Interesting discussion here, albeit pretty clearly taking the position that Steward should not have seen a red card. I guess where I have come to is that his bracing such that his elbow made contact is what merits the red card, where other actions might have constituted mitigation.
Iām really struggling with the arguments they are making in defense of Steward. They run counter to what I saw with my own eyes. I understand this may not be what the newer high tackle rules were put in place to prevent, by that doesnāt mean that KOing an opposition payer with what was in effect a swinging elbow to the temple can be excused.
āHe only had milliseconds to reactā - it was his reaction to pulling out of the tackle that caused the issue
āHe didnāt lead with his armā - Well how was his elbow the furthest thing forward and that part of him that made contact with the runner?
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Same. Soon as I saw it I said red. It was how he turned side on that did it. Pulling out of the challenge never crossed my mind at the time. It was bumping a player after a dead play which followed the knock on.
Yeah, the arguments are pretty crap - he did react, and the reaction led to the elbow contact. I would have more of a problem with a red had he attempted to make a legal tackle, as you suggested.
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Iām Irish and thought it was harsh on the fella as he wasnāt trying to hurt Keenan. However, with the current rules it was a red all day long. A joke that Woodward etc were saying that an exception should have been made. Thereās a growing argument for a 20min sin bin for head contact without intent. ie in between a yellow and a red
Yeah, I have far more sympathy for the England player than the England arguments. I really donāt think he meant to do harm, and his reaction was somewhat natural. The law is the law though.
Weāre as good as any team there, but with our draw so many things have to align. Need to beat a great Scotland team and SA who I would have as favourites, then France at home or NZ in QF. A red card or not being at 100% could see us lose any of those games. The draw is farcical
Not quite sure how that happened - would it make more sense looking at the rankings when they did the pools than now? I donāt recall. Pool A and B are far stronger than C and D, Pool B is murderous, and they play off against one another.
Intent is an interesting aspect. Agreed there was no intent from Steward but there was also an effort, in my opinion, to give him a bump i.e. stand firm and not yield any ground. A little reminder he was there if you like. The head impact was unfortunate addition. Remember it was a dead play after a knock on. You see a lot worse. The French sending off Vs Scotland earlier in the tournament for example.
Iām not sure on an orange card. Keenan had to come off and will probably miss further games. Iām not sure the 7 points per 10 minute sin bin metric is still accurate to be honest.
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Teams were seeded based on the rankings on 1 January 2020. Almost 4 years before the tournament starts 
I thought there was something odd like that. Going to be some great group round games, and the champion is either going to be a side that has really earned it, or one that played 2 good games at the right time.
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If youāre the best you find a way to win against anyone.
My money is on France, Dupont is an utter freak of a player, best Iāve seen for some time.
Not on any given day. Knock out formats are filled with outcomes that see far superior teams upset, so a softer draw can help a lot. Even the most consistent teams have some variance, have some bad days. Best that those bad days come against a team they are 20-point favourites over than 2-point favourites. Throw in the fatigue factor, and half the tournament has a much softer road. I would not count out the 2nd place teams in either Pool A or Pool B, despite the fact they would already have lost once.
Canāt disagree about France and Dupont, though. He is a player who forces an opponent to be absolutely consistent. That Ireland match was striking, in the broad arc, Ireland really dominated it to a surprising extent. But they made one mistake, France produced that first try, and it felt like that could happen at any time.
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Isnāt he just? As a scarred member of the scrum half union itās really fantastic to see a generational talent in the position.
Itās decision making and ability to switch that decision into an even better one that stands out for me. Thatās of course on top of his physical abilities. And letās not forget the basics, so good.
Iām kind of jealous being honest. He is exactly what I aspired to be when I played.
Howeverā¦he is no Gareth Edwards 
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I get that but New Zealand for example always found a way, thatās why their great sides were great. They rarely had a bad day. If Ireland have such loafty ambitions thatās what they need, they nearly bottled it vās England.
Dupont is what Jonah Lomu was, the guy has the physicality of a flanker, the brains of a fly half and the agility and speed of a scrumhalf. Zero weaknesses, heāll dominate rugby for some time!
Except they didnāt always find a way, and sometimes their great sides were helped out by some nicer draws, while some of the just āgoodā sides we call that because they were turned over on that one bad day they could not afford. There are some great All Blacks side that just didnāt have all that it took at the right moment, but would be hard to call inferior to sides that did win it.
Absolutely agree though about Ireland, made a similar comment above - Ireland doesnāt yet have the big game mentality of a truly great side. They have six months to find that.
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I think NZ are the exact example to argue against what you are saying. Prior to finally winning again in 11, there were 2 but I think 3 editions in that winless run where they went in as big favourites and failed to do it. At least twice getting KOed by a meaningfully lesser side than them who just go it right on the day.
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Fair points both your memory is better than mine.
I donāt think that is a terrible outcome. A bad collision that under the rules merits a sending off, but no subsequent suspension is actually a reasonable compromise between a yellow and a red.
Lifelong All Blacks fans can probably remember some of those knock outs with considerable trauma. That 2007 loss to France comes to mind.
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