Chris Hala'ufia banned for seven weeks for dangerous tackle on Olly Morgan

ooft! definately got what he deserved. Dirty player!

What an asshole move

That's not even a tackle, that's assault.

ah the good ol' flying headbutt

Red red red

keep banning him more until he learns you cant do that!

Soooo red :)

im not a fan off both of those teams! but rugby needs to grow up and get on with the hits, so what he gets tackeld late and hard!, lets get on with it, if we wanted to not get hit hard we'd have played football, but we dont becuase footballs is for pussys, so lets grow up and set a example of how hard rugby is!!

Yeahhhh!!! Rugby ought to have more headbutting! Maybe the IRB will toughen up and we can elbow people in the face during mauls, too! And kick jumpers in the nuts during lineouts!

Congratulations, ceri, for the dumbest comment so far this year. To everyone else: the year isn't over yet, so you still have a chance!

They already do allow elbows, i mean Dylan Hartly did it on Richie Mccaw in clear view of the ref, and it was shown on the big screen and neither the ref, touchies or the match review board did anything so it must be legal.

I suggest you meet the players that each year become TETRAPLEGIC (meaning they cannot move from the nech down) because of dangerous playing
the only stats I have is 3 per year in England, 2 in France and 1 every 3 years in Italy.

please, go tell them that we should thoughen up and not be a pussy. then you come play on my field and I will allow some "non-pussy-rugby" just on you.

there is no excuse for foul play. rugby is a contact game, not a combat game.

and you my dear are an idiot

Most tetraplegics are injured through LEGAL aspects of the game. What a silly comment to make.

Yeah mate I totally agree with you. Penalties and cards should only get handed out if the tackled player dies or if we're very harsh turns paraplegic. Please stop turning rugby into a sport for wusses

Yeah you are so right ceri, making a statement about how much harder rugby is than football should be allowed by having no ruled, hey why dont we just let everyone head but each other whenever they fancy, on or off the ball! Sounds like a great idea

7 weeks is no way enough. That was bloody horrendous.

I am guessing somebody above needs to do some growing up! It's a hard game even if you obey the rules! That was just clear dangerous and has nothing to do with rugby! Maybe he should learn to commit to a tackle and finish it off! instead of pussying out!

Late, high, and no attempt to wrap. If he had've wrapped and kept it low, nobody would care.

I can't believe he only got 7 weeks. With his amount of previous he should have been banned for alot longer. He is a professional rugby player, he knows exactly what he is doing in not tackling properly. It is no more than assault, he will seriously injure somebody and possibly end their career. The sooner this thug retires the better.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with it...

...with the ban, that is.

Ceri obviously never played rugby himself. Or he was just kidding.

Definitely not doing the Tongans proud.

oh dear, that's a pretty shocking challenge.

manu tuilagi got 5. thats scandalous

manu tuilagi got 5. thats scandalous

No place for this in rugby, but gouging and punching absolutely deserve more punishment than a bad tackle, or even an assault. This is very dangerous and ill disciplined and deserves a booking and a ban, but the citing comissioner desperatley need some consistency.

I think refs must stop being afraid to show the reds when required... although never be as traumed as Nigel Owens!

Cheers

Owens is getting a raw deal of his red card of the Samoan bloke. Watch and listen to the clip of the incident on youtube. Owens clearly states he did not see it as his eyes stayed with play. It was the assistant Ref (or Touch judge in old school) who makes the call. Owens asks him what is the recomended sanction as he didn't see it and the assistant calls the red card. In that circumstance Owens has no choice but to go with what he has been told by his assistant. I agree the call in that match was wrong but it wasn't Owens call.

I know bro, just having a laugh...

I think if I was one of Morgan's teammates, I'd still be hitting that prick. That was BRUTAL... If he'd hit him a few inches higher, say in the temple, Morgan could very well be done.

Ouch that hurt!!. Halaufia has previous maybe its time the IRB really cracked down hard on repeat offenders.

Horrible tackle. I barley even call it a tackle. What was he thinking, nothing about that hit was remotely the correct way to tackle?

This is not really different from the Armitage "tackle" against Scotland. And he got nothing during the match and only 1 week suspension. But unfortunately for him, this player is not English.

Not trying to overly defend Armitage tackle, but more I think that is under valuing this tackle to group them together. The Scottish player was falling into the tackle. Where as this one the player was upright and the tackler could see the ball had gone and then used his head, Armitage at least went with the shoulder

D0m3 - you're wrong, and possibly an idiot. English officials don't preside over the hearings of English players, so where is the bias? This incident was worse, a lot worse.

Amazing how even this post has seen an opportunity for a bit of England bashing. Good effort.

The amount of suspensions being handed out is getting ridiculous at the end of the day it is a contact sport that tackle was not dangerous I think something needs to change before the game goes soft!

@ Juggalo Every game/sport has rules. Read them before commenting. It should have been a red card straight, is 7 weeks a fair ban? I don't know.

juggalo & ceri must be trolling.

8wks before and only 7wks now? so they determined he showing signs of improvement? rfu get it together.

Harden up... Ive got no problems with the intent, just the execution was a bit off. Good hard stuff... yellow at very most!

berk! awful, nasty and vicious tackle
7 weeks is correct in the IRB ban classification, but not enough, considering the "palmares" of of the player. he is a recidivist and he has been often involved in cheap shots in mauls

What I don't understand is that people like this keep on doing this.
You see he only makes the move AFTER the guy is kicking.
I would give him this punishment and a probation of a year.
Next offense you're out of rugby for a year since you don't want to learn....

I think a 4 week ban is enough. It was a ridiculous 'tackle' and the outcome was horrendous but I actually think he make's a genuine attempt to tackle legally.

It's easy to say "if it's a few inches lower"(although in the case the issue isn't the height of the table but the positioning) in hindsight I know, but I think the outcome is far worse than the intention. He intended to hit him late and hard - I have no doubt about that - but I'm not sold he intended to hit him high or actually use his head maliciously. More than anything I think if you look at the replay 0:45 seconds into the video, to me, his tucking of the head looks like an attempt at self protection, after coming in on an incorrect angle. I also don't believe, on that angle, that the tackle was high. Which sounds ridiculous because obviously Morgan was hit directly in the chin, but the shoulder contact seems to be low enough. It looks more like stupidity, he put his head in the wrong place and paid the price. Nothing particularly indicative of malicious intent though. People put their head on the wrong side in the tackle all the time.

The main problem with Rugby is not the rules but the faux outrage every time something goes wrong. People seem to judge and condemn incidents and players on emotion and outrage. A bit of a soccer mentality that's creeping into the game.

This was a bad tackle and he endangered Morgan with his recklessness. That's all I think it is. I wouldn't say Rugby has turned soft for punishing Hala'ufia, but I'd argue the length and severity of the punishment is soft, and the over reaction by rugby fans is soft.

From reading some of these comments you'd think Hala'ufia shot up a nursery! I wonder if Wilkinson made this tackle what the consensus would be.

Disgusting cowardly play. Play like that doesn't stamp your authority on the game nor constitute getting in the face of the opposition to put them off the game. In no way does that benefit your team in beating the opposition, that was just an attempt to cause harm and was in no means skillful or physical. Players who use tactics like that are simply saying 'I couldn't get hold of him legally while he was in possession'.

duuuuuude......................your a muppet, you can play hard and still be legal. Im guessing you just wrote this for a reaction, but offensive comments will be removed so thats my fun gone.

The difference with this tackle and Samo's tackle in the post above is a matter of maybe half a second of timing and some poor execution. He got a yellow... his head was in the wrong spot for Morgan and for himself. The yellow was sufficent.

hooligan...he's in the wrong sport...

Chris Hala'Ufia gets a yellow card and Sam Warburton gets a red card in the RWC Semis. I found this clip to be much worse and malicious.