Exeter’s Armstrong banned after red at Northampton
Exeter’s Armstrong banned after red at Northampton
Referees may require additional instruction on how players in the air catch the ball, according to Exeter manager Rob Baxter, following Niall Armstrong’s red card against Northampton.
As Fin Smith attempted to catch a high kick, the Exeter scrum-half’s outstretched leg struck him in the face, earning him a red card for dangerous play.
Baxter claims that Armstrong had to extend a leg in order to maintain balance when he leaned back to catch the ball.
“It’s not a deliberate action and it’s not an unnatural action,” Baxter stated.
“But you literally have to sit with referees and show them 20 or 30 for them to understand, as however you look at it it doesn’t look right.
“But when you see the guys catching on a regular basis as soon as you make any movement to lean your upper body back a leg will naturally come out to balance you, that’s the only balance you can make with the arms to your chest.
“I looked at a load of kicks in a load of games and they all looked very similar, it’s just positioning of the opposition body that changes the scenario.”
Armstrong, 24, has been given a three-week ban which will be reduced to two weeks should he successfully complete a World Rugby coaching intervention programme.
Baxter says he and his coaches will work with his players on high kicks, so they are not leaning back and liable to commit a similar offence.
“We’ve got to work on their anticipation of the ball so they don’t get under it, that bit where you’re in danger of flicking legs out to try and get balance.
“We’ve got to work on how they actually catch those balls so they don’t get unbalanced, that’s the simple way of dealing with it.
“That’s what we’ll do through Niall’s coaching intervention, is just to try and get him balanced and stable as he receives the ball rather than end up off-balance.
“You don’t want your guys off-balance and leaning back because then they’ll get smashed in a tackle anyway, we want them to be attacking the ball at pace and that’s the thing we’ve got to work at.”