Harlequins vs Sale - Sunday 3pm

[Puja]

I went back to have another look and it actually seems a lot worse than I thought at the time. I had thought Manu tripped and fell in to the collision just as Allan did, but he seems to be going for a hit without any idea of where Allan is actually going to be when he lands. I often find it strange when commentators talk about being committed as justification. He has committed to (at best) making a no-arms hit on a player who is in the air at the time. There is certainly mitigation that Allan falls in such a strange way, but I would still say it's a bit reckless from Tuilagi.

Looking at that, I'd say the similarity is very much to the Ben Earl incident. If you look at where the contact is made, Manu's shoulder is at the same height as the nearby Sale player's hip. He's bent at the waist and it is absolutely text-book in that respect. It's not an upright tackle, it's timed perfectly so that it'll be hitting him when he touches the ground, it is the kind of thing that they're trying to teach in the courses.

The question is the shoulder and the arms. His left arm is actually extended well and, if you watch it frame-by-frame, his right arm is coming up and is in front of his shoulder as contact is made, but isn't able to complete the wrap because of Allan's awkward fall pinning it back down. Even if it's not an arms extended before the tackle, it's definitely not a tucked shoulder.

I have to say I feel that Barnes has got that spot on. The point of the head injury framework is to try and encourage players to go lower and not to try and make dominant tackles chest to chest - Tuilagi's done that and, while there could've been arms out earlier in that tackle, they are there and he's not tucking his shoulder. Would be harsh to punish him for that.

Puja