‘F**k this p****s me off’: Tongan ex All Black rages at Farrell/Moala decisions
This has been a wild week when it comes to dangerous tackles and subsequent bans, with England captain Owen Farrell grabbing the headlines.
The talk across the rugby world since Saturday has been about Farrell’s high tackle against Wales at Twickenham and how he will be punished. That talk transformed into sheer rage on Tuesday when the flyhalf actually had the red card rescinded, meaning he is free to carry on playing.
You can trawl through social media for hours and you will find very few people that agree with that decision, as the vast majority of people are outraged. However, not many will be as outraged as the Tonga squad given the events of the last week.
Tonga centre George Moala was red carded for a tip tackle against Canada last week, which was probably the right decision, just as many felt it was the right decision to red card Farrell. However, the ex All Black has been banned for ten weeks, ending his World Cup hopes, while Farrell is free to play at the weekend.
Another former New Zealand international turned Tonga international, Toulouse’s Pita Ahki, could not hide his rage when finding this out on Tuesday and took to X to vent his spleen.
The former New Zealand Sevens international wrote: “George Moala has a clear record and World Rugby has given him 10 weeks for a tip tackle? This guy has had how many red cards and gets off clean? How? Fuck this pisses me off.”
When looking at both incidents, plenty of fans out there will agree with Ahki, as, while the tackles are not the same, it is hard to argue that there is a ten week difference in the punishment length for both tackles, particularly when taking into account Farrell’s somewhat shady past.
Exactly george Moala has a clear record and @WorldRugby has given him 10 weeks for a tip tackle? This guy has had how many red cards and gets off clean? How? Fuck this pisses me off https://t.co/nd7jeICRap
— pita ahki (@AhkiPita) August 15, 2023
