Sir Clive Woodward believes rugby has been left in 'meltdown' after Freddie Steward was sent off against Ireland last weekend, before the decision was later rescinded.
England's Six Nations woes continued on Saturday, as they fell to a 29-16 defeat to their Irish rivals at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Things were made even worse for Steve Borthwick's side part way through, as star man Steward was sent off just before the half-time whistle.
The decision came after the 22-year-old full back clashed with the head of Ireland's Hugo Keenan, which the referee deemed to be a reckless and dangerous tackle.
The call was scrutinised by many, and just days later was overturned by the disciplinary panel, changing the call to a yellow card offence, and wiping his ban. Despite finally reaching that conclusion, former England coach Woodward is less than impressed with where it has left the state of the sport.
Writing in his Daily Mail column, he said: "The decision to send off Freddie Steward in England’s defeat by Ireland and then the subsequent rescinding of his red card sums up the state of rugby right now... The fiasco has sent rugby right back to square one."
Criticising the way in which matches are officiated, he went on: "The only ‘current climate’ to the sport is that it is in meltdown. The officials are working off a tick sheet when it comes to making big decisions and they are all terrified of making the wrong call or doing something to upset World Rugby which will affect their careers.
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"That sums up the game as a whole at the moment. Everyone is too scared to rock the boat or say something against the status quo. Oh how badly we need an agent of change. I said on TV in Dublin and in my columns after the match that I didn’t think Steward should have been sent off.
"I also said I thought it could have been a yellow, but I’m annoyed I did now. I don’t think there should have been any card at all. The decision to show Steward red was one of the worst I’ve seen. Calling on officials to have more 'empathy', he added: "Officials need to have an empathy for the game and make decisions accordingly.
"Anyone with rugby knowledge or experience knows the Steward-Keenan contact was what we would call a ‘rugby incident’. There was no intent or malice from either player... We need an agent of change to stop rugby moving in the wrong direction and we need it now."
