Rise in ‘fake injury’ tries leads to brutal tackle on genuinely injured player
The last few months have seen a rise in tries scored by players that pulled up with injuries, and we have now seen the dangerous result of those tries.
We first saw it in the NRL in July when the Sydney Roosters’ Joey Manu pulled up with what looked to be a calf injury, only to make a break and kick through for a teammate to score.
Take a look:
Fast forward a month and Argentina’s Jero de la Fuente was cutting through the Wallabies’ defence in the Rugby Championship after pulling his hamstring. Take a look:
Jero De La Fuente carved through the @wallabies with this try 🔥#ARGvAUS #TRC2022 pic.twitter.com/oVGhMnJ7L5
— RUGBYcomau (@rugbycomau) August 14, 2022
Now this is not to say that these were not genuine injuries – de la Fuente had to leave the field immediately after scoring his try – but they have now created situations when tacklers do not know what to do.
This was shown no more clearly than in the NPC over the weekend, where Wellington hooker James O’Reilly pulled up with an Achilles injury early in the match against Counties Manukau. He went down to one knee and passed the ball before being smashed by Counties Manukau winger Peniasi Malimali.
This has been labelled by some on social media as a dog act and a cheap shot, but others have said that Malimali was playing to the whistle, and after tries like de la Fuente’s he could not afford to take a risk by backing off. There is the added factor that it was probably a late tackle, which does make it worse, but this is a tackle that has divided opinion. Take a look:
Counties Manukau
15 Ahsee Tuala
14 Tevita Ofa
13 Nikolai Foliaki
12 AJ Alatimu
11 Peniasi Malimali
10 Riley Hohepa
9 Cam Roigard
1 Ezekiel Lindenmuth
2 Zuriel Togiatama
3 Suetena Asomua
4 William Furniss
5 Samuel Slade
6 Alex McRobbie
7 Adam Brash
8 Stefano Leavasa
Replacements:
16 Ioane Moananu
17 Kauvaka Kaivelata
18 Lionel Evans
19 Jadin Kingi
20 Thor Manase
21 Jonathan Taumateine
22 Esau Filimoehala
23 Nua Soti
Wellington
15 Ruben Love
14 Nehe Milner-Skudder
13 Billy Proctor
12 Riley Higgins
11 Connor Garden-Bachop
10 Jackson Garden-Bachop
9 Richard Judd
1 Xavier Numia
2 James O’Reilly
3 PJ Sheck
4 James Blackwell
5 Dominic Bird
6 Taine Plumtree
7 Du’Plessis Kirifi
8 Keelan Whitman
Replacements:
16 Asafo Aumua
17 Solomona Sakalia
18 Tietie Tuimauga
19 Caleb Delany
20 Peter Lakai
21 TJ Perenara
22 Aidan Morgan
23 Julian Savea
