Though England were undoubtedly the better team on the day during Saturday's Twickenham thriller, Ireland fans could not help but be frustrated with the inaction on Ellis Genge's dangerous first-half hit on Tadhg Furlong.
England claimed a famous one-point victory late in the day thanks to Marcus Smith's drop goal, with Andy Farrell's Ireland side off-colour from the early stages of the game.
This had been a fairly one-sided rivalry in recent years, with Ireland having won the last four meetings between the teams, and England finishing the previous three encounters with 14 men after early red cards.
There was an argument that Saturday's game should have been no different, with the TMO appearing to miss a dangerous clearout from England prop Ellis Genge on his Ireland counterpart Tadhg Furlong.
Speaking on RTÉ Sport on Monday evening, Ireland legend Donal Lenihan argued that Furlong's reaction to the incident may have played a part in the lack of a TMO review.
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Donal Lenihan stunned by call not to review Ellis Genge hit on Tadhg Furlong
Midway through the first-half, in the buildup to Ollie Lawrence's disallowed second try, Ellis Genge came flying into a ruck on the edge of the Ireland 22. He appeared to lead with his shoulder and make strong contact to the head of Tadhg Furlong, who lept up from the ruck clutching his face.
"In an era when it's 'head contact, concussions' I'm just amazed it wasn't looked at" - Donal Lenihan thought England's Ellis Genge was lucky to get away with this clearout on Tadhg Furlong in the victory over Ireland | Watch Against the Head @RTE2 and @RTEPlayer #SixNations pic.twitter.com/knWzv7dxaH
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) March 11, 2024
Former Ireland captain Donal Lenihan was an analyst on RTÉ's rugby magazine show 'Against the Head' on Monday evening and gave his two cents on the incident.
Given England's shocking recent disciplinary record in this fixture, Lenihan was extremely surprised by the recklessness of Genge. He also suggested that the TMO may have been forced to review the incident had Furlong hit the deck rather than leaping to his feet:
Fair do's, Tadhg Furlong jumps up, but look at this - it's straight shoulder to head.
Furlong, as I say, other teams and fellas...if he lies down there for a minute or two, that brings more attention to it. There was an issue afterwards, Furbank dropped the ball and they focused on it. I was amazed that the TMO didn't come back to that [Furlong].
If you consider the last two games between Ireland and England, Charlie Ewels was sent off two years ago, Freddie Steward went off last year. I would have thought England would have been on red alert to avoid situations like that.
I was just amazed, given the culture around the game at the moment. I was amazed it wasn't highlighted. In an era when it's 'head contact, concussions,' I'm just amazed it wasn't looked at.
Lenihan was keen to drive home that he was not blaming Ireland's defeat on the Tadhg Furlong incident, agreeing that England had been the better team throughout.
Nonetheless, the inaction on such a dangerous hit does raise awkward questions as to why the TMO did not review a direct hit to the head of the Irish player. Previous iterations of this fixture are not the only time we have seen sending off for such reckless tackles - France's Paul Willemse saw red for two head collisions in his side's opening game against Ireland just this year.
Though Andy Farrell and his team were left licking their wounds after Saturday's defeat, they are still in the driving seat for the final weekend of the Six Nations. They will win the title if they avoid defeat against Scotland (4:45pm kick-off in Dublin), with the Scots, England and France all in contention to claim the championship should Ireland slip up at home.
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