1
'That's a rugby incident' - Consenus forms rapidly on Freddie Steward red
By Ian Cameron
England fullback Freddie Steward was sent off with a red card during the Six Nations Grand Slam decider match against Ireland in Dublin - and Twitter is vexed.
Steward was shown a red card by referee Jaco Peyper for hitting Ireland fullback Hugo Keenan in the head with his elbow during an aborted attempt to contest a ball with the Ireland fullback. The decision has sparked a debate among fans, with most believing the punishment was too severe.
Steward's red card came just before halftime, with England captain Owen Farrell heard on the ref mic expressing his disbelief at the decision. He could be heard saying, "Oh no. A red card? He was trying to get out of the contact?"
England was already down 10-6 and Steward's expulsion has left Steve Borthwick's team with only 14 players on the field and a tough task in the second half.
Even Irish commentators Alan Quinland and Andrew Trimble admitted that the decision was harsh on Steward, who had very little options open to him to avoid Keenan.
On social media, many fans expressed their disappointment with the decision to send Steward off. Some argued that it was a harsh punishment for what appeared to be an accident, while others suggested that the referee was overreacting.
Former England prop Joe Marler was furious, writing: "Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. In fact it’s complete and utter boll***s."
Andy Goode wrote: "Awful call from Jaco Peyper, that’s a rugby incident never a red card for Steward."
"Never red for Freddie Steward," wrote Ewan MacKenna. "Can slow anything down to make it look brutal. Play in real time and it's unfortunate and accidental collision that maybe, maybe, warrants yellow for careless recklessness. Always telling, if that was an Irish red you'd be livid."
"That red card for Freddie Steward a bit harsh?," wrote Martyn Ziegler of The Times. "Grand Slam in the bag now."
Rugby Youtuber Andrew Forde wrote: "I actually can’t believe that, no chance was that a red card for Steward."
There were plenty more in that vein:
Others defended the call from Peyper: "Steward’s action is reckless, dangerous and could’ve been avoided with his clear line of sight. These are elite rugby players. It gives similar vibes to CJ Stander’s red card against SA a few years ago on Pat Lambie. The players still have a duty of care."
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Wallaroos captain reflects on Black Ferns’ success with sevens stars
3
Springboks flyhalf's latest injury worry
4
Initial Immanuel Feyi-Waboso injury update does not sound promising
5
Latest Comments
The boy needs to bulk up if wants to play 10 or 11 to handle those hits, otherwise he could always make a brilliant reserve for the wings if he stays away from the stretcher.
Go to commentsIn another recent article I tried to argue for a few key concept changes for EPCR which I think could light the game up in the North.
First, I can't remember who pointed out the obvious elephant in the room (a SA'n poster?), it's a terrible time to play rugby in the NH, and especially your pinnacle tournament. It's been terrible watching with seemingly all the games I wanted to watch being in the dark, hardly able to see what was going on. The Aviva was the only stadium I saw that had lights that could handle the miserable rain. If the global appeal is there, they could do a lot better having day games.
They other primary idea I thuoght would benefit EPCR most, was more content. The Prem could do with it and the Top14 could do with something more important than their own league, so they aren't under so much pressure to sell games. The quality over quantity approach.
Trim it down to two 16 team EPCR competitions, and introduce a third for playing amongst the T2 sides, or the bottom clubs in each league should simply be working on being better during the EPCR.
Champions Cup is made up of league best 15 teams, + 1, the Challenge Cup winner. Without a reason not to, I'd distribute it evenly based on each leauge, dividing into thirds and rounded up, 6 URC 5 Top14 4 English. Each winner (all four) is #1 rank and I'd have a seeding round or two for the other 12 to determine their own brackets for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. I'd then hold a 6 game pool, home and away, with consecutive of each for those games that involve SA'n teams. Preferrably I'd have a regional thing were all SA'n teams were in the same pool but that's a bit complex for this simple idea.
That pool round further finalises the seeding for knockout round of 16. So #1 pool has essentially duked it out for finals seeding already (better venue planning), and to see who they go up against 16, 15,etc etc. Actually I think I might prefer a single pool round for seeding, and introduce the home and away for Ro16, quarters, and semis (stuffs up venue hire). General idea to produce the most competitive matches possible until the random knockout phase, and fix the random lottery of which two teams get ranked higher after pool play, and also keep the system identical for the Challenge Cup so everthing is succinct. Top T2 side promoted from last year to make 16 in Challenge Cup
Go to comments