Wasps full-back Jacob Umaga was shown a red card against Northampton Saints after knocking himself out in a dangerous collision with winger Courtnall Skosan.
Saints recorded a dramatic last-gasp victory against Wasps on Sunday, as speedster Skosan crossed the whitewash in the dying moments of the game to lock in a 36-40 scoreline.
Earlier in the match however, a cross-field kick from George Furbank into Skosan resulted in a dangerous aerial collision with Umaga.
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Umaga required gas and air after knocking himself out, and was then given his marching orders for the incident. The pair shook hands after the game as it was clear it was accidental despite being reckless.
A pundit for the game, former Leicester Tigers lock Ben Kay backed the referee's decision, with player welfare being paramount.
"Jacob Umaga walked behind us and had a look at the replay and grimaced as if to say - oh yeah, I've cocked that one up!
"There's an element of making sure we put player welfare to the forefront and that was clearly dangerous.
"That can obviously overrule it and the referee made his decision. On the pitch we heard yellow card originally, I don't know where that decision was made."
One viewer said on social media: "As a Saints fan I feel for the lad as clearly no malice or anything but can’t really be any complaints about the red, wasn’t in control and could have ended up a lot worse."
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