
Share
8th January 2017
05:19pm GMT

If anyone is to receive a yellow card in this instance it would be Andrew Trimble, who leads with a stiff left arm to the face of scrum-half Aled Davies.
Richard Barrington Red Card for Saracens
In the 10th minute of Saracens clash with the Exeter Chiefs, Sarcacen's players, Richard Barrington, was sent off as his shoulder collided with the head of former England international, Geoff Parling.
However was this challenge truly reckless or could it have been deemed accidental?
https://twitter.com/Smallclone/status/817752209391779846
Barrington should have gotten lower to avoid contact with Parling's head and he makes little attempt to wrap the arms here.
As a result, you can see why this is a red card.
Like in the Ulster example above, Brad Barritt initially makes a tackle attempt with a stiff arm which makes contact with Parling's head.
Definitely reckless.
Perhaps both players should have been received punishment here but we can't imagine many referees who would send off two players for the one tackle.
High Tackle on Caolin Blade
Connacht's loss to the Ospreys was in no way due to this incident but Pat Lam can feel aggrieved either way with how this reckless tackle didn't even warrant a yellow card.
https://twitter.com/BBCTomEnglish/status/817755071526162434
Blade literally has arms wrapped around his neck in this incident which to us seems to give the referee the clearest and easiest of decisions.
High tackle on Munster's Tommy O'Donnell
Unfortunately there is no footage of this incident but if you were watching this match you might recall Tommy O'Donnell being on the recieving end of a high tackle from Racing 92 player, Chris Masoe.
Masoe's arm shuddered into the jaw of O'Donnell and it left the Tipperary man dazed and requiring treatment for a couple of minutes.
The Sky Sports pundits and the twitter public were adamant that it should have been a yellow card.
https://twitter.com/BHHooker/status/817761865526820864
There was always going to be controversial calls during the first round of fixtures since the law change was fully implemented - but with the Six Nations only a few weeks away, one would hope that the referees and officials can become more consistent on this issue, as the tournament could well be decided on the finest of margins.Explore more on these topics: