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Video: Wasps fuming over red card for Brookes
Defence coach Ian Costello has questioned whether alleged foul play from Kieran Brookes merited the early second-half red card which resulted in Wasps versus Leicester becoming the second 14-on-14 round ten match in this weekend’s Gallagher Premiership.
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A player from each side was red-carded for headshots with the shoulder when Bath narrowly defeated Gloucester in the Premiership on Friday night and two more players saw red when Wasps visited Leicester the following day.
Leicester’s Jasper Wiese was red-carded for the 27th-minute incident where his shoulder made contact with the head of Ben Morris. However, rather than make use of their one-man advantage, Wasps suffered their own red card when Brookes clashed with Tomas Lavanini in the 42nd minute.
Interviewed some minutes later on BT Sport, Costello was unhappy that Wasps has followed Leicester in going down to 14 men. Asked about the contest becoming 14 against 14 he said: “I’m struggling with the second one but I’m biased.
“I thought the ball carrier was quite low and Brooksy was part of the tackle. I would probably need a look at it from different angles. I am all for looking after players, it just looked pretty harsh from up here but I could be wrong on second viewing.
Kieran Brookes is off for a collision with Lavanini.
That's our FOURTH red of the weekend. ?
We're 14v14! #GallagherPrem pic.twitter.com/m6iBlziZQU
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) February 20, 2021
“It’s about timing really. There was one earlier where he was a little bit late and he took out the second man. Fair enough. I thought they both arrived together there, but player safety is paramount and good technique. We will have a look at it after and see was it warranted. We just have to deal with it now 14-on-14 and we have been playing poorly.”
Here is how the decision was reached, with the BT Sport commentary of Austin Healey interspersed with the dialogue of the two officials, referee Craig Maxwell-Keys and TMO Claire Hodnett…
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CMK: Time is off because the player that knocked it on is being treated where they scrum is going to be so we will have plenty of replays.
AH: That’s the same. It’s a little bit closer, it’s not as evident. He does hit him with the elbow.
CMK: We’re asking the same question, whether that right arm is attempting to wrap if we have head contact?
CH: That’s the best angle, Craig, Do you want to see that again?
CMK: So firstly we definitely have got a shoulder that hitting someone on the head. Agree?
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CH: Yes, he is not in a position or making a legitimate tackle.
The weekend of red cards in the Premiership has continued at Leicester on Saturday#PremRugby #LEIvWAS
https://t.co/FSxg3ZVUnl— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 20, 2021
CMK: I could have some sympathy if I saw that arm coming up at least and it was deflected off the other tackler which prevented him wrapping, but I don’t see that as the issue. He was always tucking his arm, making no attempt to wrap.
CH: Agreed, Craig.
CMK: Okay, so let’s assess sanction points. It’s shoulder to the head so always illegal. So mitigation becomes irrelevant. It’s always illegal, shoulder to the head, it’s another red card.
AH: I think that one is slightly more harsh because it is not his shoulder that hits him, it’s his elbow that hits him.
The match at Mattioli Woods Welford Road Stadium eventually ended with 14 Wasps players playing 13 from Leicester as Tigers back row Hanro Liebenberg was red-carded for taking Josh Bassett out in the air in the 79th minute of a match that the home side won 27-8.
Speechless. ?
Hanro Liebenberg picks up the third red of the game and our fifth of the weekend. ?#GallagherPrem pic.twitter.com/Ct3uhjzeJh
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) February 20, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Dagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
4 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
3 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
36 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to comments