Bristol Bears second-row Josh Caulfield was red-carded after just 13 minutes following a stamp on Connacht prop Finlay Bealham’s head in the Investec Champions Cup.
The 26-year-old lock, who joined Bristol from London Irish in 2023, was given his marching orders by French referee Pierre Brousset, who deemed the act worthy of a red.
Initial viewing of the incident did not look good from the powerful Bears lock as he caught the face of Bealham as he attempted to enter the ruck area to secure possession.
Unfortunately for Caulfield, the international forward was in his path, and after attempting to step over the prop, his left boot struck the side of Bealham’s head.
The Sportsground crowd winced at the replay on the stadium screen as the officials were quick to spot the incident early in Friday’s pool clash.
Brousset was keen to take a closer look at the replays shown by his TMO Denis Grenouillet and was quick to make his decision as Caulfield’s evening was cut short.
The red card compounded what was a nightmare start to the game for after wing Shayne Bolton crossed after seven minutes for a 7-0 lead.
While Bealham was receiving treatment on his head wound and an HIA check, his replacement Jack Aungier also crossed the whitewash to double Connacht’s buffer.
To make matters worse for the Bears, England international prop Kyle Sinckler was sin-binned for an offence in the lead-up to that try from the Irish forward.
Bealham would then return to the field after being patched up, much to the delight of the home supporters, as Connacht looked to feast on a 14-man Bristol Bears outfit.
A further try before the interval from scrum-half Caolin Blade extended the cushion to 14 points, this after former Connacht and Sale fly-half AJ MacGinty kicked a penalty.
17-3 was how the scoreline remained going into the break, with Connacht well on course to sealing their first victory of the competition after suffering three straight losses.
Reaction to Caulfield’s red card has split opinion on X, formerly Twitter, though, as injured Bristol prop Ellis Genge came out to support his team-mate soon after the act.
However, TNT Sports guest Donncha O’Callaghan believes that every player has a duty of care on the field and it had to be a red card, a view echoed by Andy McGeady.
“That red card for Caulfield felt a bit trigger happy with the cards…… It was clearly accidental rather than anything deliberate. Should have been a yellow,” another post read.
While there were those who felt it was a clear cut red card.
One post added: “Caulfield walked off shaking his head, but he can have no argument.
You cannot do that.”
