A week ago Edinburgh lock Scott MacLeod and Glasgow flank Chris Fusaro were both red carded for their off the ball fight at the end of a highly charged meeting between the Scottish rival sides in the Magners League.
While the incident took place pretty much on full time, referee Andrew Macpherson referred to his assistant and together they felt the punch up was worthy of sending both players from the park. The pair were subsequently suspended by the Scottish Rugby Union for a week, both missing the return meeting between the two sides.
“The pair were dismissed under Law 10.4 (a) – punching or striking,” a statement read.
The panel considered it a low-end offence by both players, whose previous good behaviour and remorse on the night of the game and during the hearing was taken into account.
The incident caused somewhat of a stir in the Scottish media, with opinions varied as to whether the suspensions were too lenient, and on the flipside, if the red cards were too harsh . Edinburgh coach Rob Moffat seems to subscribe to the latter school of thought.
“You don’t want to condone violence in the game, but if you look at that match – well, it was hard fought, it was physical, but it certainly wasn’t dirty.
“We sometimes forget what rugby was like 30 years ago, when it was a lot worse than that. The game on Monday was just a good hard physical contest, and while people might not like seeing punches being thrown, they do want to see a good, hard contest.”
It certainly was a full-on go by both men, gloves off type of stuff, but it was good to see the players exchange a composed handshake as they walked from the pitch.
Time: 01:32
Music: The Fallen by Franz Ferdinand
Sign In