Leinster star James Lowe has expressed some concern about the current state of rugby and feels "the game is in a confusing place at the moment".
With the announcement that a lower "sternum tackle height" is to be introduced into the elite game for the first time at next year's World Rugby Under-20 Championships in Georgia, Lowe stated that the responsibility for safe tackling is in the hands of the players and on-pitch officials - not the game's lawmakers.
"As a tackler, you have a duty of care every time you go into contact," Lowe said. "I just think that that's it. You can't say if you tackle above the hips, it's going to be a penalty. I don't think you can do that.
"No matter the situation, there is a level of due diligence that you have to take into your own hands going into contact."
Rugby has been trying to evolve the tackle and contact aspects of the sport for several years against a backdrop of an ongoing lawsuit from more than 1,100 players who claim various governing bodies were negligent in not informing players of the risk of long-term brain injury.
Trials over the past two season in 11 different countries showed a change in players behaviour and, in some cases, a reduction in concussion cases. Speaking ahead of Friday night's URC tie with Ulster at the Aviva Stadium, Irish international winger Lowe wondered if changing the height of the tackle will make any difference in the long run.
"The game's in a confusing place at the moment," Lowe added. "There's incidents that happen, week in, week out. If you have a different referee, if you have a different camera angle... you can get a completely different result. And I don't think anyone knows what's going on.
"There's incidents throughout the week, the whole time. We talk about bringing the tackle height down, but I don't think anyone goes in trying to put a shoulder into someone's head. I can speak on every single person, no one's trying to do that, but it's such a quick and dynamic game that sometimes incidents happen, and if you're on defence and it's your shoulder...
"You've got to go in and have a level of care that you're not trying to smack someone in the head. Unfortunately, it happens. Do you think it's going to be good for the game? Do you want to see people throwing their heads into knees every single contact because they don't want to hit someone in the belly button and get sent off for it?
"It's not up to me. I don't want to get into it too much. We could sit here all day and argue, but I'm sure everyone would.
"We could all think off the top of our heads, there's been some questionable 'how has this come to this decision?' And everyone can sit here and pick one off the top of their head, and everyone's probably going to pick a different one, because there's been some crazy ones. But sure, look, it's not up to me.
"Every time you go into contact, you have a level of responsibility that you need to do to make sure you don't make mistaken contact with someone's head.
"I don't know , I'll probably get myself in trouble if I keep going here... the game's in a weird place, isn't it?"
With Ulster next up at Lansdowne Road on Friday night, Lowe is looking to see his team leave recent inconsistencies behind and hit their stride in a URC season that has seen them win three and lose three of six games so far. Last week's come-from-behind victory away to Leicester Tigers may prove a turning point.
"We've been a little bit sticky so far," Lowe said. "We're creating a lot of opportunities. We went through the [Leicester] game with a fine-tooth comb. We definitely left four tries out there through lack of execution. If you weren't at the game, you probably didn't really feel that the conditions were tough.
"It wasn't windy, it was dewy, it was wet, moisture in the air. The whole catch and pass becomes a little bit more difficult... they probably caught us off guard with that and then nature did its part for them. But I think we're so close.
"You still challenge yourself. And if the conditions allow for it, then if you can't execute it, then you got to go back to the drawing board. [Inter-provincial] games are normally scrappy. Teams don't want to go head-to-head with us playing free-flowing rugby."
