Sharks prop Ox Nche receives costly ban

Nche was cited after he was red-carded for a head-on-head collision with hooker Jack Walker during the Sharks’ victory over Harlequins in the Champions Cup this past weekend.

As expected, he has now received a ban under Law 9.13 “stating a player must not tackle an opponent dangerously”, following an independent disciplinary hearing on Tuesday.

The powerful prop will miss the Sharks’ match Bordeaux on Friday night, as well as derbies against the Lions (23 December) and Bulls (31 December) in the United Rugby Championship.

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SHARKS COACH HAD DISPUTED RED CARD CALL

Sharks boss Neil Powell had accepted that when there is head to head contact it makes it very difficult for referees, but he did question Nche’s sending off when commenting on the incident after the match.

“We will have to look [at the incident]. For me, probably, at most, a yellow card, but again, they [the officials] need to make the decisions on the field. We will obviously have a look at it afterwards and determine what we think the outcome should have been for that incident,” Powell said according to Sport24.

Powell was at pains to point out how difficult it is to defend against a team like Harlequins when at a numerical disadvantage.

“It does make it difficult, especially for a team that is attacking well from scrums,” Powell said. 

“Having one player less on the field is obviously going to make it challenging. You need to be creative and think about how you want to defend against a team that is so accurate in attack from scrums when you are one guy less.  

“If you have two players less, it becomes tricky; they either going to have space out wide or in the backfield if you don’t have the numbers.”

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