Brian O’Driscoll believes Six Nations star Jamison Gibson-Park was “very lucky” to avoid a red card in Friday night’s all-Irish Champions Cup clash. Leinster scrum-half Gibson-Park, who had such a fine Championship for Ireland, was involved in a highly controversial incident during the last 16 tie against Connacht out in Galway.
With 56 minutes on the clock, his right shoulder connected with the face of opposing No 9 Kieran Marmion as he shaped to make a tackle. Fellow international Marmion was left with a badly bloodied nose and, as the replays were shown, the view of the BT Sport pundits was that Gibson-Park was in big trouble.
READ MORE: Red card for shocking hit in European cup clash
Speaking on commentary, English World Cup winner Ben Kay said: “There’s not a significant drop there and clearly with the blood that’s going to add to the force because that’s what they will be looking at. If you end up with a broken nose, there’s clearly some force in there.”
Ireland legend Brian O’Driscoll made his thoughts clear, saying: “It’s very hard to see any other colour than red.” Kay agreed it should be a red, declaring: “Is there danger? Yes. Is there any mitigation? I don’t think there is.”
However, there was to be a different viewpoint taken by English referee Karl Dickson, who provoked much debate last week by not carding Wales skipper Dan Biggar for an upright hit on Semi Radradra in the Northampton-Bristol Premiership game. You can read all about that contentious incident here.
Looking at the footage of Gibson-Park’s actions, Dickson said: “We do have direct contact to the head and we do have foul play because the player is upright. But he is stood stationary and accepts the tackle rather than going forward. So the level of danger is not high and I am looking at a yellow card.” His assistant referees didn’t look entirely convinced by this conclusion, so Dickson had another look, but stuck to his guns.
Explaining his decision to Gibson-Park, he said: “It is contact direct to the head, but it’s not a high level of danger because you are accepting the tackle, you are not going forward, so it’s going to be a yellow card.”
The Ireland No 9 swiftly left the field with no complaints. Connacht captain Jack Carty queried the call, but Dickson said: “Because the level of danger is not high, it started yellow and there’s no mitigation, so it stays a yellow.”
Giving his reaction to the sin-binning of Gibson-Park, O’Driscoll said: “He’s very lucky, there’s no doubt, he’s very lucky. Another referee in the same position would give a red card. The assistant referees looked a bit unconvinced by the yellow.”
Leading 23-14 at the time, Leinster went on to win 26-21, putting them in a strong position in the two-legged tie ahead of next weekend’s rematch in Dublin. Meanwhile, Dickson’s decision has provoked huge debate on social media.
