Former England and Lions winger Ugo Monye has called for “greater” off-field sanctions following the introduction of 20-minute red cards.
Ahead of the 2025 Six Nations, it was confirmed that the tournament would adopt the 20-minute red cards that were trialled during the autumn.
The World Rugby law trial means that players who are sent off for technical offences can be replaced by a team-mate after 20 minutes with referees retaining the ability to issue a full red card.
While the on-field sanction has been reduced, the off-field punishments have remained the same and has been particularly topical after Romain Ntamack and Garry Ringrose’s respective bans with both players receiving three-game sanctions.
Ntamack would miss two Six Nations fixtures while Ireland’s Ringrose is set to miss just one as he was able to include a club match but the former was not granted the same luxury.
How Ireland reduced Garry Ringrose’s ban
Speaking on the BBC’s Rugby Union Weekly, Monye explained that the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) and Ireland coaching team’s decision to e-mail Leinster informing the province that Ringrose would be released for the fallow week meant that the United Rugby Championship (URC) clash against Cardiff was included in his ban.
“I’ve done some digging into this and effectively it just comes down to the submission from the Union,” the former England wing explained.
“When you go to a citing official, lots of things have to be submitted. One is a plea whether they’re guilty or not guilty – they accept the decision which often can get debated. But one of the things that has to be submitted is their player’s schedule.
“The IRFU submitted Garry Ringrose’s playing schedule and included that Leinster-Cardiff match and they also submitted an e-mail to Leinster confirming that Ringrose was going to be released from Ireland.
“Regardless of opinion and subjectivity and all the rest of it, the citing panel can only go off the evidence. So when they show that and they have actual evidence on it, this is the only thing they can judge on.
“When I heard about the discrepancy between Ntamack, I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, they’re inadequate, it’s poor, it’s terrible’ but based on the evidence and what they’ve been submitted, it’s the only ruling they could come to.
“I don’t think France submitted Romain Ntamack’s Top 14 fixture and that’s why it couldn’t be included. The IRFU absolutely have and that’s why this ban is slightly different and that’s why that Leinster-Cardiff game was included.”
Increasing off-field bans
Podcast host and BBC rugby correspondent Chris Jones hit out at the disciplinary panel’s decision and believed that the punishment was not harsh enough on the player.
The red card and subsequent suspension are designed to be a deterrent for dangerous acts and tackles like the one that Ringrose made on Wales’ Ben Thomas.
“If the point is to have these bans as a deterrent, then they’re not going to act as a deterrent if Garry Ringrose is a one-match ban and a 20-minute red,” Jones said.
“If we’re going to have a 20-minute red card, we need to have a system where the regulations catch up because at the moment, we still have the same disciplinary punishments as if when it was a full red card, they need to catch up and if they want to make it more about the player punishing the player, not the team or the spectacle, they need to catch it up.
“The whole thing doesn’t look good, does it and doesn’t sit right that Ringrose is barely getting a deterrent at all.”
“Eroding the values of the game”
Moyne agreed with Jones and added his voice to the call for the off-field sanctions to be increased, particularly following the reduction in the on-field sanction of a red card.
“I’m of the strong opinion that if we are protecting the integrity of the match, which I truly believe the 20-minute red card does, then that off-field sanction needs to be greater than where it was previously,” he said.
“If it’s a four-week ban, that ban now needs to be a six-week ban because we can’t protect the game and not upgrade any sanction.”
Ex-Ireland lock Donncha O’Callaghan, who made a guest appearance on the show, agreed with Moyne and Jones after he was left “massively” disappointed with Ringrose’s ban.
While he understands the reasoning for the introduction of 20-minute red cards, he does believe that it is eroding the values of the game.
“What we’ve tried to fix is the integrity of the match itself but I think we’re eroding the values of the game – and that just gets thrown around the place – but when you see stuff like this, it’s massively disappointing,” he said.
“I really do worry, we have to be sharper off the pitch than we are at the moment because I feel it’s leading to great pressure on referees and it’s not surprising to see people walking away from the game.
“The most important thing in our game is respect for refs and honestly, how can they have that when they are handing out that type of sanction and in the end, it’s only a week ban. The players are laughing at them now as they hold up the card nowadays.”
