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More card chaos in Premiership as weekend fixtures sees number of offenders hit season record
The blizzard of yellow and red cards blighting to Gallagher Premiership is forcing teams to train with 14 men as the crack down on illegal hits continues to have a major impact on matches, with last weekend producing a season’s high total of offenders. The bare statistics show 19 yellow cards and three red cards were handed out during the weekend’s matches, strengthening the view that the situation is getting worse, as the total number of yellow cards shown this season passed the century mark.
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After 15 rounds of last season’s Premiership campaign there were 116 yellow cards issued along with 12 reds, compared to the current running total of 105 yellow cards and 14 reds. While that suggests the number of cards being given this season is not as bad as it appears, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has meant seven matches have been decided by a panel without a ball being kicked.
This disfigures the current situation where referees are cracking down on illegal clear-outs in a bid to protects players from hits above the shoulders
George Ford saw two of his team mates given yellow cards in Leicester’s win over Newcastle yesterday which meant the Tigers were down to 13 men in the second half.
He admitted: “Ideally you don’t want to give yellow cards away but there seems to be a lot more at the moment, so to be able to play with numbers up and numbers down is something we’re going to have to get used. It’s a good challenge for us and we have got to get better discipline wise.”
Sale currently top the naughty table with 15 yellow cards in the Premiership and managed to win at Wasps despite receiving a remarkable four yellow cards.
Captain Jono Ross has served a ban for collecting too many cards this season and Alex Sanderson, the Sale director of rugby, is having to deal with the same kind if indiscipline that predecessor Steve Diamond wrestled with last season, when the club had been given 11 yellows plus one red card by this stage of the campaign.
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As a result, Sanderson has amended training to deal with this recurring problem.
“We train with 14 men at various points to replicate the kind of problems you have to deal with when you go a man down,” he said.
“It is a massive concern every week for all the teams. We are top of the cards chart and it suggests we enjoy playing with 13 or 14 men, we have to work hard at our tackle technique and if we want to challenge for anything we have got to be better.”
London Irish, like Sale, appear to be habitual offenders and at this stage last season had been given 13 yellows and two reds, and despite having their games with Bath and Northampton decided by a panel, have still received 13 yellow cards and three reds this season.
Bath were reduced to 12 men during their loss to Irish and Stuart Hooper, their director of rugby, admitted: “The cards have come close together and that’s down to individual responsibility and managing yourself.
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“It gets heated and on edge and we’ve made errors which have cost the team. We have to look at ourselves.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Dear Robbie, Please return to the Crusaders next season. Sincerely, Scott
1 Go to commentsDid the big E call the Irish the ‘White Can’ts’? That would’ve been good
27 Go to commentsDalton Papalii will be lucky to be selected on the Matchday 23. Ardie Savea, Ethan Blackadder, Luke Jacobson, and Peter Lauki are all as good or better openside flankers
9 Go to commentsScott Barrett is a lock and they have a much longer shelf life than a loose forward. Far more likely that Barrett will still demand a starting position based on performance at age 33 at RWC 2027 than Savea, whose explosive athleticism will have declined and he will in all likelihood have been surpassed by Hoskins Sotutu, Wallace Siti, Peter Lauki and Brayden Iose.
9 Go to commentsExtremely frustrating to get yet more speculation over whether or not Eben actually counted 12 players or not, but honestly big respect to McCloskey for keeping it classy and not pointing out Etzebeth’s hypocrisy. The Irish are a popular team outside of Ireland because they do their talking on the pitch, and its honestly a PR masterclass that they’re keeping it that way following Etzebeth’s provocation.
27 Go to commentsGood option for the lineout lost there.
1 Go to commentsIt’s not like Saffas have a long history of spouting absolute shite at any & every occasion. Oh wait… The dangers of an inferior third world education strike again.
27 Go to commentsI’m so glad we’re revisiting this. Really needs to be dissected further. I’m also so glad that a guy in the stands who wasn’t anywhere near the field when any of it would have been said (and even confirms this) has taken the lead and commented as Ireland. Definitely cleared it all up. This article would be hilarious if it wasn’t so misleading.
27 Go to commentsits such a shame he hasn’t achieved more success at club level. He’s really not been a potent finisher for a while now, but he’s still excellent in the kick chase. That’s the kind of skillset that generally only gets appreciated when you’re playing in premiership and european finals. I’m not sure whether the challenge cup counts given the quality of the competition seems lower than in previous years, but his duel with Mapimpi should be enthralling.
1 Go to commentsThe point is the irish players were arrogant,call it like you want sugar coat it aswell but they were you could see it in their way they handeled themselfs on the field when they got something right so dont tell me it was not arrogance it was,you can fool other people but not me,and to say to one of our players see you in the final put a nail in the coffin for this bullsh@t,just be grown men and accept it that you were arrogant,you could if seen it from a mile away, and then you lost to the allblacks what a cocky move that didnt work out for you ,Eben was right when he said u were arrogant,the point is you will deny it because you lost it all just grow some balls and move on we had won you lost accept it.
27 Go to comments“summer tour of North and South America” so its a summer tour of america?
1 Go to commentsEverybody is giving the Irish players the benefit of the doubt in ‘what they meant’, but none of these pundits or commentators offer the same courtesy to Eben. I don’t think Eben went, 1, 2, 3… etc. What might have happened is he didn’t count and when the 3rd or 5th guy said he went, hang on why are so many of them saying this… and then started to concentrate on it more and more as players continue to say it. So no, he didn’t count it, he realised many Irish players said it and made an assumption based on that… The Irish team was VERY confident at the time and I do believe they believed they were going to win the World Cup, which borders a bit on the arrogant side…
27 Go to commentsI can see how some of the Irish players would have said”see you in the final” as a gentle comment after a victory. It’s open to interpretation but it’s clumsy language. I don’t know the fella but I assure you Eben doesn’t have an axe to grind with Ireland. He has never been the media seeking pro. Oh and BTW it is I’ll be our winter in July so won’t be wet.
27 Go to comments*McCloskey*: _I saw this clip. Like, I wasn’t playing that game; I was in the stands…so you don't know sh!t in other words, infact you know just as much as Goode on this matter. I will believe the guy who was on the pitch when things were said as appose to two people speculating over what was said._
27 Go to comments@ turlough dream on buddy. Your boys are in for one tough time down in sa this summer…
27 Go to commentsI think Goode is looking to establish a platform for himself. Eben said “Probably” so that suggests he wasn’t counting. It’s an estimate Goode. I think even with your short and uneventful experience with the Sharks you probably realise winding up Saffas will get you some airtime. It’s a none event. Move on
27 Go to commentsRugby has never been as structured and synthetically pleasing as it is at this moment. The game is simply beautiful and messing with it too much will ruin it for everyone. I can't help but feel that over the past decade or so many rules have been changed to accommodate a certain hemisphere and counter another. Perhaps I am wrong but I somehow don’t think so.
2 Go to commentsNoted some excellent defensive steals from the Rebs last week against the Reds, largely J Canham, I think. It’s not a Rolls Royce but they are a real threat with their defensive line out at the beginning matches. What do you make of Canham Nick, WBs squad material?
86 Go to commentsCoin flip between Ardie and Scott Barrett. Both have their pros and cons, and both would probably be decent. Ardie has way more passion on the field, but that hasn’t always translated into the best decisions. They will both turn 34 at the next World Cup, so both will most likely have their best days a few years behind them. It’s hard to imagine now, but looking at young players coming through Ardie will probably be under the most pressure to retain his place in the team. Beauden Barrett also an outside chance if Razor sees him as the first choice 10.
9 Go to commentsQuality stuff from Flats. Rugby can’t replace football nor should we want it to. I think the ‘product’ (awful term sorry) now is absolutely fantastic. Growing the game shouldn’t be at the expense of losing its brutal beauty.
2 Go to comments