England have taken down Argentina this evening in their opening round of the Rugby World Cup, by a score of 27-10 at the Stade de Marseille.
It an incredibly physical match, with both sides overstepping the line early on.
First up was Tom Curry after three minutes, when he slammed into Juan Cruz Mallia after the Argentine was coming down from the air, causing a clash of heads.
Six minutes later, Santiago Carreras missed his attempted block down on George Ford, which caused him to go crashing into England's out-half.
Both men were sent to the bunker, with Curry getting upgraded to a red, while Carreras got away with a yellow card.
At half-time on ITV, Irish referee JP Doyle clearly explained in 'referee language' why Curry saw red.
As we role the footage here, you can see that this is a clear line of sight tackle where Tom Curry is upright.
Although he is wrapping, he has clear line of sight to a vulnerable player in the air. So remember this is about protecting players and protecting heads, and on this occasion it is not a malicious act but Tom Curry has got it wrong.
England Flanker Tom Curry Sees Red Against Argentina
Tom Curry has been given a red card for this challenge after a bunker review.
England will be playing with 14 men for 77 minutes of their match against Argentina 👀 #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/LW9yvHydCE
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) September 9, 2023
READ HERE: Clive Woodward Says Steve Borthwick Must Do Two Things To Avoid England World Cup Disaster
Also on the ITV panel was one of the stars of England's 2003 World Cup winning side, Lawrence Dallaglio, alongside the coach coach of that famous team, Clive Woodward.
First up was Dallaglio to give his view. Unsurprisingly, he was pro Curry and believed that a yellow was the correct call, although he completely ignored Doyle's reasoning.
I know I'm English, but I do watch rugby every week, I do see these incidents happening all the time.
It's deemed to be Tom Curry that's caused the head collision, that's what the TMO is saying. It is head on head so I do understand that it is minimum yellow, but I think it's an accidental incident I really do.
And if rugby is sending players off for this kind of thing. Tom Curry stands his ground, and I believe that it is mLIA that comes down from quite a height, where's he supposed to go?
I think he should have been allowed back on the field, I think it's a really tough, borderline decision.
Woodward was even more staunch in his belief that a yellow was correct, and again, ignored the reasoning of the panel's professional referee.
I agree with Lawrence, I think it's a yellow card. With the rules today, head on head is yellow card. Was it vindictive, was it on purpose? No, it was a sheer accident, it was a rugby incident.
Like the Stewart incident when England played Ireland in the Six Nations.
I feel so sorry for Curry because no way do I think that's a red card.... it's not a red card in any shape or form.
Red for Curry, Yellow for Carreras.
JP Doyle explains why...#RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/tYqq1dJcKO
— ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) September 9, 2023
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