JOE SCHMIDT WILL be hoping Jack McGrath is not cited for the kneeing offence that brought a yellow card in Ireland’s 22-21 defeat to the Barbarians this evening, but the Kiwi coach admitted it is “out of our hands.”
Leinster loosehead prop McGrath was sin-binned by referee Greg Garner in the 43rd minute at Thomond Park this evening after dropping a knee into the back of Georgian lock Konstantin Mikautadze when the Baa-Baas held up an Irish maul.
Garner did consult with television match official Dermot Moloney before making the decision, but didn’t hesitate to send McGrath to the bin on viewing the video footage.
“I saw the long-distance replay and it was pretty hard to see,” said Schmidt on the incident post-match.
I thought they were looking at Ian Madigan, so I was looking at that, not anything Jack did. I haven’t had a good look at it, but it obviously warranted a yellow card.
“I guess whatever happens is out of our hands. I will obviously try to get a look at it when I get back to the team room tonight.”
A suspension for McGrath, if he is cited and found guilty of dangerous play, would potentially rule him out of some of Ireland’s World Cup warm-up schedule. Those games begin away to Wales on 8 August, but Schmidt will hope that doesn’t prove the case.
McGrath did not reappear on the pitch this evening after his 10 minutes in the sin bin had elapsed, with Schmidt instead opting to leave Leinster’s Michael Bent in the loosehead slot.
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Asked if that decision was based on his frustration at McGrath’s lack of discipline, Schmidt admitted that such thoughts were involved.
“Partially, and partially because we wanted to give Michael Bent a decent run,” said Schmidt. “There were a lot of guys we knew a fair bit about already and those guys we put in to glue the other guys together a little bit.
We probably expected to take off some of the senior guys anyway. We probably don’t need to know too much more about Jack.
“Jack started four out of five of the Six Nations games for us, he started against South Africa and the Wallabies in the autumn and played off the bench in the Six Nations before that [2014].
“For us, you don’t get too many free throws of the dice in Test rugby, so to be able to look at some guys we wouldn’t normally have a look at, that’s part of the reason we left some guys out altogether.”
I like McGrath but what he did was stupid and reckless. With injuries, we might be short stacked in that position for the World Cup.
He has nobody to blame but himself. It’s out of his hands now.
Could have cost him his place on the plane, madigan was woeful
The way Jackson is playing I think Madigan won’t travel
I think Madigan will travel as he covers 3 places. Jackson is way ahead of him at 10.
Madigan had a nothing game. Never looked liked he could take control . Lucky to stay on the pitch..saved by Mc Grath!
What did the French lock get for doing the same to Heaslip in the 6 Nations !!! Gurrier mentality…
Pape got 10 weeks for kneeing Heaslip, which seemed innocuous at the time. McGrath could be in trouble here, it was reckless and stupid in a game of little actual importance. With Healy’s fitness a serious concern as of now, this could be devastating.
From an Ireland point of view, Buckley, Kilcoyne, Ryan and Cronin offer more than adequate replacement options for Healy. McGrath won’t be missed.
I think this could be bad for Jack as it was just as bad as Papes knee on Heislip.
Madigan deserved yellow for the same incident.
On the plus side Henry looked good and Gilroy looks so much better now that he has put on some bulk.