It’s not been a good time of late to be a referee, with many of the game’s finest getting a little bit too close to the action. Just look at Wayne Barnes a few weeks ago, getting some pretty huge shoulders in there. Well, now it seems to be the turn of Adam Leal on the offending end of a huge Northampton shoulder.
During Exeter’s victory over the Saints last week, the Chiefs were on the attack and a try looked ominous. That was before the quick thinking of Alex Waller to throw a no-arms tackle in on the official. Following the hit which caused play to stop, Adam Leal remarked “we’ll run out of match officials if people keep hitting us”.
Lots of rugby to be played this weekend. Protect all officials, please.
xoxox pic.twitter.com/xslnKvz8is
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) January 12, 2023
BT Sport commentators were quick to ponder whether or not he’d been “on the sherberts” because it was going to “be a busy afternoon”. Perhaps it should have been asked whether the commentary crew were on the sherberts instead, as they repeatedly referred to him as the wrong referee, Luke Pearce.
Fans were quick to voice their opinion on the huge hit. @bruciebreferee and @marchant_j claimed it should have been a yellow for a no-arms tackle, whereas @HappyHerdwick decided a straight red would be better suited for the illegal hit.
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