All Blacks coach Ian Foster says there are pros and cons that need to be considered when it comes to the suggestion red cards should be removed from rugby union after the final Bledisloe Test on Saturday featured two sendings off.
Both the All Blacks and Australia had players red-carded in the Aussies' 24-22 win in Brisbane, both for making dangerous contact directly with the head.
After the much some commentators, including former All Black Sir John Kirwan, said red cards ruin matches and should be replaced with a report system.
Foster, however, told media that may not be the solution.
"The ref pulled the red card out of his pocket. It was something we had to deal with and didn't deal with as well as we should've," Foster said.
"When people start talking about, 'you don't need cards', I totally get that argument to one extent but the flip-side of it is it's a very physical game and, if we don't have clear boundaries, then it becomes really hard for everyone to play the skillful game that they need to."
The All Blacks lost prop Ofa Tuungafasi while Wallabies flanker Lachie Swinton - who was on debut - was sent off minutes later for dangerous contact.
Tuungafasi's contact was against Wallabies winger Tom Wright, who at the point of the collision was falling down into the front rower's shoulder, while Swinton's hit on All Blacks lock Sam Whitelock was much higher.
As such, Foster says while both players were sent off for similar offences on paper, he believes the two are very different with judicial processes approaching.
"We've got to write a supporting argument about that situation. I saw two very different tackles in the two red cards in the game.
"Clearly we think there was some mitigation with Ofa's tackle that we'll highlight and we'll see what happens."
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