Vodacom Bulls director of rugby Jake White believes Stormers flanker Hacjivah Dayimani got off lightly for a high tackle on fullback Kurt-Lee Arendse.
Dayimani was penalised for his hit on the Bulls fullback with eight minutes remaining and the Cape side holding a nine-point lead in Saturday’s north-south derby at Cape Town Stadium.
Though the Bulls scored through Ruan Nortje soon after the incident in question, referee Frank Murphy came out of a five-minute consultation with TMO Marius Jonker with the decision to disallow Nortje’s try because Arendse lost the ball in contact after the tackle from Dayimani.
The Stormers No 7 was eventually yellow-carded and, from the resultant penalty, the Bulls’ Elrigh Louw dived over to score under the crossbar with six minutes left on the clock.
What did you make of this decision by referee Frank Murphy?#STOvBUL @Vodacom #URC pic.twitter.com/kUbciEZGHH
— SA Rugby magazine (@SARugbymag) April 9, 2022
White was perplexed by Murphy’s explanation, and questioned the Irish referee’s decision: “How do you get a yellow card for a head-high tackle with an open try line?
“From there, you worry about the knock-on. Of course, he knocked it on. When you whack a guy around the neck, of course, he’ll knock it on.
“We scored anyway and he got a yellow card. When you rewind the game, you’d pick up certain things and hope that a red card was given.
“I’ve gotten older and wiser the more I’ve coached, so I won’t be throwing my toys. We’re still in the tournament, which is alive and kicking.”
