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Huge blow to Exeter's title hopes as Skinner and Ewers contest charges and lose
By Liam Heagney
Exeter's hopes that they can successfully go on and defend their Gallagher Premiership title have suffered a huge blow as two of the forwards that started last Saturday's dramatic round 22 win over Sale - Sam Skinner and Dave Ewers - will now miss the rest of the season following four-game bans.
An RFU statement read: "Sam Skinner and Dave Ewers of Exeter appeared before an online independent disciplinary panel last night [Tuesday]. Skinner was sent off by referee Karl Dickson in the 53rd minute of the match between Exeter and Sale Sharks. This was for dangerous tackling, contrary to World Rugby law 9.13.
"Ewers was cited by independent citing commissioner Paul Hull following the same match. This was for a dangerous tackle on Sale Sharks' Simon Hammersley contrary to World Rugby law 9.13. The incident took place in the 33rd minute of the match.
"Both players contested the charges against them but they were upheld by the independent disciplinary panel comprising Jeremy Summers (chair) with Mitch Read and Olly Kohn, who gave each player a four-week suspension. Their free to play dates will be confirmed once Exeter's fixture schedule is known."
An independent panel statement added: "Both cases involved direct contact with an opponent's head that carried a high degree of danger.
"None of the mitigating factors set out in the World Rugby head contact process which would have justified the red card otherwise being reduced to a yellow card were present. Neither player accepted the charge and so full mitigation credit was not available to them."
What was said at the hearing is as of yet unclear as the written judgement has yet to be published on the disciplinary section of the RFU website. The first game of the Skinner and Ewers' bans will be this Saturday's semi-final at home to Sale.
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Latest Comments
Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".
But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.
The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.
Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?
Go to commentsI think they just need to judge better when it's on and when it's not. If there is a disjointed chase and WJ has a forward in front of him and some space to work with then he should have a crack every time.
If the chase is perfect and the defence is numbered up then it needs to get sent back. From memory they have not really developed a plan for what to do if they take the ball on/in the 22 with a good chase and no counter attacking opportunity.
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