If the TMO and O'Keefe were that intent on ensuring player welfare, why was the French try with their No. 9 leading with his forearm to Tate's head not pulled back?
Looks near identical to Kerevi's 3? match ban in the World Cup.
I was at the game so recorded it digitally at home. Went through some of the more controversial bits frame by frame this morning.
The contact with Tate was initially upper chest then slid up to neck/head. I didn’t think there was an issue with it.
The MK contact was a bit tricky - some angles looked like initial contact was shoulder and others head.
What is unequivocal is that the French No8 dropped his body height significantly as he braced for contact.
So it should have been a yellow with mitigating circumstances. If the Frenchman had stayed at the same height as when MK lined him up there would have been no head contact. Look at the French head height compared to the red chair behind, all from the same camera angle