Hugo Keenan

England full-back Freddie Steward was sent off by Jaco Peyper after making contact with the head of Ireland counterpart Hugo Keenan.

That’s not to undermine the injury suffered by Keenan and it was a great shame to see him fail his HIA. Not only that, but Keenan’s height, having stooped to collect the ball, was surely was a factor given how often we talk about a change in height. It’s certainly not a tackle situation and it seems overly harsh for it to be judged as so. Of course, the game has a duty to protect players. You barely batted an eyelid when Steward and Keenan appeared to collide innocuously at real speed as play broke down. Steward appeared to brace himself and turned his body to the side with the replays showing that his elbow made contact with the head of Keenan.

England were dealt a massive blow in their Six Nations meeting with Ireland when Freddie Steward was given his marching orders.

Steward appeared to brace for impact, but his elbow thumped Keenan on the head and the Leinster man was promptly removed from the fray. The Englishman did fail to lower his tackle height however, and referee Jaco Peyper determined that there was 'no mitigation' from the defender. It was an unfortunate moment for Steward, whose elbow clattered with the head of Keenan - the latter dropping his height to collect the ball.

Brian O'Driscoll was noy buying Clive Woodward's claims that Freddie Steward should not have been sent off against Ireland.

To the letter of the law it's a red card, but in terms of a rugby incident, it's a yellow card at best. Woodward was clearly speaking nonsense here, saying it was a red card offence but only a yellow should have been given. Freddie Steward is not a dirty player, he's not going 'I'm going to hurt this player'. It's just unbelievably unlucky that he caught him square in the head with his elbow. It seemed like a collision between the two players, but as replays emerged, Jaco Peyper ultimately decided that there was not enough mitigation to avoid the red card. Clive Woodward did not agree, employing some questionable logic to try and claim it was only worthy of a yellow.

England trail Ireland 10 – 6 away in Dublin in the final clash of the 2023 Guinness Six Nations Championship. ADVERTISEMENT.

What did you make of the incident? Yet the challenge of winning in Dublin is a mountainous task and has only got more difficult following Freddie Steward’s red card. England trail Ireland 10 – 6 away in Dublin in the final clash of the 2023 Guinness Six Nations Championship.

England star Freddie Steward was sent off for making contact with Hugo Keenan's head during the Ireland vs England grand slam decider.

[ tweeted](https://twitter.com/ben_foden/status/1637150768703713285): “Anyone who thinks that was a red card has never played rugby. [also weighed in](https://twitter.com/MikeBubbins/status/1637149905381728261), saying: “That really is incredibly harsh on Freddie Steward. That’s “a rugby incident “ He’s been one of Englands best players this [#SixNations](https://twitter.com/search?q=%23SixNations) , too.” In the 40th minute, Ireland’s Hugo Keenan collided uncomfortably with Steward’s elbow as he stooped to try and collect a dropped ball. He wrote: “Ridiculous.