JD tackle deserves further investigation

Western Province Under-21 lock JD Schickerling suffered a compression fracture of his neck in the fourth minute of the clash last Saturday.

Schickerling was injured after catching a ball from a kick-off when Bulls lock Herbst’s shoulder collided with Schickerling’s head. Afterwards, the Bulls' other lock, Marvin Orie, grabbed Schickerling in a headclamp, before hurling him to the ground.

Orie has been asked to attend an official SARU disciplinary committee, while Herbst was issued an off-field yellow card after the WPRU asked for the incident to be reviewed. This because the referee refused to ask the TMO to get involved, despite there being a 10 minute break as Schickerling was carried from the field.

How the referee refused to get the TMO involved in the first place is beyond me, and given the above footage, it seems pretty obvious to me that both Herbst and Orie should be part of a SARU disciplinary committee investigating this tragic passage of play.

These shoulder charges, tackling without arms, and the pulling of players by the neck are becoming common place in modern day rugby, and it cannot be long before an even more serious injury occurs.

I am not saying Herbst did this on purpose, but there has to be a chance, and given the injury suffered by Schickerling, an enquiry seems the obvious path to follow.

Tank is a former Western Province tighthead prop who now heads up Tankman Media, and sprouts forth on all things rugby on the Front Row Grunt.

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