Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel has called for consistency regarding decisions on dangerous tackles after his back-row Tomas Lezana was red carded during the early stages of their 34-14 defeat to the Ospreys in Swansea.
The Argentina flanker received his marching orders in the fifth minute for an illegal hit on Ospreys second-row Rhys Davies.
But in the latter stages of the opening half, Ospreys fly-half Owen Williams received a yellow card for his dangerous tackle on Scarlets pivot Sam Costelow.
Disappointed with the inconsistency
“I am disappointed because I felt they were similar incidents,” Peel told the BBC when asked about the decisions.
Costelow was forced off the field and did not return after failing a head injury assessment and will miss the Scarlets’ United Rugby Championship clash against the Dragons at Parc y Scarlets on January 1.
Meanwhile, Davies returned to the field after treatment.
Both incidents were head-on-head collisions. Referee Craig Evans opted not to issue a red card to Williams as he deemed it to be a passive tackle and ruled that Costelow stepped into the challenge.
“There was head on head (with Lezana) but there was another head on head as well, which we ended up losing our 10 through a head injury assessment,” added Peel.
“The consequence of those are huge. I am disappointed because I felt they were similar incidents.
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“I understand Costy (Costelow) was carrying the ball back and Tomas (Lezana) was coming off the line.
“There had to be consistency and I know the mitigating factors and they will say that Costy stepped.
“It is disappointing to have the two incidents viewed slightly differently but that’s the way it is and 75 minutes with 14 men is tough. There is no point crying over it now, that’s gone.”
Ospreys head coach Toby Booth said: “You are not going to say it’s not an important thing but the referee calls it as he has seen it.
Control the controllables
“We can only control what we can control. I understand it does have an influence but you still have to get across the line.
“Sometimes teams that go down to 14 are harder to beat because they dig in, so that’s tough.
“Similar from our yellow (card), it’s a difficult period of the game to manage. To manage it for such a long time is tough for the Scarlets.”