Japan captain Michael Leitch shown red

Japan played Samoa in Sapporo today in a Pacific Nations Cup match

Leitch was shown red for a shoulder to the head. He made clear contact, though you could argue another tackler affected the height and direction of the man he hit. Still, there'll be a disciplinary panel, which will make Japan sweat over the availability of their captain at the tournament. To rub salt into the wound, Japan lost 22-24.

It's reminder that there's more than just an injury risk in this run of matches up to the World Cup.

Fiji played Tonga in the other match. Fiji won 36-20, which looks quiet handy. However, Fiji had raced into a 19-0 lead before Tonga pulled it back to 26-20, and threatened to take the lead.

This tweet shows the Leitch red card incident:

https://twitter.com/jaredwright17/status/1682647853808640004

Yeah, that's direct shoulder contact to the head, clear red.  There might be some mitigation due to the impact of the other tackler, but I doubt it.  It looked to me that Leitch was going in high regardless.  

By the way Leitch must be about 100 years old by now, eh?

Highlights of the Japan-Samoa match



In recent matches, Japan look nothing like the dynamic side which defeated Ireland and Scotland four years ago. Still, this was a match they could have won, even with Leitch off the pitch. Something is not clicking.

NO mitigation I think. Leitch did not dip at all

Leitch got a three match ban, which can be reduced to two, if he takes that tackling course. This means he's available for all World Cup matches.

https://www.rugbypass.com/news/world-rugby-statement-japan-michael-leitch-banned-after-red-card/

So everyone makes their RWC squad in time for the first tournament game?

doctor_grey wrote:So everyone makes their RWC squad in time for the first tournament game?

Japan has two more Pacific Cup games, against Tonga and Fiji. They are then scheduled to play Italy on the 26th of August. Most team still have two or three games before the World Cup, so a three-match ban for anyone would mean a player was still available. However, anyone getting carded in those matches is likely to be in trouble.

If a ban keeps you out of the first pool games, you'd have to be a very good player, in a team with a good chance of reaching the knock-out stages, to make initial selection. In England, someone like Farrell or Itoje.

If a ban keeps you out of the first pool games, you'd have to be a very good player, in a team with a good chance of reaching the knock-out stages, to make initial selection. In England, someone like Farrell or Itoje.

You forgot Ben Youngs in that list. He is surely also a vital cog in the England machine. Albeit a slightly rusty and broken around the edges cog.

sensisball wrote:

If a ban keeps you out of the first pool games, you'd have to be a very good player, in a team with a good chance of reaching the knock-out stages, to make initial selection. In England, someone like Farrell or Itoje.

You forgot Ben Youngs in that list. He is surely also a vital cog in the England machine. Albeit a slightly rusty and broken around the edges cog.

The trouble with a scrum half, prop, or hooker, is that you need two of each in your match day squad. If one gets a niggle in the run-up to a match, then you need cover. If the other player in the squad is unavailable through a ban, then you can only call up a replacement by sending someone home.

That's part of the reason Lancaster didn't take Dylan Hartley to the 2015 World Cup, as his ban meant he was unavilable for the opening pool match, and why some teams selecting only two hookers in the squad seems a big risk.

Scrum half is slightly easier to cover than a front row slot but it's still a specialist position. As it happens, England could probably call on George Ford at a pinch, so maybe Youngs could be carried for a couple of games, with the other two nines sharing the main workload, and Ford stepping up in an emergency.