Wasps Vs Tigers

[Jimmy Skitz]

was it the same ref that sent off George Smith last week?

Not sure but i think all the prem ref's would have given a red, its the new directive they've been given

well lets start banning them for as many weeks as the players team lose by when the red card is rescinded, they might start using their own mind then instead of being a robot.

Freddie Burns said its best lets go back to when red cards were reserved for deliberate acts of dangerous and foul play

[BFG]

A great response to the red card.
Wasps do tend to struggle against teams with a man less.
Was it red? Unfortunately the law says so and for good reasons, must tackle lower or you run the risk!
I thought the coach threw away the chance of a win by some of his substitutions, mullered at the scrum late on, should be doing better at A League level before entering this stage!
Line out...

[markharbtiger]

...We are back to a side that is really easy to get behind and take pride in watching.

+1

[RagingBull]

and BFG comes in with his usual nothing positive to say about the Academy.

I'm shocked.

[Latecomer]

Just got in and seen the Spencer red card. THE. GAME. IS GONE.

[Jimmy Skitz]

Austin Healy is right, Union needs to bring in the on report system from Union, Spencer gets a yellow card and is reported then if it should have been a red he gets the ban, it looks like for the second week running someone will have been sent off for a the same type of tackle and mostly will have it rescinded, this cannot be allowed to continue

[Tigerbeat]

As Ugo Monye said, dont blame the ref, blame the law makers. He had no choice but to give a red. As long as it is consistently applied by the refs in all games, it will not be an issue. Expect to see a lot more red cards this season.
Dai Young hope that it would not get a ban as the sending off should be sufficient. Lets wait and see what the outcome of the hearing is!

[WhitecapTiger]

They were there for the taking today.

We did pretty well with 14 men but ultimately (even with 15) our execution (lineouts & mauls especially) killed us.

Bored of Ugo Monye and Ben Kay now, but at least it wasn't Dayglo crowing - I simply cannot agree that Wasps were 'deserving winners' - they won, they got some breaks and we choked our lines at critical times which gave them the points.

Having said that, 2 points is more than I expected today, the boys played with lots of heart but not enough head at times.

It'll come, just needs to click sooner rather than later or we'll get left too far behind, I don't have the faith that we'll mount a late season comeback right now. Next 2 matches need a BIG response from us.

I thought the maul worked fine. Kalamafoni got his try from a series of good rolling mauls that also saw Hughes sin binned. Would have liked us to go to the maul more when under pressure. Lineout is still a major concern.

Personally I'm much happier. Two points from a trip away to a top 4 side from last season is a decent return. The players looked fully committed and defended hard, most teams will concede a lot of points against Wasps because they are so clinical. Down to 14 for so long and Wasps were in touching distance throughout.

The attack is lightyears ahead of what we've seen over the last few seasons, it's consistently threatening and is really making the most of the players we have instead of trying to pretend it's fifteen years ago and we can simply batter our way through.

We are back to a side that is really easy to get behind and take pride in watching.

I'm not as downhearted as my post may suggest Sam, quite the opposite really. Just frustrated that we missed a great opportunity to turn them over, even with only 14 men.

If the maul had worked well 4-5 mins into the game and the Youngs brothers had been on similar level we'd have scored early doors - whole game changes then. The pair of them were comical in coughing that ball up, but I get that it happens. It's also maybe harsh of me to judge 'mauls' on that one maul, but it's the one that stuck.

As I've said, 2 points is more than expected so very welcome, better than last year.

The shoots of recovery/hope are there to see, we just have to have our 'old heads' on the pitch showing their worth - for they are worth a lot when on song - they are the ones that need to steady the ship - as I said, I can see it coming, they just need to make it happen.

Frustrated is how I feel, points gained but points lost maybe, and absolutely sick of commentators trying to justify actions one minute then screaming about things the next. Still no mention of Thompson getting what looked like a forearm to the head/face, in the context of how the officials dealt with Spencer then surely a similar outcome (?). Will have to watch it back to see, but it looked bad at the time and we were in the ascendency in the second half when it happened.

[WhitecapTiger]

As long as it is consistently applied by the refs in all games, it will not be an issue.

Expect to see a lot more red cards this season.

And raw pork on wings above Welford Road....

Year after year we hope that laws will be applied consistently and fairly...still waiting.

[Mark62]

Scrum we had no number 8 and a flanker in the row.
Line outs Spencer was running it then Williams the Wells no wonder there were issues.

Red card yes to the letter of the law, though I’m not convinced first point of contact wasn’t tip of the shoulder. As Ugo said, and it’s very rare for me to agree with him, where’s the empathy.
On social media, not one player, past or present has said it was a red.

As for the result 7 points after the first 3 games with arguably 2 of the 3 hardest fixtures out of the way isn’t a bad return

[Tiger_in_Birmingham]

Am I the only one who thought it was a red?

Given the height difference and attacking players stooping in to the tackle it's hard to avoid but I saw it as direct to the head & neck not riding up and it was a high speed collision so had force behind it.

Bigger issue was the tackle on Thompson not being looked at; should have been a yellow at least

[Mark62]

Am I the only one who thought it was a red?

Given the height difference and attacking players stooping in to the tackle it's hard to avoid but I saw it as direct to the head & neck not riding up and it was a high speed collision so had force behind it.

Bigger issue was the tackle on Thompson not being looked at; should have been a yellow at least

Not at all if you read previous comments under the letter of the law red was the right call, but the empathy has disappeared out of the game, big man hitting smaller man who is dropping as hard as he can, it’s a professional sport, if anything Coley’s was more premeditated

[Big Dai]

Freddie Burns tweeted "Not blaming the referees and I know it’s being done to protect us players but can we go back to red cards only being issued for deliberate acts of bad foul play/ violence not unfortunate incidents that happen as a result of playing a contact sport? It’s ruining the game. #rugby"

[beech]

Referees are so picky about some offences but ignore players running offside at restarts. I appreciate that it is difficult to see all offences but it's easy to see a player 2 or 3 yards in front of the kicker at restarts.

[Jimmy Skitz]

Referees are so picky about some offences but ignore players running offside at restarts. I appreciate that it is difficult to see all offences but it's easy to see a player 2 or 3 yards in front of the kicker at restarts.

oh they saw it, they warned them at their next restart, stop coaching and just issue the penalty