Nigel Owens claims Springboks duo were ‘always illegal’ as ex-Test ref weighs in on red card controversy

Former Test referee Nigel Owens has given a detailed explanation of the red cards handed out to Springboks duo Lood de Jager and Franco Mostert.

Both were permanently sent-off for dangerous tackles in the games against France and Italy respectively.

De Jager was dismissed and subsequently banned for four weeks following a high shot on Thomas Ramos, while Mostert was red carded for his hit on Paolo Garbisi.

The former had his appeal rejected as the suspension was upheld, but the latter’s was rescinded by an independent disciplinary panel.

Rassie Erasmus and Springboks fans were left fuming, particularly over the Mostert decision, but Owens insisted that they do not have a case with the De Jager tackle.

Verdict on De Jager

“If something is sent to the bunker, the match official in the bunker cannot give a permanent red, he can only come back with a 20-minute red card,” he said on World Rugby’s Whistle Watch.

“In this instance here, if we listen to the assistant referees, they remind the referee, ‘hang on now, this is always illegal’, and that is the key thing, because the actions of the tackler are always illegal.

“If you look at him, his arm is dropped down to the side, there’s no way he’s ever going to make a wrap in that tackle, so he’s always illegal.

“If the actions are always illegal then mitigation is irrelevant. No matter what Ramos’ height was – another tackler contributing to it, Ramos falling at a considerable height – that becomes irrelevant if your actions are always illegal.

“When I was watching it I thought this is a permanent red because mitigation would play no part.”

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Verdict on Mostert

Owens had a different view on the Mostert red, insisting that the Springboks second-row was “a bit unlucky in one sense”, but, like De Jager, the former referee stated that his actions were “always illegal”.

He added: “I felt this should have gone to a 20-minute red card review rather than a straight red, and this is the reason why.

“He goes down quite low for a big man to make the tackle and for me the tackle is on the chest – you’re not seeing direct contact with the head. The actual head of the Italian player comes over the shoulder.

“The only thing he does wrong here is, on the other side, is his arm making that attempt to wrap? So we’re going to back to, are we always illegal?

“It’s definitely not in the same space as the one before, this one is different because you don’t have direct contact with the head, but his arm is still low down by his side, so he could help himself there by getting his arm in that action ready to wrap, rather than tucked in.”

Owens did not state whether he felt it was a penalty, yellow card or a 20-minute red, but that he would have understood if it had been deemed the latter.

“I’m not seeing this as an on-field straight red card, I am seeing this as going to the bunker and then the bunker decides,” the Welshman said.

“The bunker may well have come back with the 20-minute red card because his action is always illegal and they felt there was enough of a danger, although there was no direct contact with the head.”

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