WHAT A LOAD OF RUBBISH
Fagerson red card was the wrong call, claims Watson
SCOTLAND star Hamish Watson has accused referee Matt Carley of making a ‘rubbish call’ in showing Zander Fagerson a red card at BT Murrayfield.
And the British & Irish Lions hopeful claimed that Wales should not even have been awarded a penalty for the clear-out that saw the Glasgow prop dismissed in Saturday’s agonising 25-24 home loss. The Scots had seen
a 17-3 lead dwindle to just a two-point advantage when Fagerson was sent off early in the second half of a dramatic Six Nations clash. After a lengthy delay by officials reviewing the incident, the 25-year-old was dismissed for connecting with the head/neck area of Wyn Jones as he tried to shift him from a breakdown contest. Back-row forward Watson refused to blame his team-mate for the defeat, insisting that the Scots should have seen the game out regardless. But he’s convinced that English referee Carley, who over-ruled Television Match Official Karl Dickson’s recommendation to show a yellow card, got it wrong. ‘That was a rubbish call,’ said Watson, the Edinburgh flanker adding: ‘An absolutely dreadful call. That’s not rugby, that call. ‘Zander is absolutely fine. We’ve already got round him. He’s a great player and he’s a big part of everything we do with Scotland. ‘He can hold his head high, I think. We lost that game in the last ten minutes of the first half and the first ten of the second. We lost that game when we had 15 on the field. Zander has nothing to worry about. ‘I haven’t heard the comments from the TV but I’ve heard from other people that the TMO said it wasn’t a red, then the ref has overruled him. ‘The ref has the right to do that if he thinks that’s the right call. But we, as players, strongly disagree with that call. ‘As soon as I saw it on the TV, I was thinking: “That’s not even a penalty”. ‘It is what it is. The ref has overruled it and that’s his decision, he has the power to do that. ‘There’s not much else we can say. We
don’t think it’s a red, a yellow or even a penalty. But that’s the way the game is going.’ However, former World Cup-winning England head coach Sir Clive Woodward was adamant it was a red card, and insisted it is the type of offence that is not punished enough in rugby. Citing Peter O’Mahony’s similar dismissal for Ireland against Wales the previous weekend, he said: ‘The relevant law on foul play (9.2) is worth quoting here because it is black and white: “A player must not charge into a ruck or maul. Charging includes any contact made without binding on to another player in the ruck or maul”. ‘In both the examples of O’Mahony last week and Zander Fagerson on Saturday, they took a long run up and enjoyed a perfect view of the developing tackle situation. Despite that, they just flew in on their own reckless — at best — as to where they hit the prone player. Clear-cut red cards. ‘What is mystifying though is how you see this absolutely fundamental law on foul play repeatedly broken but not punished in just about every professional game you watch. ‘To repeat: When you are making an impact in a ruck or maul, you must be bound on. It’s not rocket science so why isn’t it more consistently refereed? The result of turning a blind eye is chaos, a wild west brawl for possession.’ Man-of-the-match Louis Rees-Zammit, whose two tries helped put the Scots to the sword, admitted Fagerson’s dismissal was of enormous benefit to Wales. ‘It’s obviously a massive help playing against 14,’ said the 20-year-old. ‘In the past two games, we’ve managed to grind out that win in the last couple of minutes.’