Connacht guaranteed themselves a spot in the last-16 of the Challenge Cup and boosted their slim hopes of advancing to the next round of the Champions Cup, courtesy of their 27-10 win over Bristol last night.
The Westerners secured their bonus point by the 45th minute, in a battle that was made a lot easier after Bristol were reduced to 14 men from the 14th minute, while at one staged they were down to 13.
Second row Josh Caulfield was shown a red card after a stamp on the head of Finlay Bealham while entering a ruck, before Kyle Sinkler was sent to the bin soon after.
Red Card Incident In Connacht v Bristol Sparks Online Debate
The Caulfield incident sparked much debate on social media, with many arguing that the ruling from referee Pierre Brousset was overly harsh for what they believed to be an accidental infringement from the Bristol player.
Ex-player turned podcaster Jim Hamilton and Bristol prop Ellis Genge, both took to Twitter in support of Caulfield, with Hamilton writing,"Come on lads. Come on. It’s a bloody accident.".
However, given the force of the stamp and the direct contact to the head of Bealham, the referee did not have much choice, as you can see in the clip below.
READ HERE: Connacht Player Criticised For Dangerous Actions In Win Over Munster
Feel like this is a really harsh call on Josh Caulfield. pic.twitter.com/RW78XI9dgl
— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) January 19, 2024
Come on lads. Come on. It’s a bloody accident.
— Jim Hamilton (@jimhamilton4) January 19, 2024
Bealham literally gets a boot + studs to his face… What is harsh about the call? Intent not judged in law. This is dangerous and reckless. 🟥 all day long
— Peter Doherty (@pierrelerouge13) January 19, 2024
There is no way in this world Josh caulfield has intentionally stamped on his head, every player watching that knows it too.
— Gengey (@EllisGenge) January 19, 2024
Not intentional but reckless and high degree of danger. Unlucky but not harsh
— Kevin Crowley 🇺🇦 🇵🇸 (@KCrowley99) January 19, 2024
It’s a ridiculous call. Not intentional at all. Really feel for Bristol.
— Rashidy Tweets (@RashidyTweets) January 19, 2024
"We were all really aware of how important today was in terms of the announcement and the excitement around that,” Connacht head coach Pete Wilkins said after the win.
“We talk about fresh chapters at the club. Again, this is another important building block in that. We knew we would have a terrific crowd here supporting us.
“I think it was appropriate that we not just capped it with a win but with a really sound performance as well.
“I was really proud of the effort and I thought it was a good way to finish the pool stages at least, given what came before it.
“As a club we’re ambitious and we always strive for that. I’m pleased we’re still in Europe. Although we had three losses to start the European campaign this year, we were able to build each time and we learned something from it.
“Some of the time, we just learned to take our medicine. We were poor against Bordeaux, against Saracens we learned a lot about our game management, and against Lyon we learned a lot about the consistency in terms of what you need to be to be competing at Champions Cup level.
“Each one was an important stepping stone, although a bit painful at times.”
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