Tahs ready for 'accidental cards'

Saracens prop Richard Barrington was, this week, cleared of any wrongdoing – following the red card he received during his side's Premiership encounter against Exeter Chiefs.

In contrast, Barrington's teammate, Brad Barritt was handed a three-week suspension after pleading guilty to the charge of dangerous tackling, contrary to law 10.4(e). Barritt tackled Geoff Parling dangerously, making contact with his head and escaped an on-field sanction, but was subsequently cited by the citing commissioner.

Waratahs defence coach Nathan Grey believes there is more ridiculousness to follow by match officials and is taking preemptive action for such absurd decisions.  

"In terms of management from a coach's perspective, you've got to prepare a bit more for having 14 guys on the field because it's going to happen," Grey told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"They've said those accidental things that happen you're going to get carded for, so you need to prepare that way to have 14 or 13 guys on the field a little bit more.

"You've got to make sure you're ready for that."

Grey supports the reforms and vouched for the work and planning behind their implementation.

"The golden question is the consistency around how they deliver on that," he said.

"It's going to be hard, but I think the reasoning around why they've done it and why it's in place is the right reason.

"They're trying to do the right things by the players, which is great, and the referees and the administration side of things.

"They've done a really thorough process and they're delivering it in a way that makes us confident as coaches to say: 'OK, that's what they've said they're going to be looking at, and what the expectation is around that'.

"There's going to be some feeling out during the [pre-season] trials and into the first couple of rounds [of Super Rugby], but the consistency is the biggest thing and that's all you hope for."

Source: Sydney Morning Herald