JONATHAN Thomas believes justice was not served when his captain Ted Hill received a threematch ban last week having been sent off for a tip tackle on Gloucester's Lloyd Evans.
Hill saw red five minutes from the end of the match which Gloucester won after Evans' right boot made contact with his neck and he then upended the replacement and was sent off after the referee Andrew Jackson reviewed the incident and ruled that Evans had landed on his head.
Hill will be out of action until the end of the month, when the England squad gather for the Autumn Internationals.
Hill pleaded guilty when his case came before a judicial committee, an act which earned him a 50 per cent discount on his suspension, but Worcester head coach Thomas was upset that the system did not allow any mitigating factors to be taken into account by the panel.
“I have no issue with the process,” said Thomas. “The panel had to work within the framework they were given and the hearing was fair. The issue I have is with the framework itself because Ted had no other choice but to plead guilty otherwise he risked getting banned for longer.
“It was technically a tip tackle but there were mitigating factors which the panel were unable to con sider. Ted did nothing wrong in terms of the build-up to the tackle: he controlled himself and aimed for the midriff and was bent at the hips.
“At the point when he went to execute, the player's leg was raised and hit him in the neck. The reason this panned out was because of the opposition player, not Ted. The referee said the player was off balance, but I don't think he was. He had one foot on the floor and brought his leg up. You could argue he was reckless and we have seen players sent off for that.”
Thomas said he wants World Rugby to review the framework governing tip tackles so that players who have been deemed guilty of one are shown the same consideration as those who commit high tackles. Before taking action, referees check on a number of factors, such as whether a ball-carrier was dipping before contact was made.
“I find it amazing that we are losing our captain for three games and World Rugby need to look at it,” said Thomas. “There has been a lot of focus on the high tackle and any mitigating circumstances, but nothing around the tip tackle. World Rugby is doing a good job in caring about players and trying to reduce the risk of injury. They are going in the right direction and I have no issue with that, but I feel that what happened to Ted was harsh. He should not have felt obliged to plead guilty. He is disappointed but one of his impressive qualities is he takes things in his stride.
“Opposition teams target good players and Ted has been goaded in matches. He has not overreacted which gives an insight into his emotional control.
“He would not do anything intentionally dirty and we do not condone foul play. We will be taking this up with World Rugby because we do not feel Ted received justice.”
