RUGBY REFEREES ARE having a tough time of it lately and Luke Pearce was the latest to find himself hitting the deck.
Irish referee JP Doyle was recently floored during the Gloucester v Worcester match when he took a box-kick clearance from Dan Robson point-blank in the ear.
Pearce was the unfortunate official at the weekend as he stumbled into the path of Bath hooker Rob Webber. The English forward, who is generously listed as a shade under 18st on the Bath website, skittled the ref over and left him with a gash above his eye.
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Pearce recovered his wits and went on to issue 10 penalties and a yellow card to Bath in their 43-25 defeat to Northampton Saints, for whom George North was on the scoresheet.
