Davies sees yellow, but pundits say he got lucky
WELSH international Aled Davies was dubbed a “lucky boy” after escaping a red card in the Gallagher Premiership final.
The 20-times capped scrumhalf from Carmarthen was sin-binned by referee Wayne Barnes after a shoulder to the head of Leicester hooker Julian Montoya in the 24th minute at Twickenham.
After watching replays, Barnes ruled ball carrier Montoya was dominant so Davies’s actions were just below a high degree of danger and therefore warranted a yellow card rather than a red one.
It was a call that didn’t go down well with Tigers fans, who made their feelings known.
Leicester went on to win the final 15-12.
Giving his thoughts, BT Sport pundit Ben Kay said: “What they (the officials) are saying is the force is provided by Montoya, but there’s quite a few Leicester fans in this stadium who have watched it on the big screen not in agreement with it.”
Fellow BT commentator Austin Healey said: “It is a difficult one. We have seen quite a lot of them this season and they have sometimes gone different ways.”
Former Scotland lock Jim Hamilton made his feelings clear, tweeting: “Ridiculous tackle by Aled Davies. Lucky boy.”
At the half-time interval, BT pundits Ugo Monye and Lawrence Dallaglio gave differing opinions on Barnes’s decision.
Former wing Monye said: “I thought it was a red initially. It’s straight to the head, clear line of sight. There’s subjectivity about the amount of force, but that’s Julian Montoya being knocked to the ground.”
Ex-England and Lions star Dallaglio said: “We have got the best referee in the world and he didn’t think there was enough force to warrant it being a red card. The amount of time a defensive player has got to react to ball off the top of the line-out is very, very slim. So I believe that is the right decision.”