London Welsh’s Premiership stint over; red card controversy at the Gardens
London Welsh’s relegation from the Premiership was confirmed with, ironically, one of their better performances of the season. They went down 14-29 to Bath at home, but made the West Country side work hard for their bonus point and the 15 point differential was significantly smaller than some of their reverses in the past year. It does, however, confirm what we’ve realistically known for some time: the Exiles will be playing Championship rugby next season.
A fabulous game of rugby on Friday night at Franklin’s Gardens was overshadowed by one moment which saw George North appear to suffer another worrying concussion, a little over a month after he was knocked out twice in one game playing for Wales against England. Wasps’ Nathan Hughes was sent off for the incident, which, even if the knee to the head was accidental, was probably the right call from young referee Craig Maxwell-Keys given the reckless nature of the challenge. It soured what was otherwise a tremendously entertaining encounter, a Christian Wade hat-trick keeping Wasps in the game until late on, before their numerical disadvantage saw them tire and concede three late tries to go down 30-52.
Saturday afternoon saw Saracens rack up a huge score against Harlequins in front of a record crowd for a club rugby match at Wembley. 84,068 watched on as Sarries ran in five tries, including braces for both Chris Ashton and Chris Wyles, to win 42-14. At the same time, Leicester were confirming another of their late-season charges towards the play-offs, putting Exeter to the sword 25-18 at Welford Road and in the process denting the West Country outfit’s own play-off hopes.
London Irish edged a pulsating encounter in a party atmosphere in the yearly St Patrick’s Day fixture at the Madejski Stadium, surviving a late fightback from the Newcastle Falcons to win 22-21. The weekend was rounded up at the AJ Bell Stadium, where Sale steamrolled Gloucester to win in highly convincing style, Danny Cipriani inspiring them to a 23-6 win over the Cherry and Whites.
Three points apiece as Leinster and Glasgow share the spoils
In a monumentally exciting game at the RDS in Dublin, both Leinster and Glasgow walked away with three match points after drawing 34-34 and scoring four tries apiece. The Scotsmen raced out of the blocks with a try from Stuart Hogg after five minutes and held a commanding 27-7 lead at half time. Leinster roared back into the game in the second half, however, scoring three tries in 14 minutes, including two from replacement scrum-half Isaac Boss, to lead 34-27 going into the final quarter of the game. Glasgow left it late to ensure all their first half good work wasn’t in vain, replacement Glenn Bryce crossing in the 73rd minute and Peter Horne’s conversion securing the draw.
Ulster and Munster took the opportunity to close the gap on leaders Glasgow with home wins over Cardiff (36-17) and Connacht (42-20) respectively, both sides securing try-scoring bonus points in the process to leave them tied on 58 points and just two behind the leaders. Edinburgh pulled off one of the results of the weekend with their 26-15 win away at the Scarlets, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne scoring 16 points in an inspired performance from the scrum-half. There was better news for two other Welsh sides against Italian opposition, the Ospreys running in seven tries to demolish Zebre 53-22 in Swansea, and the Dragons leaving it late to secure the win (32-17) and a bonus point against Treviso, two late Tom Pydie tries eventually making the difference.
Castres strike decisive blow in relegation fight, Toulon crumble at home
A strange weekend in the Top 14 saw a whopping four wins away from home – thoroughly uncharacteristic for the French league. On Friday night as Northampton vs Wasps and Leinster vs Glasgow were thrilling spectators on one side of the channel, Bayonne and Racing Metro were doing a good job of sending theirs to sleep, the Parisian side eventually running out 12-6 winners thanks to the boots of Johnny Sexton and Maxime Machenaud.
Saturday saw Castres lift themselves off the bottom of the table for the first time in a while, an early Sitiveni Sivivatu try setting them on their way. Jonathan Wisniewski’s boot kept Grenoble in the game but a late penalty from fullback Geoffrey Palis confirmed the 16-12 win for the relegation-threatened side. Their victory combined with Montpellier’s convincing 45-17 win over Lyon saw Les Loups drop to the basement spot. Elsewhere La Rochelle shocked Bordeaux 22-21 away from home, while Clermont were thumped 40-26 in Paris by Stade Français and Oyonnax recorded a 24-3 win over Brive.
One of the results of the weekend came from the Stade Velodrome in Marseille as Toulon lost to Toulouse, a result that will give Wasps fans hope ahead of their visit to the Felix Mayol in the Champions Cup. Toulon had led early on after two tries from bulldozing win Josua Tuisova gave them a commanding 18-0 head start, but two late tries from Maxime Medard and Jano Vermaak gave Toulouse a famous 34-24 win.
Hurricanes maintain early momentum to remain unbeaten
Down in the Southern Hemisphere the Hurricanes smashed the Rebels 36-12 to maintain their unbeaten start to 2015, despite resting several of their key Kiwi stars. At the other end of the spectrum and the table, it was more bad news for two colourful teams, as the Reds and the Blues went down 17-18 and 11-23 to the Lions and Waratahs respectively.
It was a mixed weekend for the South African franchises, the Stormers succumbing to a 21-39 loss to the free-running Highlanders, while the Cheetahs also went down to a New Zealand side, losing out 27-37 to the Chiefs. The Sharks managed a 15-9 win over the Force, although the manner of victory was anything but assuring, before the Bulls saved some face by hammering the Crusaders 31-19.
Try of the weekend: Isaac Boss inspired Leinster to a second half fightback against Glasgow, and the second try of his brace was simply brilliant, some slick hands from the Leinster back-line and Luke Fitzgerald’s dancing feet combining to give the scrum-half the platform from which to dart over. Skip to 1.25 in the video below to watch it.
Villain of the week: He may not have been deliberately aiming for his head, but Nathan Hughes‘ swinging of his leg into George North’s head was reckless and the way North lay unmoving on the ground was sickeningly reminiscent of his troubles in the Wales vs England game. With so much concern around player safety these days, Hughes was rightly red-carded and should receive a ban to dissuade other players from similarly dangerous acts.
Heroes of the week: 84,068 piled into Wembley on Saturday afternoon to watch Saracens and Harlequins play out what must be the most entertaining sports match to take place at the stadium for some time, so kudos to the Saracens marketing team for making this type of one-off fixture such a success. We’re not always fans of their gimmicks, but to pack so many people in for a simple Premiership game is excellent work, and it of course helps that the player obliged, the Saracens backs in particular combining to score some memorable tries and leave any part-time fans seriously considering getting more involved in rugby.
By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
26 replies on “Best of the weekend: Bath confirm Welsh relegation, PRO12 gets tight at the top”
Re Saracens and Harlequins at Wembley, I wish the ground-staff had done a better job of covering up the football pitch markings. On TV on several occasions I thought the try scorer had been brought down 5 metres short!
Sorry Jamie not a red card. Yellow yes, red no.
What offense do you give the yellow for though? ‘Kicking’ has to be a red card offense doesn’t it?
I don’t think he went in there with the deliberate intention of kicking George North, but the fact is he did kick him, intentionally or not. These guys are agile enough to take a step to the right or left, it’s reckless at best.
As a counter, if George North isn’t knocked out, most likely nothing happens. Often people leave a foot or a knee in after a try and nothing is given.
Interesting to see what referees association thinks of it? has their been any feedback from them?
I’ll rephrase. Yellow would have been more understandable. I disagreed with the sanction full stop, and can say I would have thought a yellow harsh, but more understandable. Afterall a reckless challenge in the air or tip tackle gets the same.
I also think that If it wasn’t North and the 6 nations weren’t still at the back of the mind, he wouldn’t have been red carded.
Hard to understand why the North incident was a red card and the Patchell incident in the Ulster match (not mentioned here) wasn’t. Yet more comedy refereeing in the Pro 12.
A few months ago Hoeata gets a red card and a lengthy band for a straight arm in a high tackle. Nick Williams knocks out a player with a straight arm on Fri and only sees yellow. Teo for Leinster knocks a Welsh player out with his arm cast and gets nothing. Inconsistent and frustrating.
Brighty, I have just seen a clip of this. Clear Red for me.
Yep, open and shut Blub and Williams is nailed on villain of the week. never mind this Hughes guy. He led with the intention of hitting Patch hard in the head to try and dislodge him from the ruck. Intentional. I hope he gets a lengthy ban. He already put Shingler out with a late charge earlier in the season.
I thought the red was harsh. Hughes was following up as all players should, in case the ball is spilt etc in the process of scoring the try. He has no idea where a players head is going to be when he gets there, and there was clearly no intent. Yellow for being a bit careless, but a red seems harsh.
I was at Wembley, and I have to say I was disappointed with Quins. As a Sarries fan it was nice to get the 5 points and a big score, but Quins really didn’t put up much of a fight. And if Danny Care wants to get back in the England squad, he is going to have to stop giving away sill penalties and kicking the ball away, costing his team an extra 10 yards. Sarries didn’t actually play that well over the 80 minutes. Excellent in patches, and the set-piece, but a lot of knock-ons in open play which Quins should’ve capitalised on.
Agree with Rogers, it reminds me a lot of the aerial challenges you see, sometimes they look bad but both players get up fine and nothing happens, sometimes it looks innocuous but one player gets injured and it’s a card. Villain of the week seams a bit strong though and by “a ban to dissuade other players from similarly dangerous acts” I assume you mean trying to kick the ball out of the try scores hand as the ref appeared to adjudge it to be. The poor ref did get a torrid time from Dickson and Hartly though, I bet he was happy when they got subbed.
On a more positive note Wade and Ashton did look pretty tasty this weekend, and Ashton got carded for a pretty gentle tip tackle, which means he actually tackled.
Ashton was pretty unlucky with the yellow card. Don’t think the tackle was much of a penalty the yellow was just ridiculous. Not the first time I’ve seen Barnes give a soft yellow for that type of tackle.
He was unlucky, but the player went past the horizontal so it’s an immediate yellow. Watch the replay closely and he taps Hopper on the back as he lands. Now to me that’s a sign of an apology, and checking that he’s ok. Also Hopper twists to try and protect himself (taking some of the control away from Ashton), which probably puts him beyond the horizontal. Had he just let Ashton carry on with the tackle though it could’ve been more dangerous though.
Ha I thought the same. Apparently Ashton now has the unwanted record of most yellows by a player in the premiership, however to see one for a smashing tackle (even if he was a little careless and should have saved it from turning into a tip) was refreshing!
As a saints fan I would agree with most of the comments on here that a red was harsh.
The ref said to the TMO that the player was attempting kick the ball out of the try scorers hands as part of his justification for the red but to me it just looked clumsy rather than intentional.
I still think a yellow for a reckless challenge could be easily justified as it did appear that Hughes could have done more to avoid contact.
Had a Yellow been awarded it would have been 27-23 by the time Hughes returned so Wasps would still have been in the contest (still think Saints would have won)
Sketchy referee’s assistanting at the RDS, luckily Nigel Owens was on top form to counter it and make it a stunning match.
Surely the villain of the week has to be Gareth Davies of the Scarlets for getting sent off two minutes after coming on for a needless headbutt. Agree with brighty Williams was lucky not to see red for Ulster. All I can think is that the fact is arm was quite close to his body as saved him. But surely it was a red or nothing?
I think the red for Hughes was harsh, fair play for the ref for backing himself in a high pressure environment, but I’m not sure where he got the idea that Hughes was trying to kick the ball out of North’s hands from.
As for “…and should receive a ban to dissuade other players from similarly dangerous acts.” Are players not allowed to cover back any more or have they all just got to become superman so they can get themselves out of the way?
Agree with you about Davies for villain of the week. That is far worse of an act than an unintentional knee to the head.
Graeme, I don’t think the intended “dissuasion” was referring to covering in defence, or even covering tackles.
It is intended to dissuade reckless/careless use of the feet when opposition players are on the ground.
Superman?
I’m sorry but I don’t see how a player trying to make a covering tackle who is then trying to stop as they haven’t got there in time is careless use of the feet. IMO he doesn’t try to kick the ball, if he does then fair enough it’s a red card. But I don’t think he is, he is just trying to stop. North’s still moving and all this happen in less than a second. It’s not like North is on the ground for a second complete still, then Hughes runs into him.
Having now watched the Saints V Wasps game and the various clips of the North incident I believe the Ref got it wrong, not even sure if Nathan Hughes should have been given a yellow card. On a more worrying note I think that North was already playing with conscious as it looked like he was KO earlier in the game when he and Samu Manoa tackled Wade as Wade scored his first try. If you watch the replay of this part it looks like North is KO. Really worrying if he was as this is a second time that he has been KO and the first incident not been noticed.
After my overdose of Rugby the previous week I didn’t see too much this weekend so I can’t comment, as per Brighty, on the comparative nature of cards/incidents, but I can comment on what little I did see.
For me, Hughes deserved a Red Card. Did he intend to kick him in the head? No, almost certainly he didn’t. BUT he could have avoided it.
Agree with several others that it has parallels with the aerial challenges that have been discussed many times in recent weeks.
Just to elaborate though, there is, in my humble opinion, far too much attacking the try scorer after scoring tries. We see plenty of elbows, knees, and shoulders hitting the scorer in the act of scoring, and not enough of it is penalised.
the oft-used excuse of either trying to dislodge the ball, or to get under the ball is mostly utter nonsense. Where on the pitch can you get away with “trying to dislodge the ball” using elbows or knees to the back?
How was Hughes supposed to avoid it? He’s 123kg, and had less than a second to react, since he’s going flat out in case North doesn’t go down in time. As soon as North dives Hughes can be seen to be sticking on the breaks. Big guy and good top end speed, he doesn’t stop fast. Anyone suggesting jumping should be asked why they think a boot to Norths face, or a shin to Lozowskis face, combined with 123kg of no.8 falling on both players, is thought to be safer or less reckless.
The only way Hughes could have avoided that for me, would have been not to chase the player at all, I don’t think anyone can back that.
“The only way Hughes could have avoided that for me, would have been not to chase the player at all” – really? Have you re-read that part?
So by that logic, a player of 123kg (or heavier) would run into the try scorers head, if said try-scorer dived to score the try.
There was nothing inevitable about Hughes covering, and ultimately making contact with Norths head.
It wasn’t a kick he caught him with his knee, it should’ve been a yellow as he couldn’t stop his momentum and there wasn’t an ounce of malice in it.
Lots of comments about the red being unintentional but since when does intent come into dangerous play? We’ve heard a lot about “duty of care” in the last year or so with dangerous aerial challenged – how is this any different? DanD – he didn’t just carry on running, there’s an acceleration of his right leg as he is clearly looking to kick the ball out of North’s hands when over the line. Of course he didn’t mean to kick him in the head, but the fact of the matter is that he did and in the process could have seriously injured North. It wasn’t intentional but it was dangerous, therefore the red card was justified IMO.
Acceleration of his right leg? He extends his leg but all his weight his backwards, then looks like the act of someone trying to slow down not speed up. For me it looks like he tries to put his right leg in front of North, to avoid him but Norths momentum carries him in to Hughes knee. I don’t see how that can be careless or reckless personally.
Really don’t see any acceleration, he hits the breaks once North goes down, he straightens his left leg as he’s trying to slow, and the leg that comes forward (which seeing as we move by moving one leg after the other is his right) is nowhere near the ball (which is down by Norths waist). To me he’s just trying to stop, and being the size he is wasn’t able to in time.
It was dangerous, but every tackle (including legal ones) can end badly. Plisson could have suffered severe whiplash and been knocked out by Lawes, but that was a legal tackle. I really disagree on outcome based judgement.
He’s chasing the attacker, he can’t know if Lozowski is going to complete the tackle, if North is going to try and run the ball further in, if Loz is going to slow him down enough for Hughes to bundle them all into touch. It looks to me that as soon as North starts going down Hughes tries to slow. https://twitter.com/JudgeRugby/status/581555431350366209
Most telling I think is the Saints reaction. With Lawes patting Hughes on the back, Dickson patting him on the head and saying something like “It’s alright mate.” If Saints players aren’t straight in there defending their team mate, they clearly don’t think Hughes acted with even the slightest bit of malice, and Lawes at least was well placed to tell.