A pair of All Blacks greats have been slammed for their “disgraceful” view on red cards following the two sending offs in Saturday’s Bledisloe finale in Brisbane.
Sir John Kirwan and Christian Cullen both called for red cards to be removed from rugby union after the All Blacks and Wallabies were reduced to 14 men each in the first half with Kiwi prop Ofa Tuungafasi and Australian loose forward Lachie Swinton both dismissed for dangerous contact.
Sir John thought the punishments were too harsh.
"I think we should have a yellow card and on report and you suffer later because the game will suffer,” Sir John said during at halftime during the coverage.
"The trouble with red cards is that it throws the game up in the air. This is the problem I've got with it."
Cullen, who was also on the broadcast, agreed.
"I'm with JK. I don't agree with red cards at all. Ten minutes off, put it on report, someone else can come in. It just ruins the game, seriously," Cullen said.
Since the comments, debate has sparked up around the use of red cards with Wallabies greats Phil Kearns and Tim Horan agreeing with Sir John and Cullen.
Former Irish loose forward Alan Quinlan, however, couldn’t believe the quartet held such a view.
Quinlan said player safety has to come first.
"What really bemuses me and frustrates me is the reaction of some of the legends of the game," Quinlan told Off The Ball.
"You have four stalwarts of the game who have achieved so much in the game, and the four of them were saying neither was a red card. And I'm just bemused looking at this. It's getting to the point where people are looking for mitigating factors, saying it's going to ruin the game.
"I just think it's a disgrace, and I'm really sick of these type of tackles and people making excuses, saying it's going to ruin the game. What's going to ruin the game is someone getting seriously injured.
"I would say to any professional players throughout the world, take the force out of the tackle. Shoulders can slip up a chest, players can dip, all that stuff, but if the force is taken out of it, that will be looked at as a mitigating factor."
All Blacks coach Ian Foster has also weighed into the discussion, telling media he isn’t convinced removing sending offs is a solution to the game.
The All Blacks coach says he does think Ofa Tuungafasi's red card is debatable though. (Source: Other)
"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."
Swinton has since been handed a four-week suspension for his hit on Sam Whitelock, meaning he will miss the remainder of the Tri-Nations.
Tuungafasi's hearing is tonight.
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