Kiwis enforcer Jared Waerea-Hargreaves has jeopardised his World Cup finals hopes with a tackle described as a “dog shot” just 13 minutes into his return from suspension against Ireland.
As New Zealand easily accounted for the Irish to progress to an expected quarter-final against Fiji, Waerea-Hargreaves will face a nervous wait after being marched for a heavy swinging arm on Ireland’s Dan Norman.
Waerea-Hargreaves came off the bench against Ireland in the 24th minute, returning from a three-game NRL suspension for a head slam on South Sydney’s Tom Burgess in the Roosters’ season-ending finals loss.
By the 37th minute the Tricolours veteran was sin-binned for his high shot that followed several physical confrontations in New Zealand’s 48-10 win at Leeds.
Irish coach Ged Corcoran did not mince words in his post-match press conference, hinting at what he expects to be a tournament-ending punishment for Waerea-Hargreaves.
“I’m filthy with it,” Corcoran said. “I’ve got to be careful with what I say and how I say it but that’s a game-changer.
Waerea-Hargreaves and Ireland opponent Luke Keary ease the tension before the Kiwi prop is sin-binned.Credit:AP
“It was a bit of a dog shot, I’m not going to cop that… I lost a heap of players this week [to suspension], I’d love to see them go to town on that one after what we got served this week.
“It’ll be interesting to see if he participates in the rest of the tournament.“
Kiwi coach Michael Maguire wouldn’t be drawn on Corcoran’s ‘dog shot’ comment and did his best to play down concerns Waerea-Hargreaves is facing more time on the sidelines.
“It hit him on the shoulder and it rolled up a bit, we’ll have to wait and see,” Maguire said. “I think he’ll be right to be honest. As [Norman] was being tackled he was sort of falling as Jared hit him in the shoulder and it sort of rolled up. That’s what I saw.”
Waerea-Hargreaves returned to the paddock but failed to finish the match due to a hamstring issue, while Norman failed his subsequent HIA and was ruled out for the rest of the game.
Rugby League World Cup officials will hand down match review findings at the end of this weekend’s pool matches.
A multi-game suspension would rub Waerea-Hargreaves out of an expected semi-final clash with defending champions Australia.
Leading into the clash Waerea-Hargreaves spoke of tempering his aggression following discussions with Maguire, who had no hesitation in picking him despite Waerea-Hargreaves’ ban ruling him out of the tournament’s early stages.
Man-of-the-match Jahrome Hughes otherwise starred with two tries in his return from a thigh injury that had ruled him out of the Kiwis first two games.
His double and three try-assists were the highlight of what was an at times clunky New Zealand performance, in which Dylan Brown and Jordan Rapana only kicked four of 10 conversion attempts.
