Spear tackle controversy rages on

The RBS Six Nations, opening weekend.  Ireland vs Wales at the Aviva Stadium and the game is in the balance.  Fifteen minutes remain and the Irish are up by one point, slowly beginning to believe in victory. 

Bradley Davies, Wales' lock forward, performs a nifty bit of counter rucking, driving Donnacha Ryan off the ball.  With the danger man cleared out of the ruck, the sensible and obvious thing for Davies to do would be to run back onside and carry on his duty of smashing rucks and making tackles.  Instead he picks Ryan up, tips him over and drops him from the full height of 6ft 6inches, onto his head.

Veterans of the game will remember when this sort of tackle was normal, even practised. They will remember the glory days of spear tackles and proper rucking (where it was acceptable to scrape the skin off someone's back if they were lying on the wrong side of the tackle) But cynics will remember the 2005 British and Irish Lions tour horror show, where Brian O'Driscoll had his shoulder dislocated by Tana Umaga and Kevin Mealamu and the 1997 Tour to South Africa where Will Greenwood nearly died on the field of play due to an aggressive tackle.

With Wales still outraged by Alain Rolland's decision to show the red card to Sam Warburton in the World Cup Semi Final due to what he thought was a spear tackle, have they know seen the rub of the green?

Ireland are livid that Steven Ferris was tarred with the same brush later in the game, but where do you, the rugby public, stand on spear tackles?

Vote in our poll to let us know, results are out on Friday.