Ioane’s red card deserved but lessons must be learned, says Price

ALI PRICE has admitted that Glasgow Warriors can have no complaints about the red card shown to TJ Ioane in Friday night’s Challenge Cup loss in Montpellier.

Warriors back-rower Ioane was sent off just two minutes after coming off the bench as a replacement midway through the second half.

Indeed, the visitors actually finished the game with 13 men after centre Nick Grigg was also sent to the sin bin for a deliberate knock-on in the closing stages.

But it was Ioane’s red card which proved costly as Warriors tried to fight their way back into the game.

He was dismissed for a reckless high tackle, where his shoulder made contact with the head of Montpellier’s Yvan Reilhac.

And Warriors scrum-half Price has warned his team-mates that they need to wisen-up and adapt to the new laws, with referees clamping down on any dangerous tackles and contact to the head.

‘During the Six Nations, we were very aware of subtle law changes as a group,’ said the Scotland No9.

‘If you look at the penalties and cards shown on Friday night, they are not one-offs. We’ve not been hard done by. If you hit anyone in the head, you’ll get a red card.

‘If you go in for a tackle and knock it on when there’s a try-scoring opportunity, then that’s the risk you run these days.

‘It’s tough in the moment to make these split-second decisions but we must be smarter and be better in those situations. TJ was obviously gutted. No one goes out there to get a red card. But it’s something he’ll need to look at in terms of his technique and height.

‘We speak about playing on the edge, but we were all in agreement that it was a red card. It wasn’t just that, though. We gave away a number of penalties throughout the game.

‘Ill-discipline has cost us this season in matches. You won’t go away to a French Top 14 side and win with 14 or 13 men on the field.

‘The fact that we were in with a chance of winning at the end shows the grittiness of the group and we played some good stuff. But we’re letting teams off the hook too easily.’

Now with a period of rest and recovery ahead of the Rainbow Cup starting later this month, Price added: ‘It’s a clean slate and we need to build up as a full squad now. There can be no excuses moving forward.

‘We have three weeks together to attack these Rainbow Cup games.’