Irish fans rage as Sam Cane escapes red card for tackle that left Robbie Henshaw prone

This was a hugely controversial moment

SportsJOE

Irish fans rage as Sam Cane escapes red card for tackle that left Robbie Henshaw prone

A hugely controversial moment.

First things first: most importantly, Robbie Henshaw appears to be OK.

There has been no official confirmation just yet but, as he departed on a stretcher, the Ireland centre raised his thumb to the crowd to signify he was at least awake and aware of where he was after a crunching hit from Sam Cane inside the first 10 minutes at the Aviva.

Garry Ringrose is on for the unfortunate Robbie Henshaw, who raises his thumb to show he is okay pic.twitter.com/yw4KqHF7sc

— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) November 19, 2016

Guinness Series, Aviva Stadium, Dublin 19/11/2016 Ireland vs New Zealand Ireland's Robbie Henshaw salutes the crowd while leaving the field with an injury Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

It was one of those tackles that was hard to call, even with the benefit of several replays.

Cane’s shoulder clearly collided with Henshaw’s jaw, but the initial contact may well have been below the Leinster man’s shoulder, though even that was in dispute and replay after replay failed to definitively clear that up.

@WorldRugby arms came up after hit. Pyper should have asked for better angles and made call himself… pic.twitter.com/mxDWqe1mDB

— ℝ𝕠𝕟á𝕟 🇺🇦 (@RonanB) November 19, 2016

At the same time referee Jaco Peyper, after consultation with his TMO, awarded a penalty to Ireland so a boundary must have been crossed. Why else was Cane penalised?

But this boundary was not crossed far enough, it would seem, to show the All Black a red card or even send him to the sin bin.

It was a decision that infuriated many Ireland fans on Twitter.

World Rugby inconsistencies once again. A yellow card at the very least for Sam Cane and Jaco Peper questions if it's even a penalty?

— Kristian Ross (@Kristian7Ross) November 19, 2016