A mockery or the right red card?

FREDDIE STEWARD’s red card just before half-time turned England’s match on its head and sparked fierce debate among experts.

Sir Clive Woodward, the World Cup-winning former England coach and Sportsmail columnist, said the referee Peyper made the wrong call in penalising the full-back after he led with his shoulder and striking Hugo Keenan’s head.

But Ireland legend Brian O’Driscoll disputed his co-pundit’s view and was backed up Alain Rolland, the former international referee, who was speaking to the Mail on Sunday.

Sir Clive

‘When you watch it live, none of us said it was a yellow or red card. It’s just a rugby incident that happens. Keenan goes to kick it and goes down a bit, Steward comes in. Freddie Steward is not a dirty player, he’s not going, “I’m going to hurt this player.” To the letter of the law it’s a red card, but in terms of a rugby incident, it’s a yellow card at best. I think they should shake hands and move on. He got it wrong, it’s a yellow card.’

Brian O’Driscoll

‘Steward goes in to brace himself for a collision that is square on. You’re not in a strong position if you stay square, you’re going to turn your body. It’s just unbelievably unlucky that he caught him square in the head with his elbow. As soon as you saw the replay, there is a duty of care from the defender on the attacker, irrespective of the knock-on. He can’t lead with the shoulder like that. He catches him square in the head. Jaco Peyper came to the right decision, albeit it’s a tough one to make.’

Alain Rolland

‘There’s going to be an awful lot of people saying the red card is unlucky, harsh and unfair. It’s all of those things but it’s not wrong. Did we see head contact? Yes, that’s clear. Was it at a high force with a high degree of danger? Yes. The player went off the field and did not return. We have a duty of care. It wasn’t accidental and there weren’t really any mitigating factors. No change in height or lastminute ball movement. It’s unlucky but if you stick to the facts of the head-contact process, it’s not a surprise it ended in a red card.’