Welsh international Aled Davies has found himself at the centre of another controversial collision with one of the biggest names in the game.
Opinion was deeply divided last month when the 20-times capped Saracens scrum-half was handed a yellow card rather than a red one for head-on-head contact with England fly-half George Ford. You can read more about that here.
And it’s the same again now following a contentious incident involving Springboks superstar Faf de Klerk in Friday night’s Premiership clash between Sale and Sarries at the AJ Bell Stadium.
With 18 minutes on the clock, scrum-half De Klerk went to put in a clearing kick with Davies and prop Vincent Koch closing in on him. Just after the ball leaves his boot, the South African World Cup winner is hit by Davies in a big coming together and ends up dumped on the deck in touch.
Commentating on BT Sport, former England star Austin Healey immediately made his feelings very clear. “I think Davies has gone for that challenge. I think it’s a head on head. It’s reckless. There’s no arm, is there?” he declared.
Giving his thoughts, fellow ex-English international Ben Kay said: “If there’s any head contact, he’s in big trouble Davies. He does get nudged by his own player as he’s going in there. That might be the only mitigation. He’s actually trying to pull out and Koch almost nudges him into De Klerk. The problem is he is already at a reckless speed. He’s in trouble here.”
It was then over to Pontypool-born referee Luke Pearce to make his judgement on the incident: “It is obviously late by No 9, I don’t think there’s a shadow of a doubt over that. His arms are down, but does he hit him with his back or with his shoulder?”
His TMO Stuart Terheege confirms it’s his back. Pearce continues: “So, it’s just a late tackle for me. If it was his shoulder, that’s a different kettle of fish. But the level of danger is lower because he’s hit him with his back and not his shoulder.”
The referee then further explains his decision to Sale skipper Jono Ross, saying: “If he hit him with his shoulder, it would be a yellow card, but his back isn’t as dangerous for me, so it’s just a penalty.”
Once again, Healey was quick to give a strong response, saying: “I think they got it wrong. I think he does hit him with his shoulder. I know he tries to turn away from him, but he’s making no effort to tackle. He’s reckless and he collides with his head. I think he is lucky there. You know the safe thing now is just turn backwards and hit him with your shoulder blades, you are fine.”
Amid a lively reaction on social media following Sarries' 18-12 victory, rugby journalist Neil Fissler took to Twitter to comment: “Aled Davies will surely be very lucky to escape an invitation for tea, biscuits and a zoom call with the disciplinary committee. Seen bans this season for a lot less.”
Among the many people to have their say on the forum, one person wrote: “Aled Davies again? Should have had two red cards in recent weeks. Hit on Ford and now this.”
Another said: “Definitely not a red card, but you could argue Aled Davies should spend 10 minutes in the bin for that hit on Faf de Klerk.”
Check out the video of the incident and see what you think. Leave your comment below here.
