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'Absolutely sickening' - Jaco Peyper in dock after yellow for 'horrific' collision
By Ian Cameron
A decision that saw Ulster winger Craig Gilroy shown a yellow card for a 'horrific collision' with Scarlet winger Tom Rogers' face has left Scarlets fans furious.
Ulster bagged a 27-15 bonus-point win over Scarlets in Belfast on Friday night, but many felt the home side should have been playing with 14-men following the ugly incident.
Gilroy was carded by referee Jaco Peyper in the 27th minute for the high hit on Rogers, whose neck snapped back violently, even if he was losing height coming into the tackle.
Many felt it should have been a red, some even describing the decision by the world-class Test referee as 'scandalous'.
"That is the tackle that I think everyone is trying to get away from," said Tom Shanklin on Premier Sports, who said it definitely should have been a red card, largely due to Gilroy's arm being down by his side, which Shanklin wasn't a genuine attempt at the wrap.
"Gilroy's not even looking where he is going. He's led with the shoulder, the arm is down. He's very lucky to get a yellow card as that's quite a bad tackle. It definitely should have been a red card."
Former Ireland fullback Rob Kearney agreed, saying it should have been red from the sheer force of the collision.
"There's so much force to the head there. You see the whiplash, the impact. If we're talking about trying to make the game safer, protecting the opposition player."
To make matters worse for Scarlets fans, Rogers failed to return after halftime, while Gilroy went on to score a bonus point try to secure the result for Ulster.
Rugby journalist Mike Pearce wrote on Twitter: "Jaco Peyper's explanation of this being a yellow card was unbelievable an absolutely sickening incident."
Wales Online reporter Simon Thomas wrote: "For me, the big issue to come out of tonight is there is so much talk about protecting the head and player welfare, then you have one of the world’s leading referees awarding just a yellow for a sickening collision like that. Best wishes to Tom Rogers."
One irate watcher wrote: "Outrageous! Jaco Peyper should have a civil lawsuit launched against him for gross negligence."
Peyper is set to referee the Ireland versus Wales Guinness Six Nations game in Dublin next weekend.
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I don’t think any coach or selector would ever rely on Blackadder being available for selection. I didn’t think it would be possible but he has easily eclipsed Ennor as they most injured player of all time. IMO a symptom of today’s game where players are required to carry at least 10kg of extra mass from when they first hit the scene in their early 20s. Some players respond well to this, maybe due to genetics allowing them to recover faster, or not having reached their peak natural weight yet, but for others the constant training to maintain their weight eats away at recovery time and they spend most of their careers injured.
Go to commentsThanks for the lesson Nick! I presume that targeting gaps is situational because if a ball carrier straightens the line they can't be allowed a gap to run into? It feels like you need depth if you're going to pass it wide and plenty of variety - straight running, kicks just in behind, cross kicks etc. BTW what an incredible bench Toulouse had this week. People complain about Leinster being stacked but they need to be at the very highest level.
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