Coach Eddie Jones slammed rugby’s “farcical sin-bin situation” after Japan’s 24-23 loss to Wales in Cardiff.
The Brave Blossoms had three players yellow-carded during the match, while Wales received a 20-minute red card.
“It is almost farcical now, the sin-bin situation. We are absolutely ruining the game of rugby,” Jones said. “I don’t think any of the actions today were intentional and deserved to be sin-binned – Wales or us.”
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The former Wallabies and England boss insisted that head-contact rulings have lost all nuance.
“We have to have a more sensible approach to the game. There are going to be contacts with the head. Unless it is reckless – which I didn’t see – we shouldn’t be handing out cards like this.
“At one stage we were down to 13 men, they get a red card, and we’re still down to 14. The game of rugby is about 15 players on the field, and World Rugby should be looking at this very closely.”
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He pointed to the red card in the earlier match in Turin.
“I saw the Italy game and [Springbok lock] Franco Mostert — a guy gets chopped in front of him, he’s 6ft 8 and tries to drop his height, his shoulder brushes the head and he’s red-carded. It’s becoming absurd,” he said.
“It is becoming absurd. If I was a fan I would be asking the Welsh Rugby Union for my money back. But they can’t afford it so they are not going to give it back!”
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