Last weekend we witnessed a true spectacle of English rugby when Wasps took on Exeter Chiefs at the Ricoh Arena. The game exuded class from both teams, with the game eventually finishing 41-27 to the away side. However, despite their magnificent victory, Rob Baxter’s men came away from Coventry slightly downtrodden with the loss of their young star, Henry Slade, to serious injury.
Was Henry Slade a Victim of the Breakdown?
In the process of sealing the ball at the breakdown, Slade was cleared out but in the process, the players’ weight fell on Slade’s right leg, breaking it and also causing serious ankle damage. This blow comes weeks before the Six Nations, and with Baxter confirming his young back will be out for four months, Slade’s chance to represent his country in the upcoming tournament has been crushed.
But, this serious injury begs the question, was there something more to this incident? In the first replay of the tackle on Slade, the clear out on him appeared to be reminiscent of a crocodile roll, a highly contentious manoeuvre. Players in the modern game get so low at the breakdown to seal the ball, it leaves their legs exposed and any significant weight collapsing has the potential to cause serious injury.
In a World Cup that was focused so heavily on player safety, with players being banned for offences that a few years ago would have been simply glossed over. Whilst the crocodile roll is effectively illegal, with player being banned throughout this years’ tournament for the ‘neck roll’ the act of rolling players out of the ruck through the body has gone somewhat under the radar. The crocodile roll involves twisting the player out of the ruck using their own body weight, a highly effect method but comes with a high level of risk, as seen at the weekend.
Henry Slade is not the only high profile star to feel the consequences of the crocodile roll. Jean De Villiers, Springbok legend, suffered a similar fate against Wales in 2014 when a neck roll caused the weight of the ruck to fall on his knee and sidelining him for a number of months. Another victim of the roll was Welsh scrum-half Rhys Webb, who was ruled out of the World Cup when a ruck fell on his ankle in Wales’ warm up game against Italy.
So, what can we do to avoid these injuries. There is one simple option, raise awareness of the danger and make referees look for the roll. The move is already illegal, but ignorance has led to these injuries as referees etc. are reluctant to slow down the game anymore. Forwards should be made to compete for the ball simply by overwhelming their opposition at the ruck purely by pushing and shoving. If anything good comes out of Henry Slade’s injury, it is the outlawing of this dangerous manoeuvre.
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