Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: Scarlet's Josh Turnbull suspended for five weeks

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Scarlet's Josh Turnbull suspended for five weeks

Matt Banahan’s two week suspension is not the only banning of the week, as Scarlets loose forward Josh Turnbull has also been punished, following his reckless tackle on Edinburgh’s Nick de Luca in the Magners League.

Turnbull was handed a five week suspension after he was yellow carded for a tackle on de Luca only seconds after coming onto the field on Saturday.

A hearing took place at the Millennium Stadium on Wednesday and was chaired by WRU Professional Disciplinary Panel member Terry Vaux.

It was determined that the offence was in the mid range of sanctions and after serving out his five weeks, Turnbull will be free to play again on January 14th.

The 21 year old will miss three Magners League, and two Heineken Cup matches as a result, and because of the Six Nations coming up too, he will only be able to play in the Magners League again from February 20th.

After coming on for Simon Easterby, you can see in the clip that Turnbull was only in the action for a matter of seconds. That would make him probably the only player to have ever been sent off after such a short amount of time on the field.

Time: 01:07
Note: Thanks to the BBC

very dangerous! defo can argue red for that one. turned him upside down as well as taking him in the air.

By theboss, at December 10, 2009 5:08 pm
send him off and ban him. As a player that is not what we want in rugby.

By Andy, at December 10, 2009 5:19 pm
Nothing wrong with that!

By Anonymous, at December 10, 2009 5:21 pm
Wow the referee certainly handled that situation well. 9 times out of 10 that would have resulted in a mass brawl. I'm impressed. Is his name Carlo Damasco or something?

Although I think a red should have been given. And I think that it's quite rude for a player to just run off before he's actually shown the card.

By Kearney for tests, at December 10, 2009 5:23 pm
Props to the ref, nearly lost control of it but got in the middle.

That was wreckless, the only time it doesn't deserve a card is when the attacking player is clearly looking only at the ball and accidentally collides with opposition, he just grabbed his ankles and twisted.

He knew what he was doing, it's a training move that kick off area and he just thought '**** it' and got what he deserved, probably worse though!

... umm C'mon Wasps!!! lol had too!

By Matt, at December 10, 2009 5:43 pm
That's not worth a suspension...a penalty and a card definitely - probably red...but this shit with suspensions really needs to stop. Unless it was a particularly malicious attack on a player or something very unsportsmanlike (like breaking the law or substance/steroid abuse), then why bring up suspension?

By octavio, at December 10, 2009 5:51 pm
That was a bad one, fair citing, fair ban.

By Jon, at December 10, 2009 5:56 pm
justice, a horrible tackle, could have broken Nick De Lucas neck! There was intent and the ban is the right thing, should have been a red card but tis makes up for it.

By glove39, at December 10, 2009 6:01 pm
awful tackle knew well what he was at.

think the citing committee got it right this time!!

By creggs08, at December 10, 2009 6:43 pm
horrible tackle.. knew exactly what he was doing. Intent was definately there. Whether or not it was malicious, I'd say it was borderline.

Deserved being banned. Something of this sort could end a player's career if not worse.

Lessons have to be learnt!

By censu, at December 10, 2009 6:50 pm
how stupid can a person be.... he simply desrves it, if he is dumb enough to do that 5 seconds after entering the game

By eric, at December 10, 2009 6:51 pm
If a man jumps...
LET HIM GO DOWN BY HIMSELF!
I don't know how top-class players seem to be unable to understand that. Hey lads, the neck is a dangerous toy to play with

By Joost, at December 10, 2009 6:57 pm
What an Idiot!! Got everything he deserved, although when I was watching i expected a red card. And as for the being rude when you leave before you get carded, as a player when you know you've done something that dumb, you know whats coming. no need to sit there and look at the pretty yellow/red slip of plastic. Make sense mate?

By Anonymous, at December 10, 2009 7:23 pm
I think it deserves the ban because you can see him pushing the guy's legs up, so it looks like he's upending him on purpose.

Agree with everyone else - well done ref!

By Anonymous, at December 10, 2009 7:28 pm
should i ignore octavio.....

no, i just cant let that slide!

octavio, seriously, what a daft comment....

as much as id agree this was probably more stupid than a personal vendetta i dont really see what is wrong with the ban....the guy comes on the pitch for 6 seconds, clearly takes a player out in the air with no attempt to go for the ball....now i mean, is that not malicious? i mean, id imagine there was little premeditation involved...i.e he didnt plan this weeks ago, but he made no attempt to go for the ball....

reckless and dangerous, and this too will one day result in a a severe injury unless something stamps it out!

world cup 2003...i cannot remember, who or what team, but it was a lock who was lifted to get the ball from a kick off who got toppled and came down badly on his head/neck/shoulder kinda area...(possibly aus?!?) this kinda stuff happens accidently i dont see why banning a player who looks like he made no effort to avoid the situation is wrong...

anyway, on this whole banning, and professional players, tv crews, and citing commisioner topic....any idea why players still continuously make such obviously awful efforts to cheat/hurt/injure (or whatever you want to call it..) other players....

i mean, gouging...burger got caught, parisse got caught, etc etc...why do players still try it? everyone has personally digs with opposition players, maybe hit that little bit more over the top in a ruck to make that one hurt, or the old 'hit the F*#@$%N HARD LADS ON THE FIRST TACKLE AND THEY WONT WANNA RUN AT YOU AGAIN' stuff.... but gouging...or stamping, hayes did it, banahan has just been screwed...admittedly banahans seems to have been a rake gone wrong or something, and it looked like he made no attempt to secretly do it. so he probably thought he'd be fine....but its things like these make you wonder why, with all the cameras pointing at every inch of the game, do players still try this stuff....

By :), at December 10, 2009 7:38 pm
p.s i think he was lucky with the yellow, i was expecting a red....

By :), at December 10, 2009 7:39 pm
What a wanker!

That should've been a straight red. Good to see the citing system finally get something right!

He knew he was going to be sent off, but the way he walked away while the ref was still busy, looked like the whole thing annoyed him...

If that's the case, let the Edinburgh forwards at him for 30 seconds next time ;-)

By Sander, at December 10, 2009 7:46 pm
definitly shoulda been a red card cos its a really dangerous tackle, plus its malicious !!!!

red + long ban

By luxi, at December 10, 2009 8:37 pm
Wow. I think he was way too pumped for this game ... Must be trying to do something once he got on the field.

By JLH, at December 10, 2009 9:24 pm
Where was O'Gara's ban then for his reckless out-of-the-air tackle in the 2ns Lions test?

I think JLH is right - he was just too pumped up for his own good. I agree it was stupid and I would've fully expected a red, it's the citing that's a bit off...

All I'm saying is where are the guidelines? A gouge gets you X weeks, stamping gets Y, and taking a player out the air dangerously gets you Z, etc. etc. ? 5 weeks seems a bit much, is all.

By Stefan, at December 10, 2009 11:28 pm
Dangerous, deserved a red for malicous intent. A 5 match ban is too much, 3 would have done fine. Don't like the attitude, with him running off before the card is given, very rude.

By The Schpoople Master, at December 11, 2009 12:19 am
Scarlets fans here, no problem with the length of the ban as it was very dangerous. He actually turned his legs which makes it worse. Silly boy Josh - he is now missing our biggest games of the season.

The citing panel was probably spot on with this one. It just goes to show how ridiculous and cowardly the bans for John Hayes stamping on Cian Healy's face and Schalk Burgers eye gouging efforts really were.

By Gareth, at December 11, 2009 1:25 am
So dangerous, the ref handled it well though... Could a red have been given in that situation? Should it?

By Nicko, at December 11, 2009 1:34 am
malicious! not only he tackled the man in the air, but intentionally turned him upside down..

well done by the ref

By Cheis, at December 11, 2009 3:23 am
I did this once to a player and got red. I just wasn't thinking. I'd expect better from pros though.

By Caligula, at December 11, 2009 3:44 am
very dangerous and the ban is just.

he could easily have held him or not thrown him to the ground when he realised he hit early and was still in the air

By Anonymous, at December 11, 2009 10:44 am
That was a dumbass move, what outcome did he think was going to come from that.

By Anonymous, at December 11, 2009 11:34 am
'Where was O'Gara's ban then for his reckless out-of-the-air tackle in the 2ns Lions test?'

I think Sexton's imposing it at the moment.

By Anonymous, at December 11, 2009 11:37 am
This fool deserved a few pucks from the edinborough players

By Anonymous, at December 11, 2009 12:48 pm
My question is, why did the ref only give him a yellow, he got a 5 week suspension! Banahan got a red and was suspended for two weeks. More consistency is needed!

By allblacks <3, at December 11, 2009 3:42 pm
Foolish play, but great job by the ref to diffuse the situation. Certainly a red wouldn't be out of order.
To me, these long bans are getting ridiculous. There is very little, other than assaulting a ref or a player after the game that deserves a 5 week ban. I know of no other team sport where guys need to sit out for 4,5, and 6 weeks for foul play. I beleive that no ban should be for more than one game for anything having to do with a tackle (high,dump, etc.) We as the rugby faithful can change this.

By Anonymous, at December 11, 2009 4:23 pm
Not the quickest yellow. That was one of our props, a year ago.

RFU had told referees to crack down on the swearing on the pitch. The referee had already shown a yellow because an opposition player swore as the ball, kicked to touch, landed on his car.

We make a substitution 60 minutes in, prop for prop. Replacement prop comes on shouting "Come on lads, let's get f@*king stuck into them". Then the penny dropped. That has to be the quickest carding ever. It was about 3 seconds.

By Dan Gliballs, at December 11, 2009 11:31 pm
Dan Gliballs, lol, unlucky for him.

are there any teams out there that havent lost a player to bad language?

By No.7, at December 12, 2009 2:24 am
Bad language?
Fuck, I swear my head off on the pitch.
Refs in my league make the distinction between just swearing and actually swearing at somebody.

By Jon, at December 12, 2009 4:37 am
well jon yeh, there is a difference but some refs dont want to hear it at all.....which i dont have a problem with, makes no odds to me....

By No.7, at December 12, 2009 5:16 am
Yeah, no fair enough, I'm just shocked that a guy would get sent off for swearing in that context.
I can guarantee I'd have a few swear words to say if I get sent off that way.

By Jon, at December 12, 2009 10:47 am
I expected the red but on second thought the ref probably avoided to kill the match by not letting a whole team with 14 players for 80 minutes.

By Maximus, at December 12, 2009 12:28 pm
Yeh actually i see your point jon, i think if the guy had actually been swearing during the game, rather than just coming on the pitch, i think we have had similar instances, ref says no swearing, someone comes on and goes 'fucking come on lads' and the ref just gives them a quick talk...

maximus, the time in the video says 56 mins....

I think it was a bit daft him running off the pitch before actually seeing the card...especially as he said 'red?!?' and ran off before he saw it...

By No.7, at December 12, 2009 3:51 pm
lol @ Dan Gliballs. Classic.

By Greiffel, at December 12, 2009 11:13 pm
Oooooops. Sorry.
Thought it was the beginning of the match. Watched the vid, read the comments about the quickest card and i didn't pay attention to time.

So, it's so stupid and dangerous, a yellow and a ban is the minimum he can get.

As for the yellow card for bad language, i didn't know a ref could do that. (when you're not insulting him, of course) Next step, a yellow for spitting on the pitch.

By Maximus, at December 13, 2009 10:32 am
btw, due to the swine flu situation in France, a mayor actually asked soccer refs to penalise spitting during matches. couple of months ago.

By Maximus, at December 13, 2009 10:37 am
lol, at france and spitting....

maximus, i think refs just try to stop swearing, when it becomes a constant roars of language every 2 seconds....there are people in the crowd, kids etc, (not that, that should make a huge impact...) also i think its to calm players down so they dont go over the top....

I played a school match many years ago, when the opposition had a chinese second row i think it was....that pretty much did the 'waterboy' yell thing (its a movie..), every scrum ruck maul etc, until the ref after telling him to stop it a few times yellow carded him....very odd......

By No.7, at December 13, 2009 5:14 pm
wow.. how cheap is that...

By Anonymous, at December 13, 2009 5:45 pm
My grandpa was a player and then a coach, 40/50 years ago. During a match, he got sinbinned as a coach after commenting (and yelling at) every ref decision. He went in the crowd and kept on yelling at the ref, not as a coach anymore but as a supporter. The ref whistled and awarded a penalty kick against the crowd! According to my grandpa, the ref had deserved this special treatment, he swears it. I'm still laughing. Old root French club rugby.

As for the swearing, i do understand it, of course. But it's funny tho. You get out of a ruck, covered with mud, and think aloud "holy fuck! where's my shoe?" Tweeet. Three points. Or how to make players go mad.

As for the French soccer spitting. Turned out to be a way for the mayor to show himself. the idea has never been implemented.

By Maximus, at December 13, 2009 5:49 pm
lol maximus....

we used to have a coach who had an awful temper, used to yell at refs etc...we had a sponser game....new bottles, new bottle carriers etc...

we still have them all, but one of the bottle carriers only holds 3 bottles...our coach got mad and kicked one in his fit of rage, sending a shower of water, bottles, and the carrier itself down the touchline....

By :), at December 13, 2009 8:32 pm