World Rugby have announced a set of revised sanctions for foul play including high tackles.
One week on from the Ireland versus New Zealand second test at the Aviva Stadium which featured a number of contentious challenges, dangerous tackling is on the agenda.
Rugby union's world governing body has thus sought to provide udpated revisions in terms of the sanctions applicable for transgression of the playing rules.
"Dangerous tackling of an Opponent including:(i) a tackle or attempted tackle above the line of the shoulders even if the tackle starts below the line of the shoulders; (ii) grabbing and rolling/twisting around the head/neck area even if the contact starts below the line of the shoulders," they say for example, going on to also emphasise that "a dangerous tackle which results in a strike to the head shall result in at "least a mid-end entry point sanction".
Proposed sanctions include lower end ones which are punishable with two week suspensions, mid-range which six weeks and top end which are a minimum of eight weeks.
Former Ireland captain Keith Wood had given his take on the issue of tackling on Newstalk this week.
"I think the directive from world rugby leaves a fair amount to be desired and I think it makes it fairly difficult," he had said.
"If World Rugby are to be really, really serious about that tackle, it can't be at shoulder height. It just can't. It has to be lower than that. And I know that radically changes the game but if you're looking and talking about players safety, you need to make the tackles somewhere away from the head. It cannot be at the line of the shoulder which is a couple of inches away from the chin."
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