Saracens pair in hot water over double tackle
SARACENS duo Richard Barrington and Brad Barritt are both set to face bans for a reckless double tackle that knocked out Exeter lock Geoff Parling. The former England star was taken off on a stretcher during Saturday’s 13-13 Aviva Premiership draw after the dual impact jolted his neck sideways to leave him unconscious. Barrington was shown a red card for his follow through — striking Parling’s head with his shoulder — but Barritt was not punished for the initial swinging arm that connected with the neck. Under new guidelines introduced on January 3 to clamp down on reckless tackles, centre Barritt should also have been sent off and could now be cited and face a three-week suspension. Exeter head coach Rob Baxter claimed the impact would have ‘knocked out a heavyweight boxer’ but Parling returned to the sidelines at Allianz Park midway through the first half. Parling will go through the standard return-to-play protocols this week, but Baxter said injuries could increase under the new tackle guidelines. He said: ‘In a year’s time could low tackles result in more concussions in rugby? Players are having to adjust their tackle technique and we could see more injuries.’ However, Saracens boss Mark McCall defended Barrington ahead of his disciplinary hearing: ‘It wasn’t a reckless or dangerous challenge. That would have been accidental a while ago and now it’s a red card. ‘In the old days red cards were for reckless, dangerous challenges. We’re going to end up with a lot of games of 15 against 14 soon.’ Exeter took advantage of Barrington’s red with Jack Nowell finishing in style from Gareth Steenson’s crossfield kick. Steenson also landed two penalties and converted Nowell’s try. But Alex Lozowski converted to tie the game after Titi Lamositele bundled over for a try four minutes from time.