Wasn't this a rugby union issue?

That'll be why it only reminded me of that altercation between outside backs.



If Ashton wanted no part of it perhaps he should have avoided forcibly shoving Tuilagi in the head from the blindside while he was on the ground.

People attempting to minimise Ashton's prominent role at the start of this incident (yes I realise he was reacting to being tackled on suspicion) are missing the point.

Ashton (Mather) started it - Tuilagi (Senior) finished it.

I heard what the touch judge said. But that doesn't mean it is the same as what he and the rest of the crowd saw.

You are making the assumption that what the touch judge reported to the referee was what he saw. Either he saw the incident or his view was obstructed. As he didn't report that his view was obstructed then he should have seen what happened. The view from the touchline would have clearly been good enough to see that one player was was much more violent than the other and therefore deserved a red card. His report to the ref did not convey this important imformation. So either the judgement of the touch judge is flawed or he succommed to home bias - a condition that is not unusual!

The touch judge also did not police the area outside the Leicester bench as he he required to do. He allowed the players and trainers to be too close to the touchline with a risk of obstructing his view of the action.

I agree with your point about rugby players accepting poor decisions by officials. It is just a shame that some of these officials are not as professional as the players.

If we're straying into the realms of match officials lying to each other then we're probably stretching the argument a bit too far ...

You are still missing the point - rather like the touch judge. There was a clear assult by one player on another and the touchjudge got it wrong. He needs to be questioned about either his eyesight or his judgement.

The touch judge appears to have:
1) missed the off the ball tackle by Tuilagi on Ashton
2) viewed the push by Ashton and deemed it a punch
3) thought it a fair fight with both players equally to blame.

His report to the ref was inaccurate and his judgement/eyesight are not up to the standard required for a professional sport at this level.

Pushing and shoving goes on at most games with the occassional bout of fistacuffs. But this incident was plain common assault and should be stamped out of the game by match officials with more courage than this TJ showed. It was a high profile occassion with a big TV audience with many youngsters watching.

You are being just a bit naive to believe that a home crowd bias does not sometimes colour the officials judgement.

Not common assault as above, broken skin on display more than common assault