not ones origin.

Ugly, dangerous and illegal, no attempt to tackle legally.

Shot Liam. Catch you later for Kava bro

liam messam outstanding i love it and being in the chiefs developement squad i can relate.sum of these pussys are jst a bunch of homo's who just watch rugby and dont even play it, legal.

bring back the biff

im getting pretty sick of people on this site winging about "ilegal" tackles..messam went to smash him shoulder first then to wrap the arms..but the scotish small balls was too weak to keep his footing..cant blame liam for that..the british isles just got bad luck gene's wise. the kiwis got all the bulk..power..pace and of course dan carter. im not a kiwi. im english but i know wats right and whats rong and this tackle was most certanly right!

Hard hit!The guy bounced of Messam like he ran into a brick wall!THAT IS NZ TACKLING!HARD!!!I dont think its illegal because Messam had no time to wrap his arms around Beattie cause of the hard impact,so it should be fine.But guys its not like he bloody buried him two meters under the ground so harden up!

And buy the way,rugby is a hard game itself,so stop moaning and play it hard like the rest of us!