Video - Hair-pulling and headbutts as England Wallabies turns red
Wallabies second row Darcy Swain was shown a red card and England lock Jonny Hill a yellow as tempers boiled over in the first Test in Perth.
A scrappy, penalty-ridden start launched the series but England settled to produce some promising moments with their first meaningful attack.
Owen Farrell drew first blood with a penalty and all the rugby was being played by the tourists as Joe Cokanasiga began to make an impression through his power before Danny Care exploited space around the ruck.
Tom Curry was sent charging into space and his long pass found Joe Marchant but the centre was brilliantly tackled by Marika Koroibete, whose defence had saved a certain try.
England’s lead built with a second penalty by Farrell and the Wallabies’ luck on the injury front deteriorated further as Tom Banks left the field on the medical cart after breaking his arm.
Prop Allan Alaalatoa was the next to exit as he rose unsteadily from the bottom of a ruck and the penalties continued to rise, enabling Lolesio to land three points before Farrell missed another shot at goal.
Things however went up a notch when Swain and Hill – who had been at each other all half – got stuck into each other after Hill pulled the Australian’s hair at a maul.
Swain took exception to the dirty play and after the two had separated, aimed a half-hearted headbutt at Hill.
??? ????! ? Australia's Darcy Swain! ?
There is some mutual hair pulling between Jonny Hill and Darcy Swain! England's Hill is sent to the sin bin and Australia's Swain is sent off for a ????????! ?? #AUSvENG pic.twitter.com/MBpkwdlB6l
— Sky Sports Rugby Union (@SkySportsRugby) July 2, 2022
It’s been a rough night for the Wallabies in the first half. Fullback Tom Banks has suffered a serious arm injury when landing heavily after contesting a high ball.
Darcy Swain's evening is over, while Jonny Hill will spend 10-minutes in the bin. What do we think of this incident? #StanSportAU #Wallabies #AUSvENG pic.twitter.com/0meajITliO
— Stan Sport Rugby (@StanSportRugby) July 2, 2022
Quade Cooper was a last-minute withdrawal after straining his left calf in the warm-up, but it was the injury to Banks that left viewers squeamish.
After leaping high into the air in a bid to catch Nic White’s 22nd-minute restart, Banks’ left arm bent the wrong way as he crashed to the ground and attempted to avoid a head-first landing.
'What did I do to deserve that ref?' ?#AUSvENG pic.twitter.com/OHQY5RHAXg
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 2, 2022
The 28-year-old immediately realised the extent of the damage, and a medicab was called to take him off the field.
Adding to the Wallabies’ woes, prop Allan Ala’alatoa went off in the 26th minute for a concussion test after copping a knock while tackling England fullback Freddie Steward.
The night of injury carnage for the Wallabies started even before kick-off.
The Wallabies were completing their warm-up at Optus Stadium when Cooper injured his left calf.
Cooper was consoled by teammate s as he slowly trudged off the field.
addtional reporting PA and AAP
Comments on RugbyPass
I guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
43 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
4 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
43 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
43 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
4 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
6 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
2 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
6 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to comments