'That high tackle on Juan Imhoff, he nearly takes his head off, that's a red card'
Racing failed to get the job done in last Saturday’s Champions Cup final against an Exeter team that was down 14 players for the closing minutes, but Simon Zebo believes the English club should have been permanently down a man for most of the second half.
Exeter had prop Tomas Francis sin-binned in the 71st minute for a deliberate knock-on as Racing chased down the one-point margin that existed between the teams at that time.
However, Zebo, who scored two tries in the final that Racing were to lose 31-27, has claimed Exeter’s Henry Slade should have been red-carded for his 42nd minute high tackle on Juan Imhoff.
Instead of seeing red, Slade was allowed to continue as the incident was adjudged to have been a penalty offence only and salt was quickly rubbed into the Racing wound minutes later as the Exeter midfielder scored a try after Finn Russell had a pass intercepted.
“There’s just a few things that didn’t go our way, it was like it just wasn’t meant to be,” said Zebo during his co-host appearance on the RugbyPass Offload show with Dylan Hartley, the retired ex-England captain. “That high tackle on Juan Imhoff, he nearly takes his head off, that’s a red card. We just couldn’t believe it. It just wasn’t meant to be.”
Quality insight from @SimonZebo on RugbyPass Offload this week to chat through his Heineken Champions Cup Final.
+ Six Nations Preview, Bledisloe and @DylanHartley on how Eddie Jones picked his squad ?
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It wasn’t the only incident that left Racing feeling hard done by, the French club of the belief that Exeter didn’t legally defend their line in the pressure that was built after Francis was yellow-carded. “I wasn’t in earshot of what we being said,” said Zebo, in reference to the last-minute situation regarding referee Nigel Owens and the clock.
“But it was a few decisions earlier that went against us that probably upset the forwards and the team more. There was a maul we had five metres out and it’s even harder to look at now. We’re scoring a try with five minutes left. I don’t know his name but the baldy guy for Exeter, part of the maul breaks off and he couldn’t come in the side anymore and take down out maul.
“It kills momentum and then after that you have the issue with Sam Hidalgo, whether Anthony Claassens goes and reaches out and they get the penalty, whether he comes in from the side or whether it’s over the line or should be a scrum to us, whatever.
“There’s loads of different interpretations but the five-metre maul where they come in from the side and collapse, that was just killer and it’s the difference – the difference between us having a star on our jersey and them having a star on their jersey. We’re just very disappointed with that but we’re not saying it’s Nigel. There is plenty of eyes there.”
That play took place with Zebo off the pitch having been replaced by Kurtley Beale despite scoring two Racing tries. “I was cramping up a bit,” he explained. “The coach saw me stretching a few times. He saw me stretching and gave me an ‘are you okay, thumbs up, thumbs down?’ I was like I’m okay, it was just in between play I was trying to stretch out a bit.
“Obviously it’s a final, if I have to sprint I’ll sprint. I didn’t want to come off with cramp. I felt like I could go again and get a third (try). I was feeling confident and when you’re in a good groove, in that mood, it was unfortunate.
“Kurtley is world class. He is such an asset to have in our team so bringing him off the bench isn’t a loss in any shape, way or form. It’s just I would have preferred to have maybe shifted to wing or for him to have come on at No12 or have gotten a few minutes playing together in the final. It would be been a bit better.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
The 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?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 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!
3 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 …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments