Controversy as Danny Care produces exact same collision as Freddie Steward red
By Rugby Onslaught

Controversy as Danny Care produces exact same collision as Freddie Steward red

What a difference a week makes. Almost exactly one week after England fullback Freddie Steward was red carded by Jaco Peyper for a collision with Ireland’s Hugo Keenan, Harlequins’ Danny Care found himself in the same position.

Facing Saracens at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the Gallagher Premiership, the Quins scrum-half was chasing to gather a bobbling ball against his counterpart Ivan van Zyl, whereupon the ball bounced into the Saracen’s hands. Care had no time to adjust, and subsequently ended up making contact with the head of van Zyl, who was soon forced off the field with a head injury.

The key difference this week was that referee Luke Pearce deemed that it was just a rugby incident and did not penalise Care. This was slightly different to the collision last week, as Care was very close to retrieving the ball, but in both cases neither Steward nor Care had time to adjust with a player careering towards them. Just a matter of minutes later Care was actually being yellow carded, although that was for killing the ball.

Pearce may have been influenced by the events of the past week (where Steward’s red card was rescinded) in making his decision, although it was slightly different from what happened in Ireland.

Take a look at the collision:

Here are some of the comments on Twitter:

Saracens XV: 15. Alex Goode, 14. Max Malins, 13. Alex Lozowski, 12. Nick Tompkins, 11. Sean Maitland, 10. Owen Farrell (c), 9. Ivan van Zyl; 1. Mako Vunipola, 2. Jamie George, 3. Marco Riccioni, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Hugh Tizard, 6. Andy Christie, 7. Ben Earl, 8. Billy Vunipola

Replacements: 16. Theo Dan, 17. Eroni Mawi, 18. Alec Clarey, 19. Nick Isiekwe, 20. Jackson Wray, 21. Aled Davies, 22. Duncan Taylor, 23. Alex Lewington

Harlequins XV: 15. Nick David, 14. Joe Marchant, 13. Luke Northmore, 12. Andre Esterhuizen, 11. Cadan Murley, 10. Marcus Smith, 9. Danny Care; 1. Joe Marler, 2. Jack Walker, 3. Wilco Louw, 4. Irne Herbst, 5. Stephan Lewies (c), 6. Jack Kenningham, 7. James Chisholm, 8. Alex Dombrandt

Replacements: 16. Sam Riley, 17. Fin Baxter, 18. Will Collier, 19. Dino Lamb, 20. Will Evans, 21. Scott Steele, 22. Tommy Allan, 23. Oscar Beard

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