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Harry Wilson has questioned rugby’s stance on player welfare, with the Wallabies and Queensland star back-rower slamming New Zealand referee Brendon Pickerill for failing to protect his injured teammate Connor Vest during his side’s loss to the Highlanders on Friday.
Rising lock Vest suffered a fractured neck in the 30th minute, after an unfortunate no-arms tackle resulted in the forward copping a nasty blow to the back of the head as he ran into contact.
Vest lay on the ground for a couple of minutes after being met hard by Shannon Frizell’s left shoulder and was taken to Dunedin Hospital where a CT scan revealed a fracture of his C7 vertebrae.
Play was stopped soon after the incident, with Pickerill awarding the Reds a penalty.
He was in communication with his Television Match Official, who deemed the incident accidental seemingly because of Vest’s very low body height as he ran into contact.
“There’s no foul play. There’s no foul play,” Pickerill could be heard saying.
“We have had a look. But we’ll just take our time with the injury because we can’t play on.”
Despite being attended to by medical staff, Vest later walked off the field unassisted.
Fortunately, Vest has not required surgery and has since returned to Brisbane, but on Monday Wilson hit out at Pickerill for not taking action with the tackle and, secondly, for rushing the second-rower off the field.
Wilson said he expected Frizell to be sanctioned for the no-arms tackle.
“For us as a playing group we hope so because rugby’s been really big on the player welfare and there wasn’t much player welfare there with a no-arms tackle to the head,” Wilson told reporters on Monday.
Connor Vest of the Reds charges forward during the round 14 Super Rugby Pacific match between Highlanders and Queensland Reds. (Photo by Joe Allison/Getty Images)
“Vesty’s broke his neck and, for me, that’s pretty ridiculous.
“On top of that, as a playing group, we were very frustrated with the referee trying to rush him off the field. We thought it was pretty disrespectful for a player, who had just broken his neck to be told to get off the field as if he’s trying to waste time. That was something as a playing group we weren’t too happy with.”
Wilson claimed Vest only walked off because the Reds were being told to hurry up.
“That’s why he walked off the field so quickly,” he said.
“He had been lying down for quite a while there, they had him in the positions, and then a lot of external pressure from the ref to get off the field forced him off the field.
“I guess you don’t know what type of extra damage that can do when you’re walking off the field for someone with a broken neck.”
The incident wasn’t the only one that went unpunished, with Freddie Burns escaping sanction for a high shot on James O’Connor as the experienced Test utility back ran down the touchline.
The Reds scored a stunning try from the attacking movement, which started when Wilson broke the Highlanders’ line on his own five-metre line, but despite the clear high tackle it escaped further inspection.
With Vest and co-captain Liam Wright (shoulder) ruled out for the rest of the season, the Reds are sweating on the fitness of co-captain and Wallabies halfback Tate McDermott being fit to travel overseas to take on the Drua.
The Reds likely have to beat the Drua to confirm their place in the top eight for next week’s finals.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.