This afternoon’s Six Nations clash between France and Scotland has been rocked by two red cards inside the opening 11 minutes amid the most dramatic of openings in Paris.
First Scottish second row Grant Gilchrist was sent off after just seven minutes for a shoulder to the head of French flanker Anthony Jelonch who had to leave the field for a HIA.
And then, five minutes later, Les Bleus tighthead prop Mohamed Haouas was red carded for the second time in his career against Scotland, this time for head contact with scrum-half Ben White.
There were also two early tries with the hosts racing into a 12-0 lead as fly-half Romain Ntamack and wing Ethan Dumortier both went over.
Georgian referee Nika Amashukeli was the man to make the calls on the red cards, assisted by Welsh TMO Ben Whitehouse.
On the Gilchrist offence, Amashukeli said: “We have a head contact. It’s foul play because the player is upright. I don’t see it as a wrap. His arm is down and hits with the shoulder directly to the head. I am not seeing any mitigation. It’s a high degree of danger because it’s direct shoulder to the face and coming at speed as well, so I am seeing this as a red card."
Red card 1
Red card 2
The Haouas incident saw the Montpellier prop dive towards White at a ruck near the French line, making head-on-head contact with the Scottish No 9.
Alerted by Whitehouse, Amashukeli reviewed the footage.
Initially, his thought process was: “I am seeing head-on-head direct contact, but I am not seeing a high danger in this.”
Yet, after talking to his assistants, he said: “So, what you are saying is it’s direct contact to the head with full speed, so it’s a red card.”
Back in 2020, Haouas was sent off for punching Scottish flanker Jamie Ritchie in a Six Nations match up in Murrayfield.
At half-time at the Stade de France this afternoon, it was 22-7 to France with full-back Thomas Ramos having scored their third try and centre Huw Jones responding for the visitors.
The visitors came roaring back into the contest in the second half but a try from Gael Fickou broke Scottish hearts right at the death, with the final score being a bonus-point win for the hosts 32-21.
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