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Will Skelton becomes first Barbarians player to be sent off
By Kim Ekin
Giant Australian lock Will Skelton has become the first Barbarians FC player to ever receive a red card.
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England were trailing 19-11 at the interval after a mixed first half consisting of a solitary try for Joe Cokanasiga.
Will Skelton becomes the first player to ever see red for @Barbarian_FC
— Stuart Farmer (@Stu_Farmer) June 19, 2022
The Barbarians led the try count 3-1 but they were reduced to 14 men after the 6 foot 8 inch Skelton was sent off for a shoulder to the head of Patrick Schickerling.
Skelton hit England rookie Schickerling with head high shoulder shot, although he made an effort to wrap and hold the Exeter Chiefs prop upright after the collision.
Ugo Monye observed wryly: “Two yellows in the #GallagherPrem final and Will Skelton gets a red for that. Not surprised at the confusion right now”
Two yellows in the #GallagherPrem final and Will Skelton gets a red for that ????? not surprised at the confusion right now
— Ugo Monye (@ugomonye) June 19, 2022
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Skelton’s selection has left the invitation side’s French coach Fabien Galthie wondering why the big man isn’t more of a regular fixture still for the Wallabies.
“Will is big and good and clever. I don’t know why he is not an international player now – maybe they manage players in their country, and overseas maybe not – but in this case it is an opportunity for us because Will wanted to play with George Kruis,” said Galthie.
“It is like a present for George because they played at Saracens years ago. It is a nice story.”
Skelton did feature with a 19th cap for Australia in the loss to Scotland at Murrayfield last November, his first appearance in the green and gold for five years.
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Skelton last month led La Rochelle to a 24-21 win against Leinster in the European Champions Cup Final in Marseille, in which he was outstanding.
Australian Jones, defending an unbeaten coaching record for England against the Wallabies, will be hoping to stretch his sequence to 11 straight wins over his home country by winning the July series 3-0.
French players make up 10 of the starting line-up, with captain Charles Ollivon back in international action after being sidelined during the championship with injury.
additional reporting PA and AAP
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Really nice balance but I'm not sure why Cole, the best scrummaging tighthead is starting on the bench. Surely you'd start with him to grind the setpiece and try and win some scrum pens and then bring on Sinckler to have impact in the loose when the game opens up.
Go to commentsDuring ten years of rugby I was concussed twice. Both times was when my head made contact with my opponent's hip bone as he fell on my head. Rugby has an integral element of competing for space through physical domination. If you have to drive through the tackle with your head down, that puts the tackler at a serious risk. it's might work for 60 kg kids but not in the fury of the clash between 100kg athletes. Even if this insane law change does get any traction which I seriously doubt, this is going to end up in classical case of unintended consequences.
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