1
England lock Charlie Ewels will miss his club’s European Challenge Cup round of 16 match at Zebre in Italy this Friday following his one-match suspension for getting sent off after receiving two yellow cards in his club’s Gallagher Premiership defeat to London Irish last Sunday.
ADVERTISEMENT
Ewels was sent off by referee Craig Maxwell-Keys in the 68th minute at Brentford for a second foul play yellow card. The player accepted the charge and was given a one-week suspension by Gareth Graham, the sole judicial officer, who heard the disciplinary case heard on papers.
The referee’s report contained in the RFU’s written verdict detailed the reasons why Bath skipper Ewels was twice yellow carded. For the initial card in the first half, it stated: “Following a TMO review it was agreed by the match officials that Bath No5 had made direct contact with the head and was at fault as he could be lower.
“Direct head contact was agreed high danger which we mitigate down for the ball carrier changing direction and being tackled by another player.”
For the second card, the report outlined: “Following a TMO review it was agreed that Bath No5 tucked his arm across his body (no attempt to wrap) then hit the London Irish player in the back and off the ball. The player apologised post-match.”
Fans have had their say and it doesn't make good reading for Billy Vunipola#LionsRugbyhttps://t.co/j0ko8C4EM6
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 30, 2021
The summary section of the disciplinary hearing verdict read: “The player accepted the charge at the earliest opportunity. He has no previous matters on his disciplinary record. He apologised for his conduct after the match and reiterated his remorse to the panel in written submissions.
“The entry point for two foul play yellow cards is a sanction of one week. Whilst normally the player would be entitled to a reduction from the entry point on account of the mitigating features present in this case, such a reduction is not possible as panels are not able to apply part-weeks by way of mitigation. As such, the sanction remains of one week.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Ewels was playing his first match for Bath after being on Guinness Six Nations duty with England, a campaign where he forced his way into the starting line-up for the final two matches versus France and Ireland.
Reflecting on the final round 32-18 defeat in Dublin which consigned England to a fifth-place finish, Ewels last week said: “For whatever reason, it didn’t quite click on the day with a pretty flat, disappointing performance. I wasn’t sat there thinking this was going to be hard, I was thinking, ‘Here we go again, good test, good challenge’ and then it wasn’t to be.
“I felt the way we prepared that week it was there to push and go again. As with the nature of sport, it is straight into the next thing. You have almost got no time to dwell. We did that, had a bit of a review on Sunday and then you are back home and back in the club Monday, so it’s like a new challenge, a new environment again. I probably haven’t personally thought too much about it to be honest.”
Ewels was a youth at Bath when Gavin Henson, another rugby maverick with a colourful reputation, was signed #PremRugby
https://t.co/RlZpWAQTbe— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 25, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to comments