Northampton were in the middle of a second-half fight back in the European Rugby Challenge Cup playoff against Stade Francais on Friday night when flanker Tom Wood was shown a red card.
Stade were irresistible at times in the first half and lead 22-9 at the break but an early score from Ben Foden in the second half made things very interesting.
Just after the hour mark however, Northampton were reduced to 14 as Tom Wood inexplicably and recklessly stamped on the head of Djibril Camara.
The ref went to the TMO, who clearly saw Wood stamp on the head of his opponent in the ruck, and the Englishman then had the audacity to shout "I bet he plays on! I bet he plays on!" to the ref as he left the pitch, which sparked a scuffle between the two sides.
That's shocking. At the very least it's reckless, and it's certainly very hard to defend given the replays.
Camara's ability to play on is totally beside the point, if you commit an act like that on a rugby pitch, you're not fit to play on it. The correct decision from the ref, and a baffling reaction to an even more baffling decision from Woods.
Incredibly, Northampton would go on to claim the first score after the sending off which put them into a 23-22 lead that they were able to hang on to and claim a place in next season's ECC.
