Rugby reaches worrying new low with softest penalty of all time
There is a lot of debate whether rugby is getting softer, with many saying it is and equally a lot of people saying that it is not. But when a player is penalised for standing, the rugby have gone soft brigade might have a point.
This was concerning a penalty awarded to Ireland on Saturday against Italy in Rome, where lock Niccolo Cannone was penalised for literally standing and having scrum-half Craig Casey run into him.
The Ireland No9 went down injured holding his throat, which led to referee Mike Adamson deciding to use his TMO to look at the incident. But after looking, the commentators during the match and the vast majority of people online thought there was nothing to it as the Italian was standing his ground. But Adamson saw otherwise, and actually awarded a penalty, which has shocked many people online.
Cannone did turn his body slightly, which meant his shoulder hit the neck of Casey, but that was all. If anything, he actually made himself less of an obstruction by turning sideways. The reality is though, it was a 76kg scrum-half running into a 120kg lock, and that is what caused the penalty.
Take a look:
Italy XV
15 Ange Capuozzo
14 Edoardo Padovani
13 Juan Ignacio Brex
12 Tommaso Menoncello
11 Pierre Bruno
10 Paolo Garbisi
9 Stephen Varney
1 Danilo Fischetti
2 Giacomo Nicotera
3 Simone Ferrari
4 Niccolo Cannone
5 Federico Ruzza
6 Sebastian Negri
7 Michele Lamaro
8 Lorenzo Cannone
Replacements
16 Luca Bigi
17 Federico Zani
18 Marco Riccioni
19 Edoardo Iachizzi
20 Giovanni Pettinelli
21 Alessandro Fusco
22 Luca Morisi
23 Tommaso Allan
Ireland XV
15. Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD) 27 caps
14. Mack Hansen (Connacht/Corinthians) 11 caps
13. Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD) 49 caps
12. Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians) 43 caps
11. James Lowe (Leinster) 17 caps
10. Ross Byrne (Leinster/UCD) 16 caps
9. Craig Casey (Munster/Shannon) 9 caps
1. Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD) 50 caps
2. Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Lansdowne) 19 caps
3. Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Buccaneers) 29 caps
4. Iain Henderson (Ulster/Academy) 70 caps
5. James Ryan (Leinster/UCD) 50 caps (c)
6. Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 25 caps
7. Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD) 47 caps
8. Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere) 35
Replacements
16. Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Lansdowne) 14 caps
17. Dave Kilcoyne (Munster/UL Bohemians) 50 caps
18. Tom O’Toole (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 6 caps
19. Ryan Baird (Leinster/Dublin University) 8 caps
20. Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution) 91 caps caps
21. Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen) 102 caps
22. Jack Crowley (Munster/Cork Constitution) 2 caps
23. Stuart McCloskey (Ulster/Bangor) 11 caps
