'He's gone' - Tearful Beno Obano costs Bath with moment of madness

Beno Obano will take an unwanted place in the history books after being only the second player to be sent off for a high tackle for his moment of madness at Twickenham.

The Bath loosehead was shown a straight red card after 22 minutes by referee Christophe Ridley for a high tackle on Northampton Saints No.8 Juarno Augustus.

Obano, Maro Itoje’s cousin, was left to sit in stunned disbelief, tears following his checks after Ridley was given little option.

He had been in the running for a place on England’s summer tour to Japan and New Zealand, but any suspension is likely to rule him off the plane this week.

Ironically, the first player sent off in a Premiership Final was Northampton’s Dylan Hartley, who was dismissed in 2013 for allegedly swearing at referee Wayne Barnes.

🟥 Red card for Beno Obano after 21 minutes pic.twitter.com/RNOmzdLdGc

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Hartley’s red card against Leicester Tigers proved costly, as it saw him miss the Lions’ tour to Australia that summer.
He told the RugbyPass offload show in 2020 that he almost wanted a taxi to take him home from Twickenham at half-time.

“When he [Barnes] sent me off, it was a moment of disbelief, actually. I couldn’t believe what was happening. It almost went like slow motion, like the whole world was ending. “Yellow cards are alright because you just jog off and know you’re going to come back on, hopefully. But red cards, it’s the slowest walk of your life.

“I knew the impact that that had. It was Northampton’s first-ever final in the Premiership, it was against our rivals Leicester. That season had been perfect for us. We were flying.

“I let down not only the team but the town. It was a pretty long walk of shame. I went straight to the changing rooms and had a moment with myself.

“I thought the easy thing to do here is to sit in. I felt like getting a taxi home, out the fire escape kind of thing,” he said.