“I will leave on a penalty and yellow card”. This is the decision taken by Jonathan Dufort, referee of the meeting between Perpignan and Lyon, on a terrible high tackle by Tom Ecochard, n°9 of the USAP. In the 16th minute of the match counting for the 9th day of Top 14, the Georgian defender Davit Niniashvili came to hook inside the French scrum half, who did not slow down his run, and came to tackle very (very ) high in Perpignan.
“It’s clearly foul play, he attacks high” first indicated the referee of the meeting before asking for the video to “adjust the decision”. After viewing the images, Jonathan Dufort noted “contact to the head and therefore unfair play”, but preferred to highlight “a change of direction” from the Georgian rear and a “first contact on the shoulder before the head” to finally penalize the USAP n°9 with a simple yellow card for a very impressive and dangerous action.
Number 15 Lou spent a few minutes on the ground before being replaced on concussion protocol by Jonathan Pelissié. Fortunately, the Lyonnais was able to resume his place ten minutes later after validating the entire process. A yellow card that will be debated, to preserve the physical integrity of the players. In another match of the afternoon, the Clermontois Arthur Iturria received him a direct red card, on an obstruction at the level of the face of Baptiste Delaporte, much less violent than the tackle of Tom Ecochard. Two gestures, two different treatments.
