Florian Fritz

[Latecomer]

Having been sent off for a spear tackle on Tom Varndell on Sunday Florian Fritz then "flipped the bird" to the crowd while walking off the pitch. Anyone think he'll be banned long enough to miss out on the 6N?

[Latecomer]

D'oh! He didn't even make their squad. Still deserves a lengthy ban though

[BJ.]

Still deserves a lengthy ban though

Agreed.

It did look quite nasty on a day when ... I don't know how to say this and it sticks in my throat when I try but ... I wanted the pests to win.

[bwightman]

Fritz wasn't named in Lievremont's 6N squad (ridiculously).

Even more ludicrous was the red card. Rolland had a SHOCKING game and this incident was the icing on the game. I sincerely hope that he isn't going to referee any England games over the next year. I'd always figured him to be one of the better international refs but his performances over the last few weeks have totally reversed that opinion. His handling of the scrum, the breakdown and his tyranical, almost petulant, manner of dealing with players has been pitiful.

Back to the Fritz affair and it was a yellow at best. Varndell landed safely on his side and you'd be hard pushed to say with any degree of certainty that Fritz was trying to give Varndell the Mealamu/O'Driscoll tent peg treatment. 10 minutes in the sin bin would have been sufficient to punish a tackle where the legs were lifted above the level of the hips and shoulders. Rolland hs embarked upon a disproportionate tough stance campaign (World Cup round the corner anyone?) and this is another example of his terrible handling of a sensative IRB hot button issue during a high profile game.

However, the middle finger DOES deserve punishment and was just as - if not more so - prejudicial to the interests of the game as Armitage's doping officer push. I'm going to say 8 weeks.

[MurphysLaw]

It's a tricky one, but like you bwightman, I think the red card was perhaps a tad harsh. He certainly lifted and turned Varndell, but he did not pile drive him head first. So not a high end offence, imo.

However, the finger gesture to the crowd was just stupid, and he certainly deserves a ban for that.

[Crumblies]

It did look quite nasty on a day when ... I don't know how to say this and it sticks in my throat when I try but ... I wanted the pests to win.

B.J. Wash your mouth out with soap and water. Though I have to admit to thinking the same thing, though it wouldn't do to say it out loud.

[Cagey Tiger]

I noticed that when Fritz was "putting" TV on the ground, from the side that the camera was showing, you could see that TV was put on his back. However one of his legs was horizontal and the other was pointing 45 degrees up and this was the view that Alain Rolland had and he was end on to TV. So it almost certainly looked far worse from the ref's view than on the box.

[Jay C]

As some on the Varndell thread are implying - if his head is so big, it would be hard not to drop him on it

Agree Rolland was trying to make a point - definite yellow, but (if you are in control of the game) probably not more than that. In the heat of the moment though, it may have looked worse to him than to those of us with the benefit of slo-mo....

On the gesture - didn't see it, but it has no place in the game (regardless of how hard done by you feel) .... so should be taken to account for it ((8 weeks sounds harsh though)).

[Cagey Tiger]

I'm not an expert on the rules, but Sean Fitzpatrick said after the game that if it is a spear tackle, then it is a red card. As a suggested earlier, from the ref's line of sight, it probably did look like a spear tackle, so a red card it had to be if SF is correct.

[Jay C]

I'm not an expert on the rules, but Sean Fitzpatrick said after the game that if it is a spear tackle, then it is a red card. As a suggested earlier, from the ref's line of sight, it probably did look like a spear tackle, so a red card it had to be if SF is correct.

Dangerous rather than Spear = yellow ?

[apps]

i would of gave a yellow for a dangerous tackle as for the finger seeing it the ar should of said something to the ref as he could of put it in his sending off report, but however the citeing officer now has the power to issue a futher red card for what he did so in two folds

1. 2 week ban for the tackel as it was a lower end of the teir

2. 4 week ban for the finger weather it was to the home supports or to wasps benach that for the hc commite to short out ( look what venter got last season)

either way he should not of done it but knowing the frogs the club will ban him so what ever he get he won't be out for long so if we beat lenstier & end up faceing toulose he could be in there team

[ChrisTiger]

Rule 10.4(j) was ammended before chrismas to define a 'Spear tackle'

The amended Law 10.4(j) will now read: Lifting a player from the ground and dropping or driving that player into the ground whilst that player’s feet are still off the ground such that the player’s head and/or upper body come into contact with the ground is dangerous play

TV was lifted, his feet were in the air, and he landed upper body first.

Agree not as severe as the BO'D incident but TV was actively keeping his head up to avoid the full 'tentpegging'

Any tackle of that kind brings risk and I felt the red was correct.

Flipping off the crowd was just stupidity.

I suspect total ban of 12 weeks reduced to 8.