WITH A FEW more big Tests still to go, this month has already set a new record for the rescinding of red cards.

Tadhg Beirne, Harry Hockings, and Franco Mostert have all had their reds struck from the record.

Is it a coincidence that all three of them are locks? Tall players were always going to be challenged by rugby’s huge focus on lowering tackle height over the last few years but it’s a small sample base.

More pertinently, their cases show that match officials are having a tough time reaching the correct decision when it comes to the tackle.

Beirne’s collision with Beauden Barrett in Chicago got the ball rolling in this area. 

The Ireland lock was shown a yellow card by referee Pierre Brousset after the unusual coming-together with Barrett. Brousset sent it to foul play review officer [FPRO] Dan Jones for off-field review and Jones upgraded the sanction to a 20-minute red.

According to the written report on the disciplinary case, Jones felt Beirne was “always illegal” because he made “no attempt to grasp or make a legal tackle at any point.” Crucially, the FPRO believed that there was “high danger” involved. So that meant a red card with no mitigation.

However, All Blacks out-half Barrett came out batting for Beirne with the statement he provided to the independent disciplinary committee, as he praised how Beirne showed “good awareness and controlled his force, which prevented a more serious collision.”

The key point in the disciplinary hearing was that the committee felt the degree of danger was not high and that the starting point for the sanction should have been yellow. They didn’t feel mitigation should have brought that down to a penalty only.

So while the committee stressed that their decision wasn’t a criticism of the match officials, it was a rebuttal of Jones’ decision during the game.

All of which raised concerns about how the bunker actually works. Because the top referees are in charge of other Tests, the FPRO role tends to be filled by up-and-coming officials who have less experience of adjudicating at the top level.

Jones of the RFU is the FPRO again for today’s clash between Ireland and South Africa.

World Rugby’s laws tell us that the referee is the “sole judge of fact and of law during a match,” but the bunker system means they are removed from what are crucial decisions.

The current system also means that the on-pitch referee is the only one who can issue a permanent red card. The FPRO can only upgrade a yellow to a 20-minute red card, not a permanent red.

That became relevant when Lood de Jager connected with Thomas Ramos’ head when France hosted South Africa a week after Ireland’s game in Chicago.

Referee Angus Gardner initially indicated that he was leaning towards a yellow card and off-field review, but his assistant referees, Christophe Ridley and Nika Amashukeli, urged him to consider the incident again.

Gardner had a closer look and decided that it was high-danger head contact and that de Jager was always illegal, so there was no mitigation. 

It was a permanent red card and though South Africa were aggrieved, their appeal of that decision and de Jager’s subsequent suspension was unsuccessful. 

France fullback Ramos’ statement was in contrast to Barrett’s in the Beirne case.

“At the time, I didn’t feel any pain,” said Ramos. “However, my knee and ankle twisted a bit, which explains why, two days later, I’m feeling some muscle tension. I also woke up with some stiffness in my neck, probably due to the collision.

“I don’t hold any grudge against the South African player, but if he wanted to apologize, I would have preferred he did it right away rather than waiting until the end of the match, once both teams had already returned to the locker rooms.”

Gardner and his assistants received praise for making a strong on-pitch decision to permanently red card de Jager rather than sending the incident for off-field review, as has become the status quo in this new era.

When World Rugby implemented the 20-minute red card, they said that permanent red cards would still be in play for “deliberate and highly dangerous” foul play.

Some have questioned whether de Jager’s actions can be considered deliberate, in that he didn’t intend to hit Ramos in the head, but World Rugby has asked officials to consider the tackler’s actions with their arms when assessing situations like the de Jager one.

Referees were told that tucked shoulders, the tackler’s palm facing backwards away from their opponent, and/or a clenched fist by the tackler’s side were indicators of a high-danger, intentional, and always illegal shoulder charge, which should result in a permanent red card. International coaches were also informed of these directives.

Gardner’s decision on the de Jager incident may have encouraged other referees to consider permanent reds, because there was another one the very next weekend when South Africa faced Italy in Turin.

This time, referee James Doleman issued Mostert a permanent red card for a challenge on Italy’s Paolo Garbisi.

“The player does not wrap his arms in the tackle,” said Doleman in his statement for the subsequent disciplinary hearing. “He then makes head / neck contact to his opponent. Due to the action and the danger we issued a permanent red card.”

As was the case for the de Jager hearing, South Africa made a highly detailed case on Mostert’s behalf, which assistant coach Felix Jones once again led.

And as was the case with Barrett in the Beirne hearing, Italy’s Garbisi provided support for the red-carded player.

“The gesture was not intentional,” said Garbisi in his statement. “You can also see from the video that the contact was initially on the shoulder and then slipped upward onto the head. I didn’t feel any malicious intent, and above all, I was able to play the remaining 70 minutes without any problem.”

The committee were also shown a text message from Garbisi to Mostert.

“Hi Franco!” it read. “No worries at all I’ve just said the truth. Good luck for this week against Ireland. I think it’s clear that it’s not a red card, I feel perfectly fine and I could play the whole game after that. I think the very first contact is around my shoulders as well.”

But in brief, the key to Mostert’s red card being rescinded was that the independent disciplinary committee felt that the degree of danger involved in the tackle was not high.

They didn’t feel it was low either, meaning they felt it was a yellow card. The committee didn’t see any mitigation, so their decision was that Mostert should have been sin-binned rather than sent off. 

On the same day as Mostert’s red card was dismissed, Japan lock Hockings had his red card against Wales rescinded too.

In this instance, which involved Hockings tackling Wales back row Alex Mann, referee Matthew Carley showed him a yellow card and sent the incident for an off-field review. 

The tackle occurred in the 80th minute of the game, so it didn’t really matter to the outcome that Hockings’ sanction was upgraded to red, but he would have faced a suspension if the FPRO’s decision had stood.

The FPRO, Quinton Immelman, indicated that he upgraded the sanction to red because it was “high danger” and that there was “no clear attempt to wrap.”

However, the disciplinary committee’s view was that there was “an attempt to wrap with the right arm and the dynamics of the contact had, in part, seemingly restricted his full ability to also wrap with the left arm.”

They didn’t agree that it was a high danger tackle and decided that Hockings’ actions deserved a sanction of “no higher than a yellow card.”

Hockings “had gone too high into the tackle, failed to fully wrap and then made indirect contact with [Mann's] head,” according to the committee.

As such, his red card was struck off.

If you’ve made it this far, let us know if you’re feeling more certain than ever about how these incidents should be adjudicated.

But maybe you’re feeling none the wiser. Now imagine being a match official.