In light of a recent spate of yellow cards in Tri-Nations games, the New Zealand Herald is calling for rule changes aimed at ensuring that games remain 15 versus 15 for as long as possible.
"The All Blacks are on fire and from the New Zealand viewpoint, test match rugby is as sexy as it has been in living memory. Some of that is down to a conspiracy by referees to eliminate illegal play. Their hardline attitude in the Tri-Nations competition so far has allowed an enterprising team to seize chances at pace and dazzle the crowds.
"At the same time, though, their hard line is threatening to undermine this test renaissance by over-zealously removing players from the field for non-violent indiscretions.
"The referees are damned if they do and damned if they don't. To insist on a free-flowing, high-pace game the whistleblowers must insist on penalising professional fouls.
"But penalising is the operative word. Not banishing to the sinbin for 10 minutes or out for the rest of a game. Since when did throwing a ball away or pushing someone to avoid a collision really amount to an offence warranting anything other than a penalty to the other side?"
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