Sale Sharks winger Byron McGuigan was shown a straight red card after body slamming Saracens’ Nick Tompkins in an off the ball incident.
Saracens ran out as 25-14 winners against Sale at the StoneX Stadium in yesterday’s Gallagher Premiership encounter to keep the pressure on Leicester Tigers at the top of the table.
The north London side were made to work hard for their victory, although they were helped out by a rush of blood to the head of McGuigan, which reduced Sale to 14 men for the final 35 minutes of the game.
That will do very nicely ?
?????.#StrongerTogether ⚫️? pic.twitter.com/QgZu92rFha
— Saracens Rugby Club (@Saracens) November 28, 2021
Byron McGuigan body slams Nick Tompkins.
Tompkins rubbed the head of McGuigan while getting off the ground after the whistle had gone, which the 10-times capped Scotland winger clearly didn’t appreciate.
McGuigan pushed Tompkins in the back of the head, before grabbing him from behind and slamming him on the ground, while the Saracens centre kept his cool and didn’t react.
After the pair got back to their feet, Saracens Sean Maitland pushed McGuigan, who then took Tompkins down with him for a second time, much to the bemusement of the Wales centre.
Referee Thomas Foley felt he was left with no choice, and showed McGuigan a red card, saying his behaviour was “completely unacceptable”.
It’s gone from bad to worst for Sale! ?
Byron McGuigan is shown a straight red after a shocking body slam-type challenge on Nick Tompkins ?#GallagherPrem pic.twitter.com/CI7BSdZHQp
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) November 28, 2021
Sale outscored Saracens in the second half despite the red card.
While Saracens did claim an 11-point win, Sale actually scored more points than the hosts in the second half, thanks to tries from Ben Curry and Raffi Quirke.
Saracens also scored two tries in the second half through Maitland and Max Malins, although Sale outscored them by 14-12 following McGuigan’s dismissal.
Sale currently sit in 10th place in the Premiership table after nine games, while Saracens are six points off table toppers Leicester, having won six, drawn one and lost one of their eight games to date.
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