London Irish vs Stormers

An ill-disciplined London Irish side picked up two red cards in their loss to the Stormers in Sunday afternoon's Champions Cup clash in the English capital.

Then came the first red card, when Loader flew into Libbok in a tackle and made head-to-head contact. Irish prop Danilo Fischetti got a consolation try that was just reward for their endeavours, and while the visitors will be delighted with the win, Dobson will hope for a much better performance against Clermont in Cape Town next Saturday. The Exiles showed greater determination in the final half-an-hour, and got onto the scoreboard through a penalty try when Kitshoff collapsed a driving maul that resulted in a yellow card for the No 1.

London Irish's feint hopes of progressing in the Heineken Champions Cup vanished due to a pair of red cards as Stormers ran out 28-14...

[Steven Kitshoff](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/steven-kitshoff/) sent to the sin-bin. [Danilo Fischetti](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/danilo-fischetti/) went over with two minutes left to reward the fight shown in the closing stages. [Juan Martin Gonzalez](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/juan-martin-gonzalez/) was sent to the sin-bin. [Manie Libbok](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/manie-libbok/) had been hit high by Loader and the full-back was sent-off. [Ruhan Nel](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/ruhan-nel/) and the Stormers almost scored on the breakaway but juggling wing [Suleiman Hartzenberg](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/suleiman-hartzenberg/) could not keep hold of the ball. [Ben Loader](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/ben-loader/) and replacement prop [Ciaran Parker](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/ciaran-parker/) were sent off in each half, becoming the fourth and fifth players to receive their marching orders on a weekend of controversy.

The DHL Stormers ensured that they have all but clinched their place in the Heineken Champions Cup round of 16 with one home game to come as they eased to a ...

They were too loose and it allowed Irish to live up to their reputation of, as Stormers coach John Dobson put it before the first-round clash, being the walking dead for their refusal to just throw in the towel. It is not the first time Nel has made that kind of mistake over the line so it is something he needs to be careful about. It came as little surprise then when Nel intercepted again in the 30th minute and this time made sure of the score. Both calls were right according to the letter of the law, but again a game, as Stormers assistant coach Dawie Snyman put it in a television interview with the commentators during the match, was ruined as a contest. It wasn’t a great game of rugby, mostly because of the red card blight that is undermining the sport. It is possible for the Sharks to match the Stormers on log points by winning with a bonus point next weekend, but it will require the Stormers to take nothing from their home game against Clermont-Auvergne.

Having lost their opening Champions Cup match against Clermont in France, the Stormers will end their pool stage campaign against in Cape Town next weekend. The ...

It would be really nice if it was this weekend, but that’s going to be much easier said than done.” So this will be a great test of where we are. “It is going to be an incredibly tough game.

Exiles' feint hopes of progressing in Champions Cup vanish due to a pair of red cards.

A lengthy review, slowed down frame by frame, appeared to suggest that Loader's shoulder had first made contact with the shoulder of the Stormers' Manie Libbok, before sliding up and connecting with Libbok's head. Loader and Parker joined Sale's Cobus Wiese, Munster's Jack O'Donoghue and Exeter's Henry Slade in seeing red, on a colourful weekend in terms of cards. Parker's, connecting with the head of a jackalling Deon Fourie as he attempted to make a clear-out, was straightforward enough.

Having lost their opening Heineken Champions Cup match against Clermont, the Stormers did the double over a 13-man London Irish side with a 28-14 victory at ...

They scored a consolation try through Danilo Fischetti but were second-best in North London. The Cape-based side scored their third try when they found space and, with a well-weighted grubber from Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Suleiman Hartzenberg was on hand to dot down. It was the fifth red card of the Champions Cup weekend and underscored the zero tolerance policy match officials have implemented for foul play.

In retrospect both Ben Loader and Ciaran Parker, sent off after 17 and 42 minutes respectively, will wish they could rewind the clock and take slightly more ...

On another day dialling the sanction down to a yellow might have been a possibility, with Loader also appearing to make initial contact with Libbok’s body prior to the clash of heads. The Stormers coach, John Dobson, was not about to complain about facing 13 men but even he wondered aloud afterwards if the game’s safety blitz is becoming problematic in terms of the image of the product. The Stormers’ fly-half Manie Libbok would normally have passed the ball to his wing at least a couple of strides earlier but delayed doing so because his teammate Angelo Davids was in front of him. “There is an awful lot of trial by TV on these things now and that is part of sport,” said Kidney, adding that he would be taking “a good look” at the latest incidents. You must balance the ones that are highlighted against the ones that have slipped by. We have a balancing act to do there.