Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: George Stowers straight red card for hit on Nick Abendanon

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

George Stowers straight red card for hit on Nick Abendanon

As you may have seen on the Aviva Premiership highlights post yesterday, George Stowers of London Irish received a straight red card on the weekend after he made a dangerous tackle on Bath fullback Nick Abendanon at the Recreaton Ground.

Stowers was shown a straight red by ref Dave Pearson after his flailing arm looked to have connected with Abendanon’s chin, stunning him for a few minutes as he flopped to the floor in a heap.

Abendanon stayed on the field and actually helped Bath to the 20-13 win, scoring a try 15 minutes later, despite being a bit dazed by what had happened. He said he didn’t even realise that Stowers had been sent off for the swinging arm.

"I felt it and I was pretty dazed," Abendanon said. "As I was running I tripped a bit and I think he was unlucky to catch me. I don't think he meant to do it," he added.

Stowers appeared before RFU disciplinary officer Jeff Blackett earlier this evening, with Blackett ruling that the red card was sufficient punishment.

There was a bit of talk about it on here yesterday, so below is a better quality version for you to watch. Happy with the outcome of the hearing, or do you think red was harsh in the first place?

Time: 01:04

i don't see anything wrong with that. yes he caught him wrong but it clearly wasn't intensional. think a red card was a bit harsh

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2010 9:04 pm
Not a red. I doubt it should even be a yellow. A penalty? Yes, for being a bit reckless.

I can understand Kefu's red, but this is a completely different type of high tackle. This is where the IRB is failing. Once again, no consistency.

-KG

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2010 9:04 pm
Didn't even realise it was Dave Pearson. I've always thought that guy was a bad ref.

-KG

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2010 9:06 pm
Not a red!!!

By Alexander, at September 14, 2010 9:09 pm
Isn't there some rule that says that if you're knocked unconscious that you have to go off? It's pretty stupid and dangerous to have Abendanon play on afterwards.

By Kearney for tests, at September 14, 2010 9:12 pm
Terrible decision..

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2010 9:14 pm
R.D save us the censorship on this one because the situation with islanders and career threatening tackles is getting ridiculous. clear red.

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2010 9:15 pm
Yellow card for carelessness, and that's only because the outcome was a knock-out.

clearly not intentional, only KO'd him because stowers is a monster and caught him right on the jaw.

By Jack, at September 14, 2010 9:20 pm
nothing in it really, I think it's as the player himself said, he tripped and the guy was unlucky to catch him. Red's should be kept or intentional fouls

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2010 9:21 pm
also the little slap exchange in the middle is hilarious haha

By Jack, at September 14, 2010 9:21 pm
Dont want to repeat what everyone already said. Maybe a yellow...

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2010 9:33 pm
i dont think the tackle was a red...but the little pie shoveling prop who came up and slapped him after should of been at least yellow carded

By creggs08, at September 14, 2010 9:58 pm
Really, maybe its just that I am getting older but had to watch it in the slow mo to spot something wrong. Not a straight Red.
Also am i the only one who is starting to see football ways creep into rugby. watch all the bath plays go to the ref after. This is happening in other games too. I hope not, would be the crime of the century if rugby ends up like football

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2010 10:04 pm
Didn't look like a red to me.

By Phil, at September 14, 2010 10:07 pm
hard to decide really, because nick abendanon was bending down very low so it's a tough call and the decision has to be made quickly

a yellow card would probably have been enough, but as the wasnt banned, the outcome of the red card doesnt matter really

By Luxi, at September 14, 2010 10:08 pm
obviously wasnt intentional!! Poor bloke, stupid ref

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2010 10:12 pm
blah blah blah rugby is becoming a woman's sport blah blah it should have been this it should have been that blah blah blah i think if i make comments about how rugby is getting too soft my penis will grow blah blah blah i'm a f***ing fatass behind his computer

By freakinfatarse, at September 14, 2010 10:16 pm
wierdo...........

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2010 10:19 pm
"Stowers appeared before RFU disciplinary officer Jeff Blackett earlier this evening, with Blackett ruling that the red card was sufficient punishment."

Holy shit, for once Jeff Blackett didn't suspend someone for over a month? Stop the presses!! That's unbelievable...

I also agree it wasn't a red, but whatever. At least Stowers didn't get screwed even more.

By kev, at September 14, 2010 10:32 pm
i think the angle was kind to the tackler. you don't knock someone out like that by 'accident'

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2010 10:37 pm
Yeah, not a red-card offence.... yellow at best.

A red card offence SHOULD carry additional game suspensions as a penalty (unless the cards are for repeated infringements, non-dirty play).

For the IRB to not suspend this guy further, to me it appears as if they're saying "yeah, probably shouldn't have been a red".

By Christopher Pam, at September 14, 2010 10:37 pm
"blah blah blah rugby is becoming a woman's sport blah blah it should have been this it should have been that blah blah blah i think if i make comments about how rugby is getting too soft my penis will grow blah blah blah i'm a f***ing fatass behind his computer"

^^

Notice how all the people who want to turn rugby soft rely on ad-hominem attacks and fairy like hissy-fits?

This is the football culture at best. The people in defense of the red card are the lowest of society. Soccer fans who want to pollute the game of rugby.

Vermin at best. Their immaturity and lack of intelligence shows.

This was a yellow at best. I say that with a statistically average sized penis.

By Chris, at September 14, 2010 10:53 pm
the referee gave the red because abendanon was ko
but this tackle deserves yellow, not red

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2010 10:57 pm
Not a red. Desperate tackle by a taller man got him a bit high.

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2010 11:04 pm
Chris mate, you are a statistically averaged size penis.

How can you call people immature and then your next thing is to insult them?

By Laz, at September 14, 2010 11:06 pm
Chris mate, you are a statistically averaged size penis.

How can you call people immature and then your next thing is to insult them?

.......

You seem bemused by something that's quite simple. 'Freakinfatarse' showed himself to be undeserving of respect. On that basis I gave him none.

If he approached his view point like a mature adult I'd respond appropriately.

Respect is earned.

By Chris, at September 14, 2010 11:22 pm
Well, you sure showed him!

Maybe when I say something worthy of your respect, you'll show it to me. I'll be waiting anxiously.

You may not be the other 'Chris' (not the most unique nick ever) who comments on here, so if not I apologise for giving you a hard time. The other one was a pathetic child trying to act like a hard man over the internet. Surely that wouldn't be you. My bad.

On topicccc, its good he wasn't suspended, no need. The straight red might have seemed harsh BUT there was an earlier yellow for a dangerous London Irish tackle (if I remember correctly), so that needs to be taken into account. Ref was obviously pissed.

By Laz, at September 14, 2010 11:43 pm
At most, a yellow card. Red card for this is ridiculous.

By Anonymous, at September 14, 2010 11:48 pm
"blah blah blah rugby is becoming a woman's sport blah blah it should have been this it should have been that blah blah blah i think if i make comments about how rugby is getting too soft my penis will grow blah blah blah i'm a f***ing fatass behind his computer"

lol but man everyone is entitled to his opinions no need to be insulting! Plus you chose your example quite badly since almost everyone here agrees it shouldn't be a red!

By Oli, at September 15, 2010 12:29 am
as for the recent past, I "plead for" the red against Kefu for the agression on Palisson (as if my opinion would matter lol), but there ? red ? seriously ? even yellow is bit hard...

By Anonymous, at September 15, 2010 1:31 am
unrelated to the red card that was hcore sheparding

By Anonymous, at September 15, 2010 2:04 am
Abdenon defo looked semi-concussed going down, fair play to him for still holding onto the ball, ha!

By Anonymous, at September 15, 2010 2:32 am
respect to stowers for apologizing before he went on his way

By USA7, at September 15, 2010 4:11 am
He would've been unlucky to get a yellow. His sight of 15 was blocked by the referee until the last second and he looked as though he was trying to loosen the ball as 15 was dropping.

By Unknown, at September 15, 2010 4:44 am
yellow for sure. not red. there was nothing in the tackle, just bad luck really

By Anonymous, at September 15, 2010 5:16 am
RED CARD!!
Jeez they hand those things out like confetti these days

I remember when a red card was kept for the most synical of offences, not a careless high tackle deserving of a penalty and thats it

By ballsofsteel, at September 15, 2010 5:18 am
Soft, bullshit card.
Reds should be for deliberate foul play, like an eye gouge.
A yellow would be harsh, a penalty would be sufficient.
It was completely accidental, these thing shappen in rugby.
Always will.
If you try to get rid of them by carding everyone you will kill the essence of the sport.
It's toughness.

By Bill, at September 15, 2010 6:26 am
It's not soccer!!!!
Stop this red card insanity.

By Anonymous, at September 15, 2010 6:27 am
This comment has been removed by the author.

By pete1074, at September 15, 2010 9:33 am
This comment has been removed by the author.

By pete1074, at September 15, 2010 9:35 am
Red was very harsh. I know players do need some form of protection from out and out thugs [especially in the lower, amature leagues], but that was harsh. Just a clumsy challenge, no mallice at all.

Abendanon slightly off balance and Stowers coming from behind players. It just looked worse than it actually was.

Seems to be a trend of referee's making rash decisions

By pete1074, at September 15, 2010 9:36 am
Bugger me that's not even a yellow, if the guy hadn't been knocked out I doubt the ref would of even called a penalty.

Shit happens, get on with it.

By Tim, at September 15, 2010 9:55 am
Not a red. Tackled player himself said he tripped into it.

By Anonymous, at September 15, 2010 9:57 am
Credit to Stowers for that "sorry, mate" pat on the shoulder on Abendanon before leaving the field

By Xavier, at September 15, 2010 10:20 am
No way is that a red.Completely unintentional. The it was just an accident. Penalty only. Not even a yellow.

By leonhealy, at September 15, 2010 10:36 am
I was at the game on Saturday. It was a gritty and very fast game. Oddly, Bath did commit a few high tackles themselves which clearly the ref didn't see!! He also didn't see the Stowers tackle and reacted to the crowd hissing, off, off, off! All to often the refs react ti the home crowd and cost teams the game!! It is fairly obvious by the fact that The ruling that the red card was sufficient, that he should never have been sent off in the first place. Fair play to Nick Aben, for bring honest and saying it wasn't intentional!! The red card cost Irish the game! It's about time the referees caught up with the game. The players are getting stonger, faster and rugby is becoming more professional yet most of the refs have been standing still for some time. It time to bring in either younger refs or southern hemi's they seem to be a lot more up to speed. Good luck to Irish this weekend.

By I londoner, at September 15, 2010 11:10 am
'He also didn't see the Stowers tackle and reacted to the crowd hissing, off, off, off! All to often the refs react ti the home crowd and cost teams the game!!'

It's a standard reaction at the rec. I've been there quite a few times and I'm convinced some supporters are watching a different game and/or haven't got a clue how the game works.

This a yellow at best, it wasn't intentional, it wasn't ridiculously high and as Abendanon admits he fell into it. It was a fairly nasty incident but same thing can happen with a clash of heads in a perfectly legal tackle. It's another week of ref's reacting to players and fans reaction as opposed to the game infront of them.

The prop's slap is a joke.

By Nick, at September 15, 2010 11:23 am
To be honest, I can't see anything wrong with this tackle and I think that Abendanon get knocked out when he hit the groung. The other players don't even notice it at first.
But I dont agree that red card should be reserved for intentional fault. The Kefu's card was well deserved it wasn't intentionnal though

By Anonymous, at September 15, 2010 11:23 am
This was dangerous and illegal (not intentional but his responsibility). To me it was at the top end of yellow to bottom end of red in severity. Im glad he wasn't given a suspension however, it was the correct decision all round for me.

By Anonymous, at September 15, 2010 1:24 pm
On second viewing - glad there was no suspension for stowers but as he clocked abendanon on the jaw and knocked him out (even if by accident) there had to be a penalty given and possibly a yellow card...Red was harsh

If you take the situation away from this context and state that a player knocked out another player due to a high tackle then it becomes pretty clear that some form of card needs to be given....

Just an opinion though!

By NiWiTa, at September 15, 2010 1:38 pm
Fuck off ref!!!

By Anonymous, at September 15, 2010 2:44 pm
not a red. Abendanon ran into trouble as well, he was always going to get smashed. Headless chicken.

By Anonymous, at September 15, 2010 3:10 pm
Not intentional, he was standing low, clearly unfortunate... misplaced card, especially when the referee can ask a TMO to review it...

By Obed, at September 15, 2010 3:39 pm
You definitely wouldnt get card for that in the southern hemisphere. Just unfortunate that the guy got knocked out, maybe he'll run straight next time instead of backwards. whats going on in the northern hemisphere?.....

By Anonymous, at September 15, 2010 4:13 pm
Obed said;

'Not intentional, he was standing low, clearly unfortunate... misplaced card, especially when the referee can ask a TMO to review it...'

Obed you are so wrong I don't know what to start with;

Please detail where in the law intention is?
Also waht relevance has the tackled players height of postion got - are you saying if he is bending down a high tackle is ok

And finally the TMO can only rule on incidents in the act of scoring.

Please do check your facts before posting

By restless ref, at September 15, 2010 4:16 pm
That's what happens when you run backwards...

Just a penalty.

By Juggernauter, at September 15, 2010 4:30 pm
He was simply making an attempt to wrap plain and simple. He was diving to make the tackle (fairly low body angle actually from this view). Not to go too far in a reductio here, but if someone was attempting to wrap up someones ankles and tripped and got knocked out then, would it still be a 'high tackle'? Clearly no intent, no shoulder, and not even particularly high (again he was diving outwards and Abendanon slipped low into it). Incredibly harsh treatment.

By Jill Kilpatrick, at September 15, 2010 5:36 pm
Love the name "Abendanon"

Goes great with that Italian Jazz song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKULi72yUko

By cheyanqui, at September 15, 2010 6:05 pm
"Manamanah"

By cheyanqui, at September 15, 2010 6:06 pm
i think a red is v.harsh....i was still waiting for the tackle..i didnt realise it was that....personally it didnt look THAT reckless....i thought he was trying to 'drag' him down...

i'd have said yellow at most.....

maybe the small afters didnt help his case...

By (u-p)rick, at September 15, 2010 7:35 pm
In the south, that would be lucky to be a penalty.
Why are they so obsessed with carding players in the northern hemisphere?
Is it the influence of that pansy game, soccer?

By Tommy, at September 16, 2010 1:01 am
Wouldn't happen in the SH?, don't bet on it. In Sydney Nonu was penalised for a tackle where replays show his arm hit the ball on the runner's chest and slid up to the shoulder, and that's all. The crowd went nuts of course, which is part of the problem with these things. No cards but it could've been costly.

By secondfive, at September 16, 2010 3:03 am
Yeah he got penalised, that's right.
There was no card though was there?
And alot of people came out after the game saying it wasn't a penalty at all (it wasn't, and I'm Aussie).
In the SH this tackle would almost certainly never have been red carded. If it was there'd be an outcry about how stupid it was.

By Tommy, at September 16, 2010 3:17 am
Nobody have see the HIGH tackle the 8 make just before??????? It's more dangerous and clear than the second one.
I think it can be red if you consider both plays, not only the second one.

By Gusarapo, at September 16, 2010 4:05 am
"In the south, that would be lucky to be a penalty.
Why are they so obsessed with carding players in the northern hemisphere?
Is it the influence of that pansy game, soccer?"

Because the NH doesn't want rugby to look like SH rugby : either no defense at all or islanders tackling to the throat.

By Anonymous, at September 16, 2010 11:58 am
Nice one Tommy - looks like you've started the SH/NH debate AGAIN....we love our "pansy soccer" here of course and it is well known you have to be gay or from the Southern Hemisphere to play in the Guiness Premiership. Perhaps being gay and from the Southern Hemisphere are the same thing...........:P

By NiWiTa, at September 16, 2010 1:49 pm
Honestly it wasn't a red card, but to be fair, leaving him on the pitch after that tackle would probably have led to that game degenerating into some kind of fracas.

By Marc B, at September 16, 2010 6:48 pm
I am all for ref's issuing more cards in rugby to cut out cynical cheating, as i think it's the only way to stop it, but this???

This to me seems quite simply to be yet another case of punishing the outcome, rather than the offence. He clearly only got the card because Abendanon was knocked out. That in itself does not merit a red card.

Somebody can get knocked out by the most innocuous unintentional contact (look at Lozada in the Edinburgh - Munster game), but that doesn't make it card-worthy and the fact that he was an Islander doesn't help much either as they always get more harshly treated than others, simply because SOME of them do put in dirty tackles.

When you compare this to Aled Brews spear tackle on DTH Van Der Merve in the Dragons Glasgow game on Sunday, a tackle which went completely unpunished and has since been acquitted by his own unions disciplinary panel, it shows just how inconsistent interpretations are, and also just how low the WRu are sinking into the depths of poofball cheating!

By Believer, at September 16, 2010 11:29 pm
"the fact that he was an Islander doesn't help much either as they always get more harshly treated than others, simply because ALL of them do put in dirty tackles."

there, fixed :)

By Anonymous, at September 17, 2010 12:46 am
Yellow at best - just clumsy.

By andyboy, at September 17, 2010 9:26 pm
no way that should be red! his intentions were good...

ah, penalty, ok... but never red...

By RCT Lance, at September 19, 2010 12:59 pm
He's a wuss. Ask him who won when he got picked on by someone his own size - namely Gareth Delve - after hitting a scrum half. A big man against small backs.

By Anonymous, at November 03, 2010 4:26 pm