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The player who was the victim of Freddie Steward’s head shot, Hugo Keenan, believes that the disciplinary panel were correct in overturning the red card decision.

The England full-back was controversially sent off towards the end of the first half during the clash at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

After Mack Hansen had knocked on, both Keenan and Steward went charging for the ball. The Irishman got to it just ahead of his opposite number, who then only had a split second to react.

Instead of going for a tackle, which could have done more damage to Keenan considering the positions there were in going into contact, Steward decided to brace himself.

Unfortunately for the Ireland player, that resulted in him clattering into the Englishman’s arm and suffering a head injury.

Mitigation

Referee Jaco Peyper decided that a red card was his only option, but the independent panel disagreed, stating that there was enough mitigation to bring it down to a yellow.

“It’s probably fair enough, isn’t it?” Keenan said. “It’s up to the citing commissioners and the refs to make those decisions, but it was a bit of an accident, wasn’t it?

“He was very apologetic nearly straight away after and then after on the pitch as well. As a fellow full-back, I feel for him in those positions. I think it was just one of those sort of rugby incidents; it’s not like it was a reckless high challenge or anything like that.

“I caught him on the pitch and he apologised. I accepted it completely and we had a little chat. He’s a lovely lad in fairness.”

Keenan also felt that the significant size difference between the two contributed to the severity of the incident.

“He’s a very big boy, you don’t realise until you’re on the pitch,” he said.

“He’s probably nearly the biggest player on the pitch, so it probably didn’t help his cause did it? Putting me to shame with my mere height and weight.

“It was a weird incident. You never really see it. They’re just trying to eradicate any contact with the head, and it’s obviously an important issue to get right, but it’s probably more so for the high tackles or dangerous clearouts.

“It’s a tough one to know, so you just have to trust the higher powers and refs and citing commissioners to do their job to the best they can, and make the best call they can.”

Keenan was brought off for a head injury assessment but did not return to the field, instead having to watch the remainder of the game from the sideline.

“I remember it all. It was a good whack but I still knew exactly where I was, what the score was, everything about the game. So it was a pretty close call, I just failed the HIA,” he said.

“I think with the independent doctor, I was a small bit down on one of the tests so between that and the actual video evidence, you just have to trust the advice of the doctors.

“I was obviously mad keen to get back out there and very disappointed not to be able to because I certainly don’t like watching the games from the sideline. Jeez, the stress levels and the anxiety, oh God, I’m not used to it and I don’t want to get used to it.”

Reward for top class performances

Although Keenan’s Six Nations ended with him watching his Ireland team-mates see out a 29-16 victory over England and claim a Grand Slam, the 26-year-old played a crucial part throughout the rest of the competition.

The full-back has been rewarded for his displays after being nominated for the Player of the Championship award alongside fellow Irishmen Mack Hansen and Caelan Doris, as well as French trio Damian Penaud, Antoine Dupont and Thomas Ramos.

Keenan described it as a “nice honour” before adding: “But I think you could have picked anyone of the 1-15 or more of the lads who have played for Ireland.

“It’s definitely been a whole squad effort, and there’s been unbelievable standout performers for the team. It could be anyone.

“It’s been brilliant, we’ve had an enjoyable few days. Saturday was incredibly special, it’s a dream winning a Grand Slam in the Aviva in front of family and friends and that incredible support. We had a good night Saturday and a great day with family on Sunday as well, so it’s been an enjoyable few days.”

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Leicester City midfielder Nampalys Mendy has rejected an offer from Rennes, who in recent hours had been in advanced negotiations with the Premier League side to agree a transfer fee, according to L’Équipe.

The player’s advisor told the media outlet the following:

“Rennes had already tried to sign Nampalys a few weeks ago and the response was negative. It is the same today. For the moment, we are still in contact with Nice and St Étienne, with whom we are attentive about what could happen.”

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Although Bulls director of rugby Jake White admits that his team are going through a slump, he does not feel they are in the midst of a crisis and believes they can still compete for trophies this season.

The Pretoria-based outfit have won just two of their last 10 matches across all tournaments and suffered a humiliating 63-15 defeat at home in their Currie Cup opener against the Pumas last week.

Despite his team’s poor form, White is not panicking and said the challenge of being competitive in three tournaments – the United Rugby Championship, Champions Cup and Currie Cup – has been tough but he believes his players will be stronger from the experience.

“We’re in a situation we’ve never been in before, we’ve got young players who have never been in this circumstance before, and it’s a challenge we’ve got to get through,” he told the Citizen.

“But how can you be in a crisis when you’re still in the top eight of the URC (United Rugby Championship) and the top 16 of the Champions Cup and you’ve lost only one Currie Cup game? I don’t believe that’s a hole.

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Backs Bulls to bounce back

“I really, genuinely believe these are situations you’ve got to go through as a group of coaches and players, and I know we will get through this.

“I know the squad we have will learn from this and there’s still a long way to go (this season). Nobody has won any trophies at this point in time.”

The former Springbok head coach said he has been in similar situations before during his coaching career and is backing the Bulls to show improvement during the latter part of the season.

“I think we’re always going to be under the pump but we had to try certain things,” he said.

“Sometimes when you rearrange your squad you lose cohesion, but you end up having players who believe they can play.”

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Club Brugge are to loan French attacker Jérémy Perbet to fellow Belgian outfit K.V. Kortrijk, according to L’Équipe.

With just two months at Club Brugge under his belt, Perbet is seeking first-team football, hence a loan move away.

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S.H.

Northampton bounced back from last weekend’s thumping at Bristol Bears by easing to a 45-26 victory over Bath in the Premiership on Friday.

Tries from Robbie Smith (2), Juarno Augustus, Angus Scott-Young, Tom Collins and James Grayson saw the Saints to a bonus-point win at Franklin’s Gardens.

Fin Smith converted five of those crossings and added a penalty goal as Bath remain rooted to the bottom of the Premiership standings in a disastrous season.

The visitors’ try scorers were Tom de Glanville, Tom Dunn (2) and Tom Doughty, with Ben Spencer and Orlando Bailey contributing points off the kicking tee.

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On his 100th appearance for Northampton, Fraser Dingwall led them out and it was his run that should have seen Saints take an early lead.

Deep inside his own half, the centre stepped past two defenders on a 45-metre run. Number eight Augustus was up in support to collect Dingwall’s pass but Sam Graham knocked on to blow a golden opportunity.

Almost immediately, Bath made them pay by taking an eighth-minute lead when back-rowers Miles Reid and Josh Bayliss combined well to send De Glanville on a 30-metre run to the line.

Northampton‘s response was swift with first Robbie Smith finishing off a line-out drive before Augustus broke away from another to give them a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Saints lost prop Paul Hill to a yellow card for a deliberate offside with their opponents quickly capitalising when Dunn crashed over from a line-out.

The hosts then suffered a further blow when centre Matt Proctor was helped off with a leg injury to be replaced by Rory Hutchinson.

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Hill returned from the sin-bin with no further damage done to the scoreboard and in time to see Bath lose centre Jonathan Joseph to a shoulder injury.

Northampton regained the lead with a straightforward penalty from Fin Smith to leave them with a 17-14 advantage at the end of a keenly-contested first half.

The home side began the second half strongly. A burst from Alex Waller took them close to Bath’s line and the pressure was maintained for Scott-Young to force his way over.

😇🛁 Northampton Saints bounce back as Bath lose again. #NORvBAT pic.twitter.com/Q4HUuIdkXv

— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) March 10, 2023

Bath’s woes continued when first Bayliss was yellow carded for his team’s persistent offsides before Robbie Smith scored his second try from another line-out drive.

Bayliss returned from the sin-bin and his side were immediately rewarded with a second try for Dunn but Saints sealed victory by scoring the best of the night when they broke out of defence for Collins to win the race to touchdown Tommy Freeman’s kick ahead.

With five minutes remaining, Doughty scored Bath’s bonus-point try which saw them draw level with Newcastle on 27 points as the two clubs battle to avoid finishing bottom of the Premiership table but Saints had the final say with their sixth try scored by Grayson.

Amiens have completed the signing of 30-year-old Genoa forward Serge Gakpé, who signs a one-year deal after terminating his contract in Italy.

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The former-Monaco man played 16 times last term, scoring just once in the process and will hope he can regain goalscoring form in France.

The Togo international completed a medical this morning and finalises his move back to Ligue 1 with Amiens, although it is reported that Angers were also interested.

S.H.

Saracens boss Mark McCall felt tight calls not going his team’s way was a factor in their 35-24 loss to Sale Sharks in a top-of-the-table clash.

Sale trailed 16-0 after 30 minutes and impressively came back to narrow the gap to Saracens at the top of the Premiership table to six points.

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It was an Alex Goode yellow card that turned into a catalyst for Sale Sharks‘ comeback as Alex Sanderson’s men rallied at the AJ Bell Stadium.

Joe Carpenter scored a double while Sam James, Jono Ross and Jean-Luc du Preez also went over, with Rob du Preez making no mistake from the tee.

Momentum shift

Meanwhile, Alex Lewington, Theo Dan, and Kapeli Pifeleti claimed tries for Saracens.

McCall was happy with his team’s start but admitted once the momentum shifted in Sale’s favour, it was difficult to get it back.

“We made a really positive start, played really well for the first 30 minutes and were firmly in control,” he said.

“The stadium was very quiet but then came the yellow card for Alex Goode and very quickly they scored easily and from then on we couldn’t get the momentum back.

“Some days you get the tight calls but today I didn’t think we did. I’m unsure about the yellow card for Alex and everybody in the stadium could see that there was a clear forward pass for their try just before half-time.

“We hung in there and produced a lot of fight and could have snatched it at the end but I’m disappointed to lose our bonus-point at the death.

“I’m very happy with this group as a whole as they’ve secured 24 points in the period when our internationals are away so they are responsible for putting us in this healthy position.

“We will have our internationals back and hopefully we will soon get the two points needed to guarantee us a home semi-final in the play-offs.”

Slow training week showed

Sale boss Sanderson said a “low-key” week of training showed in the initial stages but was pleased with how his side pulled it back.

“We were battered in a very physical game at Exeter (last week) and shattered so we had a low-key training week,” Sanderson said.

“It probably showed as our start was poor and our defence to their driving line-outs was also not good enough.

“I think Mark (McCall) might possibly be aggrieved at certain calls but they tend to even themselves out over the season and we did have opportunities to close that game out earlier than we did.

“A couple of huge defensive sets from us probably proved crucial and by scoring 35 points showed that our attack is in good shape.

“There’s now a good feeling within the group and we have to keep it going and keep improving as we have a few tough away games coming up. But for now we have to celebrate as that’s why we play the game.”

French goalkeeper Cédric Carrasso revealed this morning in an interview with L’Équipe that he had accepted an offer from Arsenal this summer, but that the move fell through. He is now a Galatasaray player.

Why did you not sign with Sporting Portugal?

I accepted that offer. Everything was ok, but the deal was thrown off. There was a problem with the agents involved. The same thing for Arsenal. Arsène wanted to operate with 3 good goalkeepers. I was supposed to go there as 3rd choice. At the beginning, I said to myself: “3rd choice to do nothing, that is not being part of a squad, that is not interesting.” But then I told myself: “It is still Arsenal!” And then again there was a problem with agents.

You were also due to move to Scotland…

Yes. I even visited the training ground of Hearts of Midlothian. I found it great in Edinburgh, apart from the salary. I was ready to cut my salary by half… At the beginning, it was very poor financially. Honestly. Like €4k a week.

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Leicester Tigers head coach Richard Wigglesworth was delighted to get a “crucial” win against London Irish in the Premiership on Saturday.

Wigglesworth’s side claimed a narrow 25-22 win against the Exiles to snap a four-game losing streak away from home and climb up to fifth on the table.

Solid win

Tigers built on a positive victory against Saracens last weekend, and the coach was pleased with the win, although he hopes his side will not rue missed bonus point opportunities.

“They had more possession and territory than us, but our maul defence was outstanding,” Wigglesworth said.

“They are on a great run and are a very dangerous side, but I’m not pleased that we gave them so many opportunities.

“At the end of the season, we may rue not getting bonus-points from last week’s game and again tonight – but to win here was crucial.

“It’s a big period for us as we lose a lot of guys to the Six Nations, but we had a lot of experienced players out there who know how to get the job done.”

Olly Cracknell, Jasper Wiese and Harry Potter all scored tries for the defending champions, whilst Handre Pollard added 10 points off the tee.

No issues with not taking kickable penalties

Meanwhile, London Irish boss Declan Kidney says he had no issue with his team passing up kickable penalties as the game was decided by Tigers capitalising on one more chance than his side.

“It was a good game with lots of ebbs and flows, but they took one more chance than we did,” Kidney said.

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“We had a period after half-time when we should have scored, but they had a similar period just before half-time, so it evened itself out.”

“I have no problems with us not taking kickable penalties as the boys have to react to how they see it, and realistically we ended one play short of a bonus-point victory.

“We are taking every moment as it comes, and it’s a journey for us. I’m sure there are plenty more ebbs and flows to come in this league before the season ends.

“We travel to Newcastle next week, and then we have a few home games, including the Premiership Cup final, so it’s important that we don’t look too far ahead.”

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Speaking in an interview with Eurosport, Lyon President Jean Michel Aulas sought to defend his decision to appoint Bruno Génésio as manager following the dismissal of Hubert Fournier in 2015.

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“He [Génésio] was never the principal coach, but he had been an assistant for years. We did not pick him up from a pitch or a coffee shop. Bruno underwent an experience at Real Madrid and Carlo Ancelotti, when he was manager, told us that he was a boy of great quality. He took over when the team was 12th and finished 2nd. Last year, he finished 4th behind PSG and Monaco.”