Some of us who have opposed the introduction of a 20-minute red card were compelled to view this compromised concept in a new light when Garry Ringrose’s on-field yellow card for his head-on-head hit on Ben Thomas in Cardiff was upgraded to a red.
One of the game’s loudest cheers from the Irish supporters in the Principality Stadium greeted the sight of Bundee Aki coming on in the 52nd minute, for he was the ideal man to bring Ireland back to 15 players. Ireland duly won and we’ll never know if they would have done so had it not been for the introduction of the vexed 20-minute red card.
Sam Warburton, true to type, then provided a balanced and erudite defence of the 20-minute red card, stating that it was designed to…