‘Shambles, shambles, shambles’: Ben Stokes and others react to controversial Six Nations red card

independent.co.uk:

Ben Stokes was among the celebrities to react to a controversial red card during the Ireland rugby vs England rugby grand slam decider in the Six Nations on Saturday.Ireland entered the match in Dublin as heavy favourites to seal a grand slam - awarded for winning all five of your matches during a Six Nations campaign - against an England side, who suffered an historic humiliation at Twickenham against France just seven days before, being thumped 53-10 for their largest-ever home defeat.But England had started strongly at the Aviva Stadium, a much-improved performance seeing them only trailing 10-6 towards the end of the first half.

However, their task became much harder when star full back Freddie Steward was shown a harsh red card.In the 40th minute, Ireland’s Hugo Keenan collided uncomfortably with Steward’s elbow as he stooped to try and collect a dropped ball.

Steward had turned to brace for Keenan, who was in an unnatural position with the whistle blown, and accidentally made contact with his head.

Referee Jaco Peyper argued that the England man had a duty of care towards his opponent and should have done more to avoid contact, leading to a red card that left England’s players baffled.Twitter immediately reacted to the decision, including a number of famous faces having their say, and England cricket captain Ben Stokes was one of those, tweeting: “ Red card???????????