1
England hooker Amy Cokayne suspended after Six Nations red card
England hooker Amy Cokayne will miss Saturday’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations clash with Ireland following her sending-off against Scotland.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Red Roses completed the final 25 minutes of their 46-0 victory in Edinburgh with only 14 players after Cokayne received her second yellow card, resulting in her dismissal.
The first offence was a dangerous clear out and the second a dangerous tackle, with a disciplinary committee awarding a two-match suspension that was reduced to one because of mitigation.
Cokayne, who was making her first appearance in 12 months after recovering from a calf injury, will return for the probable Grand Slam decider against France on Saturday week.
England ‘won’ the hooker’s 10-minute first-half absence in Edinburgh 7-0 and after she saw yellow again and then red in the 55th minute, they also ‘won’ the ensuing 25 minutes of remaining play 17-0.
Asked post-game if he had any complaints about the through-the-horizontal and shoulder-to-head contact yellow cards for Cokayne, who was playing her first Test match in 12 months, England boss John Mitchell said: “No.
“End of the day we encourage the girls to play on the edge. Sometimes you get it right and sometimes you don’t. Amy has just come back.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I guess it just creates awareness for all of us that we got to make sure that we get our tackle height right.
“I thought her first card was a little bit difficult I think because the player did return to safety in that instance, so it probably deserved a penalty but yeah, we will learn from the tackle height.”
