Ireland fans left fuming after ‘clear red card’ incident missed in defeat to England
England's Ellis Genge after during the Guinness Six Nations match between England and Ireland and Twickenham and a screenshot of his clearout on Tadhg Furlong.
Ireland fans were fuming after a dangerous clearout during the Six Nations defeat to England was missed by the officials.
England were the clear underdogs ahead of the encounter at Twickenham, but Steve Borthwick’s charges sprung a surprise, securing a statement 23-22 victory over the Grand Slam-chasing Irish.
However, many Ireland fans believe that England should have played nearly an hour of the game with just 14-men after Tadhg Furlong was on the wrong end of a dangerous clearout in the 23rd minute of the clash.
Ellis Genge’s clearout on Tadhg Furlong
At the time, England were on the attack and prop Furlong looked to disrupt the English breakdown before opposing loosehead Ellis Genge thundered into Irishman.
Genge looks to make contact with Furlong’s head, with the latter flying backwards.
Dear TMO you are seriously not looking at this clear out to Furlong’s head?#ENGvIRE pic.twitter.com/ypspwTffTn
— Andy McGeady (@andymcgeady) March 9, 2024
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Referee Nika Amashukeli and his assistants did not spot the incident during the game, with the TMO also not coming into call for a review.
In fact, later in the same passage, Genge also appeared to Amashukeli after seemingly being tackled high by Ireland lock Joe McCarthy, which was also overlooked.
“That’s as clear a red as you’ll ever see.”
“Point of contact: tucked arm, leading shoulder, direct contact to the head with force. Oh, dear,” Sports-obsessed lawyer Tim O’Connor wrote on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, in reaction to Genge’s breakdown entry.
Another onlooker added: “That’s a bad one to miss. Tucked shoulder, with force, to the head. That’s as clear a red as you’ll ever see. (to state, if the jerseys were the opposite colour I’d be saying the same thing.)”
Many fans felt that Furlong made the most of the contact and was looking to eke out a reaction from the officials with the prop quickly returning to action after the contact.
“Deserved win for England but a bad miss from the TMO here. People saying it’s theatrics from Furlong but I’d suggest they try to take that head shot and see how they’d react,” on reaction read.
One reply to the above clip read: “Bit of a Hollywood” with the next reply arguing “Genge cannons into him from a distance. Not seeing the theatrics.”
“Tadhg Furlong making a late play for the Best Actor Oscar. Surely between him and Cillian Murphy for Oppenheimer,” another quote retweet read.
At the time, England were leading Ireland 8-6 and would go into the break trailing 8-12.
The game went right down to the wire and Ireland led 22-20 in the final stages of the match but a Marcus Smith drop goal would seal the 23-22 victory for the hosts, ending Ireland’s hopes of becoming back-to-back Grand Slam winners.
