Carling comes out in defence of Sinckler as England fall to Wales defeat
his head-height tackle was deemed to be with force on the half back.
Minutes later, another head-height tackle was given a questionable punishment by the officials. Field turned the ball over outside their 22 before Dale No.3 Reece Ward took a more visible swipe at Mark Pease, who managed to duck the swinging left hook before the whistle went.
After the ensuing melee Ward received a spell in the bin, as did Battye for his exertions in the afters between the sides.
Chris Johnson then missed the chance for three points from just shy of halfway then Blakeney-Edwards’ effort under the posts sent the sides in seven points apart on the whistle.
Coming out for the second period it seemed to be a galvanised Field with Hodgson bagging an early try in the corner, his first since returning to Lockwood Park.
Quick shifting of the ball to the right by Fran Entressengle, Matt Dunn and Chris Johnson invited Mark Pease to send Hodgson into the corner. Johnson kicked the conversion from a tight angle on the right to level the score.
Blakeney-Edwards and Johnson exchanged three-point kicks to preserve the ebb of the scoreline, the Dale man first with a penalty six minutes before Johnson’s drop-goal locking the sides at 13-13.
The 14 gave their best to not be overcome, but the rearguard action couldn’t stay the course with Dale finally finding a way through.
Dale worked it right to Ralph Wellock who simply had more in the engine to break through the grasp of the despairing Guy Borrowdale and in behind for the match-winner.
Blakeney-Edwards finished the scoring with his conversion and Dale saw the game out with relative ease.
“It’s obviously a disappointing result but credit to Wharfedale and the way they performed,” said Field head coach Gareth Lewis.
“Clearly the red card was a crucial moment in the game meaning it was backs to the wall for 65 minutes. However, I’m proud of the way the boys fronted up.
Title rivals Chester lost to Hinckley so Field are now in second place, despite the defeat, five points behind league leaders Hull who come to Lockwood Park next week. WILL Carling has defended Kyle Sinckler after his ill-discipline contributed to England’s second-half collapse in their 21-13 defeat by Wales.
Sinckler gave away successive penalties at a key stage of the Guinness Six Nations title showdown as a 10-3 interval lead ebbed away, a late hit on Gareth Anscombe and choke hold on Alun Wyn Jones resulting in referee Jaco Peyper’s intervention.
For the previous 56 minutes the Harlequins prop was magnificent and England’s best player alongside Sale’s Tom Curry, but with evidence that the ‘emotional timebomb’ described by Warren Gatland was about to detonate, Eddie Jones replaced him.
Sinckler’s short fuse was identified as a weakness by Gatland during the build-up to the Principality Stadium collision and Wales duly exploited it, although the blame for defeat spread far wider than the tighthead’s indiscipline.
“Kyle Sinckler a cheap target by some pundits. Man was amazing in defence 1st half,” said Carling, England’s leadership mentor, on Twitter.
“He was a huge target for the Welsh, no issue with that, but he is fast maturing and learning to keep his edge (which I love) and maintaining control.
“The man is going to be awesome.”
Cast as the pantomime villain, Sinckler was booed from the pitch but on tackle count alone he made a destructive impact on a dramatic Test that hung in the balance until Cory Hill drove over in the 68th minute.