Confused? Me too, but maybe the following will help straighten a few things out. Firstly, to the near miracle of MacHale Park. Connacht left it ridiculously late in the day to get all cylinders firing, but still came within a croc roll of winning. So often the hero, Bundee Aki was the villain, his rolling of Gavin Coombes ruling out a try which only needed a successful conversion to claim victory. The officials were right, and it was fortunate that Coombes escaped a serious knee injury similar to that suffered by Antoine Dupont against Ireland. About 30 minutes into the contest we all noticed that the bunker was missing in action. It has not been adopted for URC matches, or for European competitions. Therefore, it was the responsibility of the referee, Craig Evans, to deal directly with Alex Nankivell’s head-on-head collision with Cian Prendergast. Evans, correctly concluding that it was a red card offence, outlined his reasoning well. Nankivell, who had come from quite a distance, always had a clear line of sight, there was no wrap, and, clearly, a high degree of danger. There can be no doubt about this decision. Prendergast was eventually stretchered off after on-pitch stabilising treatment. It was yet another horrible advertisement for the sport. If there was a bunker available, in all probability the offence would have been sent for review. It would have been upgraded, with a replacement arriving 20 minutes later. Do we really want to see replacements allowed when there has been dangerous foul play resulting in a serious head injury, as in this case? The answer to that question is, worryingly, that opinion is divided. The southern hemisphere seem united in that everything goes via the bunker, except for rare, horrendous foul play – a headbutt, a rabbit punch, an eye gouge come to mind. [ Munster escape MacHale Park with the win after Connacht spring late fight backOpens in new window ] In May, the replacement card will be discussed again at World Rugby’s conference. The issue will be whether or not it will receive a mandate for a global trial, which, presumably, would cover all competitions. My concern is that the delegates must understand exactly what they will be voting for, or against. The whole idea has been sold to us on the basis that head high hits which are the result of technical errors, such as a mistiming, would go the bunker route. But that the straight red would still exist for dangerous, reckless foul play. Confusingly, what we’ve been told differs from what we have seen. In the autumn matches, and the Six Nations, everything went to the bunker. Nothing, by any referee, was considered to be a straight red. So, accompanying the written words which the delegates will consider in May, the only way to fully inform them is for World Rugby to produce a video. It would demonstrate exactly what foul play merits what response from the referee. A picture really does paint a thousand words. Then there is the not-so-simple task of getting the referees to stop taking the easy bunker option. Finding an agreed global resolution to this Gordian knot will require the wisdom of Solomon. As we head into the Champions Cup round of 16, the refereeing of the breakdown will be critical, nowhere more so than in La Rochelle. Munster travel there and will find a wounded team who are in a lowly 10th position in the Top 14. It won’t be easy, but right now they are definitely beatable. France and, by extension, French teams have been guilty of lots of dodgy ball protection at the breakdown. The man in charge will be Andrea Piardi and Munster are sure to have been busy ascertaining how the Italian will referee this contentious, but key, phase. It will be a similar question for Ulster who will meet up with Luke Pearce for their match in Bordeaux. Leinster have referee Pierre Brousset for their game against Harlequins; he, of course, is a regular performer in the Top 14. It will also be interesting to see what he brings to the Croke Park breakdown party. And Connacht have another Frenchman, Luc Ramos, for the visit of Cardiff. And now for something completely different, as Monty Python’s John Cleese often said. Maybe you’ve seen the clip, the one about a head-the-ball. Not in the idiomatic sense Cleese might have used, but in its basic, literal meaning. There were two or three occasions in the Six Nations when the ball went forward off the head of a player. These were clearly accidental, and play was not stopped. It doesn’t count as a knock-on, but maybe it should. More importantly, what if it’s a deliberate action? Here’s what happened. A towering kick by the Red team’s outhalf fell short of the last Blue defender, and bounced high. As the ball came down a Red chaser headed it over the defender. Next, the chaser ran round him, gathering the ball at pace and going on to score unopposed. It doesn’t take much imagination to dream up some very “interesting” scenarios if heading the ball was to become fashionable. It also seems very odd that it is outlawed for a ball carrier to drop the ball on to his knee to propel it forward, but can do so with his head. Another example can be seen in the clip below. Law changes hasten slowly, but perhaps World Rugby could move quickly on this one. A law trial, which would see a ball going forward off a head dealt with in the same way as a knock-on, doesn’t seem the worst idea in the world. It’s certainly food for thought.