England face anxious wait on Manu Tuilagi and Joe Marler disciplinary decisions
England will discover by Monday evening the extent of the disciplinary fallout from their 33-30 Guinness Six Nations victory over Wales at Twickenham.
Manu Tuilagi must appear before a disciplinary hearing – most likely on Tuesday – to answer for the 75th-minute red card awarded for his dangerous tackle on George North.
And there could also be significant repercussions for Eddie Jones and Joe Marler, with the latter having grabbed Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones by the testicles in an incident clearly shown on replays.
Jones, England’s head coach, turned on referee Ben O’Keeffe shortly after watching his team throw away a commanding 33-16 lead by conceding late tries to Dan Biggar and Justin Tipuric in an anxious finish at Twickenham.
Prior to sending off Tuilagi for an offence that will incur a ban in the region of six weeks, O’Keeffe had dispatched Ellis Genge to the sin-bin for straying offside to leave England to play the last six minutes with only 13 men.
Jones has made a virtue of not criticising refereeing decisions but his self-imposed silence ended spectacularly when he accused O’Keeffe of assisting Wales.
“At the end we were 13 against 16 and that’s hard. When you have got a three-man advantage, you are going to do some damage. That’s what happened. We had a numerical disadvantage, so it was tough,” Jones said.
Under current guidelines on high tackles, O’Keeffe was right to dismiss Tuilagi but Jones described the decision as “absolute rubbish” as part of a confused analysis of the tackle.
If Six Nations disciplinary chiefs decide action is needed it will be brought under the charge of bringing the game into disrepute, which could incur a warning, fine or stadium ban.
Another curious event was Marler’s fondling of Alun Wyn Jones, the Wales captain, as tempers flared between the teams early on in a logic-defying match that exposed England’s vulnerabilities once again.
At the time the incident appeared comical, but Jones made it clear afterwards that he wants it reviewed.
World Rugby’s punishment for an offence it describes as “testicle grabbing or twisting or squeezing” ranges from a suspension of 12 to 24 weeks or more, and given Marler’s chequered history he could be facing a lengthy ban.
“Looking back on it, I really enjoyed being that villain – the bad boy of English rugby. I was just very angry. Very, very angry."https://t.co/rPJ7AeHn5E
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 8, 2020
“There’s a lot of footage that has been shown. It seems like a lot of supporters saw what happened,” the Wales skipper said.
“It’s very frustrating that we talk a lot about TMOs and footage reviews, yet there doesn’t seem to be a lot of it happening.”
Examples of similar cases are rare, but in 2016 London Irish lock George Robson received a six-week suspension for the same offence.
Six Nations organisers have until 48 hours after Saturday’s match ended to issue any citings.
With England’s final match against Italy being postponed due to coronavirus, any bans will impact on the players’ clubs.
WATCH: Eddie Jones and Owen Farrell spoke to the media following their sides win against Wales at Twickenham.
Comments on RugbyPass
Hey Finn, Well done to the Junior Wallabies…a win is a win but it was a wet and scrappy game. Would be interesting to hear your opinion on two things from watching the game at the Not So Sunny Coast Stadium. Firstly, what is your opinion on the rule change of being able to call The Mark from a kick off and what is the reason for the change? Secondly, your thoughts on the lack of action for the high tackle on the SA fullback. I understand the TMO ruled that he had fallen into the tackle and the tackler didn’t have time to adjust but it was clearly shoulder on head and the Aussie 11 had not made any attempt to adjust his tackle height leading into the tackle. In my opinion he was never going to get his tackle technique correct to complete a safe tackle. If that tackle was made at a more senior and more scrutinised level would we have seen the same result?
2 Go to commentsI don’t think this has been ventilated enough. Discuss. Perhaps the lessons in all of this is that, in the game of life, one should do all the talking on the field of play. And in the game of rugby, what’s said on the field - stays on the field. Take care of yourselves. And each other.
31 Go to commentsLow skills compared to the Junior ABs. The ball handling and ball retention of the SAns in particular was utterly woeful. The latter will be better on home turf.
2 Go to comments1. Heard this so often over the yrs. One Warriors CEO even claimed future kids wouldnt know which came first, the ABs or the Warriors. Always keen to talk themselves up. 2. That fella Barakat who says he will drop HBHS sponsorship because HBHS quite rightly wants its players to focus on rugby is an odd fit as a sponsor in the first place. As a recruitment official for the Warriors he seems to regard his sponsorship as a paid licence to help to select players from HBHS for the league side. Maybe he should find a league school to fund.
1 Go to commentsNZ U20s are the team to beat this year for sure. And how nice after so long that NZRFU is actually taking this seriously. For far too long they have been sending woefully coached and woefully underprepared teams to the U20 WCs. That Wrampling boy is a star in the making.
2 Go to commentsI agree ..come on keyboard warriors and journalists looking for a cheap win ….. only 2 mins to go 12 points down …this DID NOT decide the game and beside JM was hit after the whistle and in response it was a pat on the back of the head …harmless ….watch soccer if this is your issue
4 Go to commentsRest is for namby pamby sissies, I see. True men should overcome their trifling injuries by playing week in, week out. Bidwell’s stance reminds me of a Jon Gadsby character from the 70s, a rugby captain giving an after-match speech: “It was a very physical contest. One of our players caught a boot on the back of his head in a ruck, and he died, actually. But to his credit, he played on.”
1 Go to commentsI still see nothing in Sotutus play that hes changed his upright running style that failed so many times against decent international defences like the french. Other than that… Iose? Well you have covered his limitations well. If Sititi had been playing the the season… Jacobson? Grace?…Neither shout pick me. So Ardie it is.
1 Go to commentsThere isn’t one element you mentioned there that every top class or successful team gets up to. The great All blacks sides used to play on the ‘fringes or edge’ but it was essentially saying they were doing something illegal or borderline to gain dominance. The fine margins at the top are minute between the top sides. La Rochelle, the crusaders, Saracens, Toulon etc etc…..have all been accused. Get over it, the comment comes across as salty and naive. Northampton as well as they played to get back into the match were thoroughly beaten and controlled for 60 minutes and Leinster have only themselves to blame for kicking it away and hence losing control of the match and being nearly the architects of their own downfall.
2 Go to commentsThere is some talent coming thru thats for sure. The 10 looks special to me. Rico Simpson is a name to look for in the future.
2 Go to commentsI think this quiet honestly is just an innocent misunderstanding by someone who is pig sh*t stupid. Eben is a fine player but by christ, if he can’t understand or get what the Irish players were trying to say to him after the match…..well i hope he has someone looking after his finances, career and is reading the fine print for him, cause life after rugby may be quite difficult for the vacuous echo chamber.
31 Go to commentsIt could be Doris' day!
3 Go to commentsThe whole thing has blown up because Eben’s words have clearly struck a nerve in Ireland. Otherwise they would just laugh it off. I think some former Irish players, commentators and some Irish fans know deep down this Ireland team started to believe its own press and that a certain amount of arrogance had started to creep in during the World Cup. The topic was actually brought up by Irish pundits on Off the Ball recently. It’s fine to be arrogant if you can back it up. Ireland didn’t.
31 Go to comments‘The Irish are good people'. Why is Goode praising a people who hate his own? Wet wipe.
31 Go to commentsLa mejor final que se puede ver en el emisferio norte.
1 Go to commentsA lot of cope from south africans in the comments. Etzebeth is a liar and a hypocrite; you don’t have to defend him!
31 Go to commentsHe got big and really slow for a flyhalf…not sure he’s relevant in a bok conversation anymore
4 Go to commentsBest tourney team vs best team in the regular season for 3 games in RSA - talk is cheap, let’s see what’s what on the tour
31 Go to commentsOne overlooked statistic from their 2016 winning season is the Huricanes are still the only team in Super rugby history not to concede a try during the playoff rounds.
4 Go to commentsThanks for the article, Nick. The Nienaber blitz D does ask a lot of its scrumhalf. I have been watching JGP on D and he often looks like he has mastered what Nienaber asks for better than Faf de Klerk and Cobus Reinach! 🤣 Impressive season by JGP if I must make an understatement.
22 Go to comments