Percy Montgomery red carded for two yellows in 2005
Yesterday I mistakenly said that the Drew Mitchell red card for two yellows was possibly the first of its kind in Test rugby. Thanks to a chat with a friend, and one of the comments on that post, I can now tell you that there was also the controversial sending off of Percy Montgomery against Wales in Cardiff in 2005.
South Africa won the game 33-16 on the first match of their European tour, but the talking point was without a doubt the Montgomery red card after he was sent from the pitch permanently in the 70th minute following a second yellow card.
The first, issued by Stuart Dickinson upon recommendation by touchjudge Bryce Lawrence, was for what was deemed to be a dangerous tackle on Shane Williams.
Ten minutes from time it was Montgomery and Williams again, but this time the Springbok fullback’s tackle was said to be high, resulting in a second yellow card which led to the permanent dismissal.
While many felt the decisions were harsh, especially for the first tackle, former Test referee Andre Watson stood by his colleagues. "You sometimes have to consider things from the referee's point of view. There was a definite run-up to the red card. Percy was earlier warned about a tackle he performed without using his arms.
"The touch judge thought it had been a spear tackle. It was a reckless tackle and he was shown his first yellow card. In the other instance Percy's arms were around the neck of the Welsh wing Shane Williams, which led to the second card and his suspension.
"The rule states clearly you can't tackle a player around the neck. It doesn't matter if the opponent is 2m or just 1.6m and if he stands upright or if he's bending down. It's the responsibility of the player performing the tackle to stay away from the ball carrier's head and neck. In this instance I don't have a lot of sympathy for Percy," Watson said.
Despite Watson justifying the decisions, the red card was later rescinded by IRB judicial officer Jeff Blackett after he ruled that the first tackle was legitimate and shouldn’t have been yellow carded. The red card ruling was then overturned, and Montgomery was allowed to play in the next game, against France.
Note: Credit to the original uploader. If you have any old footage lying around that you'd like shared or featured here on RD, please get in touch via the contact page.
South Africa won the game 33-16 on the first match of their European tour, but the talking point was without a doubt the Montgomery red card after he was sent from the pitch permanently in the 70th minute following a second yellow card.
The first, issued by Stuart Dickinson upon recommendation by touchjudge Bryce Lawrence, was for what was deemed to be a dangerous tackle on Shane Williams.
Ten minutes from time it was Montgomery and Williams again, but this time the Springbok fullback’s tackle was said to be high, resulting in a second yellow card which led to the permanent dismissal.
While many felt the decisions were harsh, especially for the first tackle, former Test referee Andre Watson stood by his colleagues. "You sometimes have to consider things from the referee's point of view. There was a definite run-up to the red card. Percy was earlier warned about a tackle he performed without using his arms.
"The touch judge thought it had been a spear tackle. It was a reckless tackle and he was shown his first yellow card. In the other instance Percy's arms were around the neck of the Welsh wing Shane Williams, which led to the second card and his suspension.
"The rule states clearly you can't tackle a player around the neck. It doesn't matter if the opponent is 2m or just 1.6m and if he stands upright or if he's bending down. It's the responsibility of the player performing the tackle to stay away from the ball carrier's head and neck. In this instance I don't have a lot of sympathy for Percy," Watson said.
Despite Watson justifying the decisions, the red card was later rescinded by IRB judicial officer Jeff Blackett after he ruled that the first tackle was legitimate and shouldn’t have been yellow carded. The red card ruling was then overturned, and Montgomery was allowed to play in the next game, against France.
:: Related Posts ::
The Rugby Club Plays of the Week - Dear Refs, Sort it out!
The build up to the Drew Mitchell red card
Percy Montgomery interview, tribute, and classic try from 1997
Time: 03:49The Rugby Club Plays of the Week - Dear Refs, Sort it out!
The build up to the Drew Mitchell red card
Percy Montgomery interview, tribute, and classic try from 1997
Note: Credit to the original uploader. If you have any old footage lying around that you'd like shared or featured here on RD, please get in touch via the contact page.
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27 Comments:
1st. Yes!
By Anonymous, at August 06, 2010 3:18 pm
Didn't look much wrong with either of those to me.
By Anonymous, at August 06, 2010 3:28 pm
that 1st yellow card just confirms how useless bryce lawrence is as a ref
about the second, you see that all the time when ball carriers dive for the line
bryce lawrence, you just won the referee-percy of the month
By Luxi, at August 06, 2010 3:29 pm
1st tackle was clearly legal...so the citing people got it right in the end. 2nd was clearly high but not terrible.
The worst part was Shane Williams' greed in not simply drawing Monty and passing to the unmarked player outside him for the easy score!
By jpm, at August 06, 2010 3:29 pm
I'm appauled at both - more so the second however. I have seen much worse things go unpenalised in Rugby.
By Nick, at August 06, 2010 3:35 pm
True class from Percy... doesn't say a thing just walks off while the decision is very harsh...
We get those sort of high tackles with all the lil people we have in France : Andreux, Para, JBE, Minioni etc..
Eternal debate on a lock getting low on his knees to tackle and yet it's gonna be around the lil man's shoulders or neck...
Not much to do apart from the ref trying to find out whether the tackle was malicious or not.
And in both case, Percy just tackles.... nothing wrong with that :/
By jay, at August 06, 2010 3:36 pm
Wow, really poor judgement from the Line Judge, and the Referee, Lawrence definitely shouldn't have given the first, and the second was also considerably questionable!
Can you really call the second a deliberate high tackle though? Clearly Percy's arms were near Williams neck, but Shane had started to fall to the floor before he made contact.
No deliberate high tackle for me, penalty maybe but Yellow card certainly not!
By Chris M, at August 06, 2010 3:37 pm
jeppers them commentators would drive one to the the drink
By Anonymous, at August 06, 2010 3:39 pm
Amazing commentating, million times more objective,unbiased and truthful than the nonsense spilling out of the Aussie and Kiwi commentators! The 2 doing the commentating are pro's. In my opinion only the second is a yellow, albeit not deserved one though, just unlucky.
By Anonymous, at August 06, 2010 3:45 pm
That's why Bryce Lawrence should be sacked; he's just an absolute fool. And Percy Montgomery...if I was him I would have gone absolutely mad at the referee and used much bad language. I'm amazed at his restraint.
By Kearney for tests, at August 06, 2010 3:45 pm
I'd forgotten this, but no surprise to see that it's Bryce Lawrence and Stu Dickinson making asses of themselves.
By edbok, at August 06, 2010 3:56 pm
What a crock of shit. Little wonder that Percy copped a lengthy ban later on for shoving a touch judge. A man con only take so much.
By katman, at August 06, 2010 4:24 pm
Second one is a yellow, unfortunate but still hight tackle. But come on, the first one was just a big throw, by no means a yellow.
By Tim "Fester" Baga, at August 06, 2010 4:25 pm
The first was clearly an intelligent and legal tackle, the second; a warning at best. A high shoulder charge, yes, but the guy collapsed before he got to him. If he suddenly drops how can you avoid hitting him higher? Brycie Brycie...tsk tsk
By Jake, at August 06, 2010 4:32 pm
shocking decisions, both of them.
By Chris Boy, at August 06, 2010 4:44 pm
Ahh ! good to see a young 'in form' John Smit. Nowadays he looks like he couldn't give a damn.
By Andymo, at August 06, 2010 4:57 pm
I dont know about you guys but i think Percy got sent off, it was like listening to two parrots locked in a cage...
Percy's off, Percy's off.
By Trevor, at August 06, 2010 5:04 pm
Hope this proves that SH refs can be just as card happy
By Anonymous, at August 06, 2010 5:28 pm
both poor decisions. well played for percy,copping it like the professional he is. would love to see the same respect for refs decisions (no matter how wrong) in some other football codes.
By gfaulcon, at August 06, 2010 5:46 pm
lol at a yellow for the first one
By WelshOsprey, at August 06, 2010 5:48 pm
jpm - true it does look selfish, but the two players outside were both props so he probably thought he'd have a better chance of getting to the line himself - and ordinarily he'd be right, but good defence by Montgomery prevented that.
jay - excellent post sir, best one on this thread. Jonathan Davies is a brilliant commentator, he only ever shows bias when he is just excited about a Wales performance.
trevor - sounds funny but I think they were both a bit incredulous. On all the replays you hear Jonathan Davies going on about what a great tackle it was, so he was pretty taken aback by the decision.
By Von, at August 06, 2010 5:49 pm
That is just appalling refereeing ...
By Sander, at August 06, 2010 6:09 pm
You have to remember those are the 2 worst refs around. Always have been. Completely expected from those plonkers
By Anonymous, at August 06, 2010 10:02 pm
Those searching for reasons behind SA´s recent performance should take note of the difference between Smit then...and now.
I think he actually gets up running immediately after the tackle at 2:25!!
By Anonymous, at August 07, 2010 4:22 am
Why was the wales guy sent off ? Sorry , i cannot hear the video properly .
By Anonymous, at August 07, 2010 6:22 am
Ah poor percy. I remember that. The second was a bit high but a penalty call on that would be harsh.
the welsh lad got a yellow for throwing a punch. must've been before orcy's first tackle ?
By Third Centre, at August 07, 2010 10:51 pm
How did Stu Dickinson make an ass of himself? He had nothing to do with either card, both were of the recommendation of Bryce Lawrence.
By Anonymous, at August 08, 2010 1:35 am
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