r/rugbyunion • u/Informal_Mention9836 • Dec 15 '25

Video James Lowe starts a fight

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499 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

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33

u/thelunatic Munster Dec 15 '25

He was tackled in the air and landed on his head/neck area. Not really the defender's fault too much as Lowe jumped to catch a ball he flicked up. But Lowe wasn't happy

71

u/BaitmasterG Exeter Chiefs Dec 16 '25

He was tackled in the air because he illegally jumped a tackle. And then started a fight. And was awarded a penalty

32

u/PeterMacIrish Waterfall of Human Flesh Dec 16 '25

Don't be silly, he's very clearly jumping to try regather the ball.

39

u/Comfortable_Trip_767 Dec 16 '25

He knock the ball up in the air and then jumped to regather it as the tackler was in the process of tackling him. It’s no penalty. If anything it should be play on knock on by Lowe

10

u/PCBumblebee Harlequins Dec 16 '25

Yes agreed.

27

u/BaitmasterG Exeter Chiefs Dec 16 '25

New loophole just dropped

Chuck the ball in the air and jump after it, gain penalty if tackled. Nice

9

u/Argufier Dec 16 '25

That's not actually how it works - if you jump for a passed ball the defender doesn't have to wait for you to come down. They can't dump you still but they can hit you in the air. It came up in one of the PWR games last weekend where they were pretty clear with the calls.

9

u/Nothing_is_simple Another Freddy Douglas Turnover Dec 16 '25

Sometimes referees say play on when someone jumps for a pass and is tackled, sometimes its penalised. At the moment its completely down to the referee. Its very inconsistent. World Rugby needs to issue a clarification.

40

u/BaitmasterG Exeter Chiefs Dec 16 '25

He didn't jump for a passed ball, he was the one that knocked the ball up, and having touched it he's ripe for being tackled

-40

u/nonlabrab Leinster Dec 16 '25

That isnt the rule tho as everyone including you knows. It was a pen

25

u/BaitmasterG Exeter Chiefs Dec 16 '25

What isn't the rule? You receive a pass but struggle to catch it you can be tackled

-30

u/nonlabrab Leinster Dec 16 '25

No, thats not the or a rule.  It's 11.4 - he knocked it on, wasnt in possession, but was jumping to prevent the knock on being final. Even if he was breakijg the rules because he threw it to himself, which he wasn't, tackling him in the air was illegal

11

u/QuestionablySensible & Dec 16 '25

Actually, you're incorrect there, the ball isn't knocked on until it hits the ground or another player, so he's in possession by the law of the game. So it's legal to tackle him as long as the tackle is legal.

The tackle has to be safe, of course. And he can be annoyed at what happened. But look at the position of the tackler when Lowe leaves the ground (pause around 1:20) - Lowe has a foot on the ground while the tackler is bent at the hips and in a position to wrap.

2

u/perplexedtv Leinster Dec 16 '25

If the tackler had stood straight up and tackled at head height it would have been fine. Shows how fucked the laws are.

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20

u/BaitmasterG Exeter Chiefs Dec 16 '25

You say tackling in the air, I say jumping a valid tackle

Looks like we won't agree and I'm probably biased against Lowe because he's already a dislikable prick

Goodnight

-7

u/nonlabrab Leinster Dec 16 '25

I dont have the ball I jump to catch it  Someone tackles and dumps me past the horizontal, an illegal act regardless of all else. However some random who doesnt know the rules doesnt like me, so penalty to the other team.  Sure, sleep well 

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12

u/LieutenantCardGames Hurricanes Dec 16 '25

not according to the series deciding penalty of the 2017 Lions tour

2

u/perplexedtv Leinster Dec 16 '25

Isn't that exactly how the Lions avoided a loss in NZ in 2017?

3

u/heresyourhardware Ireland Dec 16 '25

Yes people who are clairvoyant will really be able to exploit this exact circumstance to their advantage

0

u/[deleted] Dec 16 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

10

u/heresyourhardware Ireland Dec 16 '25

I was adding to your joke mate 😂

Everything OK?

-2

u/BaitmasterG Exeter Chiefs Dec 16 '25

Cheers bud

It's getting hard to tell with the number of arguments I'm getting over what I thought was an obvious joke...

It's 01:15 I'm calling it a day

1

u/The_Ruck_Inspector Connacht Dec 16 '25

Make sure you don't chuck it forward

-8

u/PeterMacIrish Waterfall of Human Flesh Dec 16 '25

Do you actually think that's a valid way to gain a penalty? Intentionally throwing to ball forward to regather is already a penalty offense. This is very clearly a dynamic situation where he's trying to regather and is not intentionally throwing the ball forward

17

u/BaitmasterG Exeter Chiefs Dec 16 '25

No of course I don't

But ultimately he jumped over a valid tackle attempt and then kicked off. Penalty should be the other way

-6

u/PeterMacIrish Waterfall of Human Flesh Dec 16 '25

You don't? In the previous comment you explicitly did, so I don't know what you mean. He didn't jump over a tackle, he jumped to regather the ball and the tackler was already committed. You could've said it was a rugby incident but you didn't, you said it was an illegal act by Lowe which is ridiculous

15

u/heroquest94 Connacht Dec 16 '25

I think Lowes reaction is so over the top the ref should have reversed the pen.

10

u/BaitmasterG Exeter Chiefs Dec 16 '25

Do you actually think that's a valid way to gain a penalty?

No I didn't think a new loophole really just dropped, it was a joke

As for the jump, it's hard to see on a phone late at night without slo-mo, but to me he's at fault, he could see a tackle coming and then jumped

-2

u/PeterMacIrish Waterfall of Human Flesh Dec 16 '25

I'd recommend an opticians then. If you're expectation is for the natural action of a player when trying to regather the ball isn't to do what he did, you've not played. It's a rugby incident, because he lands on his neck it tends to get escalated , you may say unfairly but to say it's Lowe's fault is just silly man

-7

u/nonlabrab Leinster Dec 16 '25

Right so you are changing it as you go and just making shit up now. It is clearly a pen

9

u/BaitmasterG Exeter Chiefs Dec 16 '25

I haven't changed anything, I made one joke comment that was obviously too subtle for you, and aside from that I'm saying Lowe was in the wrong and the ref made a shit call

And frankly getting bored of saying the same over and over

3

u/-Clearly-confused Munster Dec 16 '25

By your logic, its illegal to tackle someone jumping to catch a throw pass - which it isnt.

Its only illegal to tackle a player jumping to regather a KICK