‘Orange card’? Lions, Hurricanes coaches disagree over Henderson punishment in thrilling draw
Henderson sinbinning for tackle on Barrett in second half proves to be turning point in 31-31 draw between British & Irish Lions and Wellington Hurricanes
Wellington Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd thought opposing lock Iain Henderson’s tackle on Jordie Barrett deserved an “orange” card, while his British & Irish Lions counterpart Warren Gatland reckoned it warranted just a penalty.
Both, however, agreed the incident when Henderson upended Barrett in a midfield ruck in the 65th minute was the major talking point of their 31-31 draw on Tuesday.
The Hurricanes were trailing 31-17 at the time and scored tries through Wes Goosen and Vaea Fifita, both of which Barrett converted, to lock the score up while Henderson was off the field.
“I was a bit horrified when I was listening to the mic and he [referee Romain Poite] was talking about nothing,” Boyd said. “Clearly he [Barrett] was tipped beyond the horizontal and the starting point for that is yellow.
“The penalty around that I understand is where you land, it has nothing to do with intent.
“It was probably an orange in my mind so somewhere between a yellow and a red.”