‘Officials have no empathy for the game’ – Wales greats at odds over ‘nasty’ croc roll from Six Nations prospect as Cardiff star ‘lucky’ to avoid serious injury
Ospreys lock James Fender and his croc-roll on Cardiff's Dan Thomas in the URC.
The red card handed out to Ospreys second-row James Fender has divided opinion following his croc-roll on flanker Dan Thomas in the United Rugby Championship.
Wales prospect Fender, who is contention for a Six Nations call-up, was sent-off for putting his weight on the lower limb of the former Gloucester and Bristol Bears flanker in their draw with Cardiff on New Year’s Day.
He was dismissed just shy of the break with the hosts leading 5-3 in the Welsh capital, but the Ospreys battled in the second period and claimed a creditable two points.
Despite the positive result for the visitors, inevitably the red card became a debating point with opinions differing wildly.
Wales legend Jonathan Davies was one of those to criticise the officiating, insisting that Fender was harshly sent-off.
‘No empathy for the game’
“No red for me. Croc roll yes but no intent to damage lower limb. Officials have no empathy for the game. Everything letter of the law,” 62-year-old Davies wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Another ex-Wales international, Tom Shanklin, disagreed as he came to the defence of the referee in response to Davies’ post.
“Intent doesn’t matter. Red. Can’t slip off a clean out and try to roll a player and let your weight fall direct on his leg. Seen so many bad injuries from this type of clean out,” Shanklin wrote.
Fender’s red was also debated on TV with former Wales and British & Irish Lions wing Alex Cuthbert’s opinion similar to Shanklin’s.
World Rugby have been hot on croc-rolls over the past couple of years and recently retired players certainly understand where the governing body and match officials are coming from.
“They are really big on this this year. There’s been so many horrific injuries and there’s been no repercussions for them,” Cuthbert said on ScrumV.
“They’ve really clamped down have World Rugby. He’s fallen over with his weight and grabbed him as well. It looks quite nasty.”
James Fender sees red for a croc roll
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Cuthbert was joined on the panel by ex-Wales captain Ellis Jenkins, who felt that Thomas was fortunate to get away with suffering an injury after Fender’s actions in the URC clash.
“Dan Thomas is very lucky there that he managed to get away and managed to get his foot off the floor because if your studs get stuck in the floor and you get some weight on the side… if somebody else hits you from the other side you’re in danger,” Jenkins said.
“He’s a lucky boy.”
Fan reaction
There was a similar divide with the fans on social media, with one person scathing of the red card, writing: “If that’s a red card the game is finished. Abysmal stuff.”
Another person added: “I don’t think that’s a Red. TMO should have stopped that. It is a croc roll but not sure any weight went through the limb and his ankle wasn’t trapped. It’s a penalty and possibly a yellow for how dangerous it is.”
However, Alex Lambe felt that the referee was very much correct to dismiss Fender.
“It’s 100% a red card. Looks worse the more you see it! Drops all his weight onto the lower limb and twists the player as well,” Lambe wrote.
“Could have done some serious damage. The croc roll needs to be removed from the game completely, players need to learn.
“People saying it should be penalty only or at most a yellow card are wrong. It needs to be out of the game completely as it’s extremely dangerous. It’s good to referees clamping down on it.”