Heated exchange as referee has to tell coach 'Don't you touch me'
Dragons beat Ospreys 20-5 in United Rugby Championship’s round 5 Welsh derby at Rodney Parade, recording their first home win in more than a year.
Hooker Bradley Roberts and wing Rio Dyer scored tries as the Dragons triumphed following Ospreys wing Mat Protheroe being sent off for a dangerous challenge after just 27 minutes.
The nasty looking incident, which can be seen in the highlights below, led to a fairly bizarre altercation between referee Ben Whitehouse and Dragons head of performance, Dan Baugh.
Chasing a high ball, Protheroe went in too upright which led to a nasty head-on-head clash with Dragons fly-half Will Reed.
Referee Whitehouse had little option but to show a straight red card, but not before former Canada international Baugh appeared to say something that Whitehouse felt was directed at him.
“Dan, Dan, Dan, Dan,” said Whitehouse.
“Come here. You ever shout at me… [interupted by Baugh] No, listen to me very clearly. You ever talk to me and shout at me like that again and you will be in the stand.”
Baugh protested, “I’m talking to my players. Ben, I can talk to my players,” then put his hand on Whitehouse as he tried to walk away.
“Don’t you touch me,” said the upset referee.
“This man stays off the field from now on,” Whitehouse then said to the sideline.
“He does not come on the field again, Dan Baugh. Thank you.
“Can you just make sure that the team manager does not let that man back on the field, thank you,” he added. “We will speak about it after the game.”
Referee Ben Whitehouse had to bring out the “Don’t you touch me” pic.twitter.com/TpnMsQVLcN
— Grant Constable (@GrantConstable) November 19, 2023
What’s Protheroe thinking here? A nailed on red
And a red for Dan Baugh for arguing with Ben Whitehouse and than seemingly trying to pull him back
That’s a man I would not like to get in fight with#DRAvOSP
ADVERTISEMENT— Ruck ’n’ Roll (@RnRRugby) November 18, 2023
Dan Baugh going to be in a whole heap of trouble for all that
— Mike Pullen (@MikePullen1969) November 18, 2023
I’d love to have seen a readout of Ben Whitehouse’s heart-rate when Dan Baugh grabbed him.
Cannot touch an official but that was pure terror in the eyes.— Rob Williams (@RobW_48) November 18, 2023
It’s unclear at this stage if there will be any official repercussions for Baugh, but laying hands on the referee is certainly not something that can be allowed at any level of the game. A URC charge could follow, while Dragons head coach Dai Flanagan said post match:
“I was up in the gantry trying to figure things out and all I heard was that Dan couldn’t come back onto the field. I will look into it and try to speak to Ben.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Danny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful 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!
5 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 …
34 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to comments