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McFadden lucky to escape red card for apparent headbutt on Ulster's Reidy

The officials were unable to punish the Leinster winger as they couldn’t ‘see where exactly the contact was’.

FERGUS MCFADDEN WAS extremely fortunate to escape a first-half dismissal in this evening’s Guinness Pro14 inter-pro against Ulster for an apparent headbutt on Sean Reidy.

The Leinster winger was involved in an off-the-ball altercation with Reidy as played continued in-field. before the touch judge brought the incident to the attention of referee George Clancy. 

Fergus McFadden dejected after conceding McFadden was involved in an incident with Reidy. Tommy Dickson / INPHO Tommy Dickson / INPHO / INPHO

A wide camera angle showed McFadden move his head in Reidy’s direction but after video recourse with his Television Match Official [TMO], Clancy was unable to determine where the point of contact was.

There were no other angles available to the officials.  

“From what I can see, blue leans in in an aggressive manner but can’t see exactly where he has made the connection,” Clancy said to his TMO, before going back to award a penalty against McFadden for “coming into contact with your opponent in an aggressive manner”.

With McFadden lucky to stay on the pitch, Ulster’s sense of injustice was heightened further when the Ireland international popped up to score Leinster’s second try on the stroke of half-time.  

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