Ferris, pictured lining up France's Imanol Harindordoquy in 2009, may miss the game in Paris on Saturday. (c) Liam Coughlan.
Ireland’s Stephen Ferris has been cited, along with Wales’ Bradley Davies, following the yellow cards received by the pair in Sunday’s game. Both players have been cited for foul play under IRB law 10.4(j). This law states:
“Lifting a player from the ground and dropping or driving that player into the ground whilst that player’s feet are still off the ground such that the player’s head and/or upper body come into contact with the ground is dangerous play”.
The hearing will be held tomorrow, Wednesday 8th of February, in London and heard by an Independent Six Nations Disciplinary Committee. Obviously it’s hard to be impartial in a case like this, but watching the video, it’s clear that Davies’ tip-tackle is in a different league to Ferris’ hit. Davies lifts and then drops Donnacha Ryan on to his neck.
If that Davies incident hadn’t taken place, it’s quite likely that Ferris’ tackle would have gone completely unpunished. Watching the Scotland vs. England game, there were a couple of challenges almost identical to Ferris’ tackle that didn’t even warrant notice from referee George Clancy. The Ireland flanker shouldn’t be too worried about the hearing tomorrow. Here’s the video of both incidents which have been cited:
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Photo courtesy: Liam Coughlan.
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