The fault clearly deserved a red card, yet it was first yellow. In the 51st minute of the match between Scotland and France at Murrayfield, in preparation for the World Cup (September 8-October 28), Zander Fagerson struck Pierre Bourgarit with his head and then his shoulder in the middle of the match. a ruck. A much too rough clearing which did not escape the referee of the meeting, the New Zealander Ben O’Keeffe, who sent a yellow card to the Scottish pillar. But a few minutes later, this card turned red thanks to a new rule, the “bunker”, already tested during the Rugby Championship and again tested during these preparation matches with a view to applying it to the Cup of the world.
The purpose of the “bunker” is to make the game smoother. Indeed, certain phases were sometimes analyzed for very long minutes before a decision was made. This had the consequence of cutting the game and lengthening the matches, which was not ideal. From now on, the referee can quickly show a yellow card and make a precise gesture, that of crossing his arms above his head, to signify that he is appealing to this rule and therefore requests a decision from the video referee.
The player is then excluded from the match for the next ten minutes, and the video referee has eight minutes to analyze the action before giving a decision for a possible red card. What has therefore been decided in this case, Zander Fagerson being definitively excluded a few minutes after leaving the field. A fair decision given the dangerousness of the action but which did not prevent the match from taking place normally. Neither the Scots to win 14 against 15.
