'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
harry potter is set in stone. he creates stability and finishes well. exactly what schmidt likes. he’s the ben smith of australian rugby. i think it could quite easily be potter toole and kellaway for the foreseeable future.
5 Go to commentsThis is short sighted from Clayton if you ask me, smacks of too much preseason planning and no adaptability. What if DMac is out for a must win match, are they still only going to bring their best first five and playmaker on late in the game? Trusting the game to someone who wasn’t even part of planning (they would have had Trask pinned in as Jacomb preseason). Perhaps if the Crusaders were better they would not have done this, but either way imo you take this opportunity to play a guy you might need starting in a final rather than having their 12th game getting comfortable coming off the bench.
1 Go to commentsThanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.
21 Go to commentsWhat a load of bollocks. The author has forgotten to mention the fact that the Crusaders have a huge injury toll with top world class players out. Not to mention the fact that they are obviously in a transition period. No this will not spark a slow death for NZ rugby, but it does mean there will be a new Super Rugby champion. Anyone who knows anything about NZ rugby knows that there is some serious talent here, it just isn’t all at the Crusaders.
2 Go to commentsI wouldn’t spend the time on Nawaqanitawase! No point in having him filling in a jersey when he’s committed to leave Union. Give the jersey to a young prospect who will be here in the future.
5 Go to commentsIt was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
7 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to comments