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Olly Woodburn has learnt his fate after his much-debated red card
By Liam Heagney
Fears that Olly Woodburn could miss the upcoming Heineken Champions Cup semi-final following his Exeter red card have been quashed following an RFU disciplinary hearing. Woodburn, a star player for the Chiefs in their run to the last four stage in Europe where they will take on champions La Rochelle in Bordeaux on April 30, was sent off at Leicester last Sunday for two yellow cards.
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The second of those yellows, when he slid in to try and prevent Chris Ashton from scoring a try, ignited a huge debate as referee Karl Dickson awarded a penalty try and gave a yellow card to Woodburn.
Having been carded earlier in the Gallagher Premiership match, it meant that Woodburn was also shown the red card and he missed the majority of the second half where Exeter went on to get beaten 62-19.
The red card resulted in Woodburn having to attend a disciplinary hearing and it has now been decided that his sending-off was sufficient punishment. He is now free to play and will be available for Exeter’s French trip at the end of the month as well as this Saturday’s league game at home to Bristol.
A statement read: “The case of Olly Woodburn, Exeter Chiefs, was heard yesterday evening [Tuesday] by a single judicial officer, Matthew Weaver, on papers.
“Woodburn received two yellow cards for technical offences, during the game against Leicester Tigers on 14 April, contrary to World Rugby law 9.27. The sending-off was deemed sufficient and the player is free to play again with immediate effect.”
In the full written judgement, a note that Exeter had provided read: “He [Woodburn] fully understood the reason for the cards being given and accepted them immediately. He approached Chrish Ashton at the time and apologised and again after the game. He accepts the charge against him.
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“Olly has played professional rugby for 13 years, eight of those at Exeter. He has an exemplary playing record with no red cards having been issued and no citations. His last yellow card was last season for a technical offence. He has never received a yellow card for foul play. He is a highly regarded and popular player and one of the most senior in the squad.”
- Click here for the full written judgement
It's a shame for Woodburn because it was just technical incompetence rather than malicious intent but I don't understand why players are "in shock" and "lost for words" about this. Woodburn had already received a yellow card and this was his second. Had he made a deliberate knock-on as the last defender, the result would be identical and nobody would be questioning the referee. Hogg made the initial tackle and Ashton was sliding on the ground when Woodburn came in on top of him. That's not allowed. The tackle had effectively already been made by Hogg and Woodburn, by piling in illegally, added momentum that pushed Ashton into touch and prevented a try from being scored through an act of foul play. In a climate of referees being character-assassinated and receiving death threats for difficult decisions, Nowell took to social media to describe it as "the worst decision" he had ever come across. He's getting a slap on the wrist for that and probably rightly so in that he is a recent England international and should probably know better than to criticize match officials in public, on the internet.
In summary, the referee was right to yellow card a player for diving on a player on the ground. This was Woodburn's second yellow so it became a red. A penalty try was rightly awarded because without Woodburn's additional momentum added to Hogg's tackle, Ashton would almost certainly have remained in-field and scored a valid try. Nowell directly criticized the match official and is getting sanctioned. That's also normal, if a little harsh in my opinion.
There's nothing new here, it has been illegal to dive on a player on the ground in rugby since the dawn of time, decent wingers know this and often dive and slide from miles out. John Timu did this memorably against Canada in the 91 world cup from about 15m out and the defenders couldn't touch him.