England played very well and credit to them, but despite the cards, the result would have been the same. A fantastic win, a fanatic tournament and history made by Ireland.
For me England never really had the attacking platform, kicking away the ball on many occasions & coughing up in their 22 when you need the damn thing for points.
It did feel like England were down to 13 men but Ireland were up to 16! The decisions will be debated for a while, but there's nothing can be done about it now, and that's just the way Rugby goes. I've noticed a bit more disrespect creeping in to the game lately with players answering back like the Football idiots do, we don't need that. Bit Emotional there for Sexton at the end, but what a 6-nations career he's had.
Yeah, too much kicking back to the other team from England. The red card looked harsh indeed. The action was definitely dangerous, but involuntary, especially if you look back at it at normal speed. Slow motion was very deceiving on this action with two players literally running into each other. So in theory, that’s more of a yellow. And the yellow at 75’? Well, there was exactly the same tackle from Fickou on Alun Wyn Jones in the game before this one and he didn’t get a yellow. Just foul play… Both times the tackled player landed on shoulder/side/back. Not dangerous. More like Judo. Peyper is still trying to win the « player of the game » title every time he is refereeing. I find this pathetic… On a more positive note, I find it really nice for a player like Sexton to finish his last 6N tournament in such a great fashion. This is good for rugby in general !
If you managed to catch what the referee said, he felt with the current emphasis on player safety, the guidelines left him no option. I’ve seen worse tackles during this competition and this was the first red card. Inconsistent interpretation of the guidelines by the referees ….. so nothing new there. Andy
Red cards should only be handed out for reckless & stupid tackles in my opinion, you could see Freddie was pulling out and bracing himself for the impact, just a rugby incident, the games gone soft.!
Yes, Freddie was not going to stand there whilst his opposing player came in at him head first.The decision to give him a red card was out of order.Up to that point England were doing well and playing much better than in their previous games.Rugby is a tough game and decisions like that are spoiling our great sport.
I don’t think the games gone soft, far from it, but I do think the threat of litigation is now uppermost in the various governing bodies minds. p.s. being slightly cynical, I think he knew what he was doing, in my opinion that’s why he dropped his arm so his shoulder would go in first.
If they're worried about litigation actions down the line, well then get the players to sign a disclaimer from day one before they step onto the pitch, as it's a contact sport this's what can happen when 30 men are battling for that single white pill. As for freddie, if he didn't lower his arm down then he'd have been headbutted in the rig cage, very painful.!
Really? England were only 8 points adrift with 18 minutes to go despite playing with a man down for the second half, it was only in the final 5 when Willis got carded and they were down to 13 that Ireland pulled away, even then England were still attacking in the closing minutes. Don't get me wrong, I think Ireland were the better team on the day and throughout the tournament, but it was not the same England team that was embarrassed (humiliated?) by the French.
I also believe that the second card (yellow) was when Peyper decided to call it a day. A shame really…
Well, well, well… I just found out Freddie Steward red (last game against Ireland) was canceled by the disciplinary committee and downgraded to a yellow… So much for Peyper’s decision to kill that game and seal the tournament outcome… https://www.englandrugby.com/news/article/freddie-steward-independent-disciplinary-update-march-2023
Yes Guillaume, that sending off of Freddie was in my opinion one of the harshest decisions ever witnessed. As you rightly commented it killed the game and up to that point England were competing well and playing better than in their previous games.
