After England’s Six Nations loss to Ireland on Saturday, Freddie Steward’s red card was reversed.
Tuesday evening, Steward confronted a disciplinary hearing for a dangerous challenge to Hugo Keenan’s head. That ended the fullback’s afternoon at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Although the tackle was foul play, the tribunal found mitigating conditions to reduce it to a yellow card.
England’s displeasure with referee Jaco Peyper’s decision on the field will have been exacerbated by the fact that Steward should have been suspended for only 10 minutes instead of the entire second half.
Owen Farrell exclaimed incredulously, “Red card? ” in response to the Leicester fullback’s dismissal, prompting Steve Borthwick’s team to respond with resoluteness before being defeated 29-16. In its statement, however, the hearing said “match officials must make decisions under pressure and in the heat of a live match.”
