Northampton Saints hooker Curtis Langdon was shown a first-half red card in their Investec Champions Cup clash with Munster in an incident that divided opinion.
The front-rower was given his marching orders by referee Tual Trainini after his right knee made contact with the head of Thomas Ahern, whose evening was cut short.
Play was initially stopped for Ahern to receive medical attention after Langdon’s left knee caught the second-row’s face, which appeared to leave the forward in strife.
But replays then showed Langdon make contact with the lock for a second occasion, this leading the
fans to make their feelings known and the officials to act.
Frenchman Trainini studied the footage and when making his decision, he said: “First contact was accidental, second we can’t say it was intentional but it was reckless.”
He then brandished the red card as skipper Courtney Lawes and Munster counterpart Tadhg Beirne watched on, with the hooker making his exit on 39 minutes.
Viewers’ opinions on X, formerly Twitter, were divided as the former England and Northampton wing Jon Sleightholme, current Saints player Ollie’s father, had his say.
“That’s a very very harsh red card, slow motion replays do not help at all,” he wrote, with the popular Rugby Inside Line account of a similar view with his post on the incident.
“One of the worst decisions in recent times. Clearly moving forward to clear the ruck. It’s rugby. Limbs go astray in every ruck.” he wrote about the red card at Thomond Park.
However, there were plenty on X who felt that the red card to the Northampton Saints’ hooker was warranted, with Planet Rugby writer Jared Wright writing: “The more I watch it, the more I think he did it on purpose after initially thinking it was momentum.”
Alex Murphy had a similar view, saying: “He knew exactly what what he was doing.”
“Calling that reckless is an act of charity by the ref. He knew where that knee was going.
Properly dirty play punished as it should be,” wrote Tim O’Connor in his post.
Incredibly, Northampton would recover from their numerical disadvantage and seal a come-from-behind 26-23 win, with fly-half Fin Smith claiming a superb 16-point haul.
The narrow result means Munster follow the Saints into the Round of 16, with last week’s victory at Toulon proving key in sealing a knockout place.
