Well played from the head coach
When Garry Ringrose received a two-game ban after his red card against Wales for a head-contact hit on Ben Thomas, there was criticism from all corners due to what they felt were double standards from World Rugby.
This was because France’s Romain Ntamack, who was shown a red card in round one against Wales, was not allowed count a Toulouse game in the Top 14 towards his suspension.
Meanwhile, Leinster’s game against Cardiff last Saturday counted towards Ringrose’s ban, despite the general consensus that he was unlikely to feature in the game.
This means that he will be back for Ireland’s final Six Nations game against Italy on March 15.
It was also reported that France had looked for clarification from World Rugby on why this was the case.
It was understood that the reason for the different rulings was that France have a deal with the Top 14, meaning they can keep their best players during a Six Nations fallow week.
However, Murray Kinsella of the42 revealed on their Rugby Weekly podcast that this was not the case.
He explained that at Ringrose’s hearing, Ireland head coach Simon Easterby explained that due to Ireland having three world class centres in Ringrose, Bundee Aki, and Robbie Henshaw, the former’s game time had been limited over the first three Six Nations games, and that they wanted him to play against Cardiff to get more minutes ahead this weekend’s clash with France.
The panel were shown an email from the IRFU to Leinster, explaining to them that Ringrose would be released back to his province for the Cardiff match.
The kicker is that the email was cleverly sent on February 24. This was before the disciplinary, but two days after the game against Wales.
