The new bunker review system is a good idea, says Jamie Heaslip, despite some criticism that it encourages on-field referees to leave big decisions to television match officials.
After initial trials in Super Rugby Pacific, World Rugby added the bunker system- where a yellow card is issued when that threshold has been met and then allowing eight minutes for TMO to decide if the foul play warranted a red card - in the U20 World Championship and in this international window in an effort to speed up the game.
One of the most high-profile incidents came in the England-Wales game the weekend before last when Owen Farrell was sin-binned for a high tackle on Taine Basham before having the card upgraded by the bunker official.
The England captain had that decision overturned at the hearing but World Rugby are to appeal that call early last week.
On Saturday, a similar incident occurred when Farrell's Saracens team-mate Billy Vunipola made shoulder-to-head contact with prop Andrew Porter, who was able to continue, during Ireland's 29-10 win over England in the final home Bank of Ireland Summer Nations Series game.
The 30-year-old was initially yellow-carded before having the colour changed to red three minutes later.
Former Ireland number 8 Heaslip was asked if a more clear-cut incident like Vunipola's should just be dealt with by the match referee.
"You don't blame them because the scrutiny and the pressure that their decisions are coming under, for them to involve the bunker, you sit in their shoes, you don't blame them for it," he told RTÉ Sport.
"I think it will take a very confident ref, confident in the way they assess and approach the game and their own skill-set to quickly rattle through the four questions in the framework and do it on the field quickly.
"The bunker idea is good, though, they are trying to speed that process up, speed the game up so we are not deliberating all these different things.
"It was fairly clear cut in my book and he could have made a decision."
Stephen Ferris, a former Ireland and Lions back row, felt that the tackle didn't require over-thinking.
He said: "It was really interesting that the referee spoke to James Ryan before a decision was made and said 'trust the process'.
"It felt like the referee was always going to give a yellow card, even if, as Donal [Lenhihan] said in commentary, you have to do something ridiculous to get red-carded.
"Trust the process, give him a yellow and then the bunker referee upgrades it to red but that is as blatant a red card as you'll see. It really is.
"He comes up, absolutely steamrolls him. It's a clear red and I think the referee needs to take responsibilty there to go in and make a decision. You don't need the bunker referee for every decision. Take it out of his hands, just make the call."
Some want red, but it's just yellow - for now - for Billy Vunipola after this tackle on Andrew Porter. pic.twitter.com/IgjSRmKlZg
— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) August 19, 2023
With discipline issues causing so many problems for teams, especially since rugby officials began a clampdown in the name of enhanced player safety a few years back, Ferris, a tough-tackling, abrasive loose-forward during his own career, added: "I just don't get how the players aren't changing their tackle height.
"It's baffling me, every single week we are seeing it and it's similar players.
"I just can't understand why they are not lowering their tackle height. That's a one-on-one collision, just target the ball and he's gone straight for the head. That's a red card all day long."
Watch live coverage of Ireland's Rugby World Cup warm-up game against Samoa (26 August) on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio, or follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie and the RTÉ News app.
