The Rugby Football Union (RFU) have issued an apology after a key error made during Harlequins’ thrilling Premiership win over Bath, with the result ruled as final.
Quins narrowly held off a stirring second-half fightback at The Stoop on Saturday, with Bath scoring 33 unanswered points after initially trailing 40-3 at the break before eventually losing 40-36 in an Easter classic.
However, an otherwise exciting contest was mired in controversy after a huge mistake allowed Quins’ South African lock Irne Herbst to return to the pitch from a late yellow card sin-binning some three minutes early.
Herbst made at least one important tackle during the time he should have been out of action.
Bath coach Johann van Graan complained to the referee after the match but, after assessing the issue, the RFU's professional game match officials team declined to take any further action over the mistake.
A statement on Sunday read: "The RFU Professional Game Match Officials Team (PGMOT) acknowledge and apologise for an error during the Gallagher Premiership match between Harlequins v Bath where a yellow card sanction resulted in Irne Herbst returning to the pitch approximately three minutes too soon.
"We would like to apologise to both teams for this mistake. As is the usual process the PGMOT will review all games to ensure continued improvement and learnings. The result of the match remains final."
Speaking after the match Van Graan touched on his side's dissatisfaction, while accepting there was no axe to grind with the man in the middle, Anthony Woodthorpe.
"I flagged it with the referee after the game. There's not a lot that he can do, on the pitch he wasn't even aware of it,” he said.
"We went through our team manager and we made the fourth official aware. On a yellow card, you're supposed to be off for 10 minutes, not seven."
