We can understand why Bradley Davies was cited for a horror tackle on Donnacha Ryan on Sunday, but should Stephen Ferris face similar punishment for his late tackle on Ian Evans?
Both players have been cited for dangerous tackles during the Six Nations clash between Ireland and Wales at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday and face missing a chunk of the rest of the competition as a result.
Davies and Ferris were cited by Independent citing commissioner Achille Realli from Italy for foul play under IRB Law 10.4 (j), which states: “Lifting a player from the ground and dropping or driving that player into the ground whilst that player’s feet are still off the ground such that the player’s head and/or upper body come into contact with the ground is dangerous play.”
Call us biased, but in our opinion, Davies’ tackle on Ryan, where he plunged him head first into the turf, was far worse that Ferris’ tackle on Evans, with the Irish flanker at least showing some attempt to guide the tackled player to the ground.
Both players were punished with yellow cards on the day, even though Wales coach Warren Gatland has since admitted that Davies was lucky to escape a red card and that the late tackle by Ferris on Evans which gave Leigh Halfpenny the opportunity to win the game for Wales was a debatable decision.
Davies and Ferris will face hearings before an independent Six Nations disciplinary committee in London tomorrow where they will learn their fate.
We think Ferris has been hard done by, but take a look at both tackles from Sunday’s game and judge for yourself.
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