Saracens' Rhys Carre sent off within minutes of return to Wales

Saracens prop Rhys Carre lasted just five minutes of his side’s clash with Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium before he was red-carded for a high shot to the head of Dan Evans.

Carre was named at loosehead for his first club outing back on home soil following his switch Saracens in the summer.

However, it was not the return Carre was looking for, with referee Alexandre Ruiz sending the 20 stone prop from the field after reviewing the incident on video.

The commentators didn’t agree with a red card. It comes from the clear application of the High Tackle Sanction Framework by the referee: Shoulder (arm of contact shoulder behind plane of body) + Contact to head/neck (they’re treated the same) + no mitigation = Red, via pathway 2 pic.twitter.com/tWaFS9WU3r

— Ross Tucker (@Scienceofsport) January 11, 2020

Twitter, unusually, was more or less in unanimous agreement on the decision too.

https://twitter.com/C4Sport/status/1215998763510181888
https://twitter.com/thepaulwilliams/status/1215984549882146818
https://twitter.com/simonrug/status/1215997501880307715
https://twitter.com/cuke77/status/1215986261732872192
https://twitter.com/mickobrien0/status/1215997232941535234

Ironically, the victim of the hit, Evans himself was sent off in December after just minutes on the pitch in the same stadium.

Evans was sent off by referee Frank Murphy after just 37 seconds when his boot made contact with Racing wing Teddy Thomas’ head as he claimed a high ball in an earlier round of the Heineken Champions Cup.

Last week teammate Owen Farrell got away with just a penalty for a similar incident, with the referee adjudging the hit to have started low and raised up.

It is the seventh time Saracens and Ospreys have met in European competition.

The holders have won five of their past meetings but were held to a 15-15 draw at the Liberty Stadium two seasons ago.

Saracens’ Richard Wigglesworth made his 90th tournament appearance. The three-time Heineken Champions Cup winner has made 65 appearances for Saracens and 24 for Sale Sharks.

Elsewhere in the group, Racing 92 have yet to lose a Heineken Champions Cup pool match at Paris La Défense Arena as they prepare to welcome Munster on Sunday for a ninth tournament meeting between the clubs.

Munster need to upset the odds to stay in the hunt for a place in the last eight.

More Saracens chat this week as Big Jim and Goodey discuss what the future holds for Saracens after Nigel Wrays decision to leave the club.