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Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Matthew Southcombe

'How is he still on the pitch?' The potential red card incident that was missed by officials in Ospreys v Cardiff derby

The Welsh derby between the Ospreys and Cardiff Rugby in Swansea on Saturday night may not have been as action-packed as previous encounters, but there was still plenty to discuss.

Cardiff's discipline let them down as their penalty count ballooned out of control and Gareth Anscombe punished them with six penalties out of six.

But second row Seb Davies can count himself a little lucky that an incident in the 36th minute was missed by referee Marius van der Westhuizen and TMO AJ Jacobs.

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From an overthrown lineout, Ellis Jenkins gathered the ball and carried into Rhys Webb and Anscombe.

As the Cardiff openside was brought to ground, Webb fell away from the tackle area on his own side and had his back to play as he hit the deck.

In what can only be described as a clumsy attempt to clear the contact area, Davies came diving in.

Davies' shoulder appeared to hit the back of Webb's head/neck.

It was a awkward-looking collision which left the Ospreys scrum-half strewn on the turf for a few seconds.

As TV replays were shown at the next break in play, Webb could be heard on the referee's microphone saying: "Shoulder to the back of the neck, sir."

The rest of the pair's exchange is inaudible but Webb was then shown shaking his head as he walked away.

Happily, Webb did not appear to be injured and was able to play on until around the hour mark, when he was replaced by Reuben Morgan-Williams.

Despite that, Davies was fortunate that the officials missed it because, had they taken a look, he may well have been in trouble.

He may yet find himself in hot water if the incident was spotted by the citing commissioner, although that remains to be seen.

However, some fans saw it and vented their frustration on social media.

"How is Seb Davies still on the pitch? Clear shoulder to the back of the head of Webb," one commenter posted.

Rhys Webb was left on the deck after clearout from Seb Davies (Premier Sports)

By this point in the match, the officials had already been busy with each side having a player in the bin when the incident occurred.

Cardiff scrum-half Tomos Williams was already yellow-carded for a low, no-arms tackle on Luke Morgan, which sent the winger flipping into the air.

Shortly after, Ospreys centre Michael Collins went to the naughty step for a high tackle on a falling Hallam Amos.

The hosts won the game through the boot of man of the match Anscombe, despite Cardiff scoring tries through Josh Adams and Owen Lane.

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