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Thu 16 Jun 2016 | 01:24
Georgian flanker sent off for kicking Irish player in U20s match

8
Comments

Georgian U20 player Ilia Spanderashvili saw red yesterday after lashing out at an Irish counterpart with his boot in the run up to a lovely Irish try on day three of the U20 World Championship.

Spanderashvili hit out with his fist and boot at Sean O'Connor, as the Irish lock held the Georgian on the floor before Hugo Keenan went in at the corner to level the scores.

Referee Craig Evans said that "regardless" of O'Connor holding down Spanderashvili, he "lashed out" with his boot and "made contact in the chest area".

Ireland went on to win the game 35-7 to progress to the semi-finals against Argentina, but they started poorly after Georgia captain Vasil Lobzhanidze scored his nation's first ever try at an U20 Championship to take the lead.

The Georgians were perhaps lucky not to get two players sent off as Otari Giorgadze also appeared to kick an Irish player in the face in the same play.

It's also worth noting how clear and precise the assistant referee was in speaking to the TMO.

FULL HIGHLIGHTS:

credit: worldrugby/balls.ie

Posted By: c_gillon

8 Comments

  • drg
    10:46 PM 18/06/2016

    Your English is good. I agree with you that it is not something that is often punished. Kicking a player in the head is not the way to go, however something needs to be done to stop players holding on..

  • jonnyenglish
    2:09 PM 18/06/2016

    I don't think I've ever seen a scrum reffed properly. So no surprise there.

  • colombes
    1:11 PM 18/06/2016

    The kick in the head from the georgian lock was far more dangerous than these 2 retaliations.

  • bomahony
    3:11 AM 18/06/2016

    Irishman here. That wasn't a red. It was a yellow. BUT the kick from 5 at the bottom of a ruck to the face was a straight red.
    Also, I'm in two minds about standers RC. Once again definitely a yellow. Red seems harsh, and I reckon it was based on the injury rather than the event. BUT I can also see why he awarded a RC. However that ref was pure shite. Meat Eaters early engaging every scrum, repeated high tackles etc....

  • drg
    10:13 AM 17/06/2016

    You've caught me here, unfortunately I didn't see the match so I cannot comment further other than saying that because of the history of the sport in tier 1 nations the discipline levels tend to be higher than some of the newer tier 2 nations which are actually fielding a large amount (if not all?) amateur players....

    Georgia itself has also had a bit of a history of poor discipline. I'm not saying it is the right thing to do at all, but perhaps referees have things like that in the back of their minds and are looking out more so?

    Again going back to this incident... it was one of those none incidents for me... technically according to the law, it is a red card, but I've seen harder contact with other limbs equating to a lesser punishment...

  • drg
    11:01 PM 16/06/2016

    I'm a massive advocate of players clouting someone who is holding on to them outside of play, in this instance the irish player was on the ground and holding the leg of the georgian slowing him and restricting his playing abilities... however brains tell us that any form of leg to head type of movement is completely wrong....

    As for the Irish not getting carded? I take it you missed the Ireland SA game? A saffa ran face first into an Irish airborne arse and the Irish player was red carded!

  • stroudos
    9:48 PM 16/06/2016

    I'm kind of OK with the decision. I don't care how cool a name Ilia Spanderashvili is - and as names go it's pretty awesome - you can't just throw punches and kicks.

    And yes, I do appreciate how bloody frustrating it is, especially if you're playing flanker, having some a-hole hold you down after the ruck has finished. There are better ways to deal with it though. For example, I remember a dude holding me down exactly the same way during a game. I said "come on mate, ruck's over", to which he replied (with a grin) "yeah, I know!" and continued to keep all his weight on me. I did not punch or kick him. I smiled back and called him a "cheating twat" and waited patiently for him to release me. On pretty much the next phase of play after this, the ball was passed to this guy and I immediately introduced his solar-plexus to the point of my shoulder. Totally legit and far more satisfying, I'm sure.

  • stroudos
    9:38 PM 16/06/2016

    Hi Dubard,

    Small clarification: no further punishment doesn't mean clearing the player; its confirming that the red card shown during the game was sufficient.

    I didn't see the game live so can't comment on the rest of the ref's performance. Generally speaking I wouldn't anyway; that's for football fans.

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