Debate to deal with mothers: yellow or red?

The red and yellow cards have been tossed around like confetti all season, yet a trivial yellow card in Christchurch tonight has been dealt a shameless flip and dump.

Kiwi referee Ben O’Keefe will not officiate in the quarter-finals if Pablo Matera discusses his poor tackle effort.

Photo: Flanker Pablo Matera of the Crusaders grabs Queensland Reds center Jordan Petaya by the middle of his leg to clean him up.

The intention is simply to get him off the rock. The result of so many careless grips is that the overflowing body of the peta is the next to pass horizontally.

Petaya is fighting Hold and the end result is Petaya landing on the turf with a combination of shoulders, neck and head.

That was the definition of dangerous … a lifting tackle and a player landing on his neck between the ground and other points of contact.

This is the surest point of the debate. Matera Tackle and Sam Gilbert Tip Tackle are a yellow card and much closer to the penalty than the five-week ban.

I hate pile-on from the television footy these days. Because the game is so tightly arranged, as soon as there is a hint of a high tackle, a shoulder charge, a tip tackle or a bone torpedo cleanout, everyone is in a frenzy.

Now there are many previous examples that you can’t avoid inconsistencies.

O’Keefe was trying to figure out how not to give Matera a red card, and that’s probably what we all wanted.

The fact is that strict laws are set and flexibility is a difficult thing to do.

The match was by no means a spectacle and the Crusaders would not hold a single game from their season’s highlight relay 28-15 win.

Reds kicked 30 times and a half times, at least, it was aimless rubbish. There were some competitive kicks and very few kicks that made you sigh like a 1980s Grant Fox kick that finds the grass and then touches the 50m downfield.

Remember Grant Fox? Don’t tell me that the fields are half in width and the grass is much harder to find. The former All Blake had the craft and chose the right time.

The Crusaders hooked it 29 times.

The Reds looked to be in real trouble as they could have been a blowout when they were trailing 21-3 at half time.

They deserve great credit for the running features of coach Brad Thorne’s team… they fought to the end.

The Reds were 12-7 ahead in the second half when they actually played more rugby.

They still don’t accept all the chances of losing to the top Kiwi team. A misfire in the 5m lineout and something made with Lawson Creighton step through the line at the start of the second half was nothing expensive.

Where would you put Harry Wilson in Wallabis Backro?

He has a lot. He has 12 tackles with his 18-ball carry, saved one attempt and scored one goal.

Rob Valentini gives power through the line with the best post-contact meter in the country. That is why he is ahead of him in Test backro at number 7.

With Wilson ahead of Rob Leoter as Blindside Flanker? Some would agree but maybe Wilson is a bench weapon. This is an interesting selection area.

We can do this dance again next Friday.

The Reds and Crusaders will face each other in the quarter-finals.

“We were always going to fight. You expect it from this team, “Thorne said.

“We still have everything to play. This is a new company (in the final).

“Wealth (more) is a big issue for us. We can stress when we do.

“I have a lot of respect for the Crusaders and this place (Christchurch) means a lot to me. I think I played 92 times for them and 30 times for Canterbury.

“I’m here with my team, the Reds, and on this ruthless mission to try to achieve something.”

The Reds have outside shots but only if they kick better, play their best game of 2022 and remember Jordan Petia is on the field to use a lot more.