England’s Ewels shown 82-second red card against Ireland

Off you go: England lock Charlie Ewels is red carded after 82 seconds © AFP / Ben STANSALL

London (AFP), Mar 12 – England forward Charlie Ewels received the quickest red card in the history of the Six Nations when he was sent off after just 82 seconds against Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday.

The lock was upright as he tackled Ireland counter-part James Ryan and their heads clashed.

As the reeling Irish second row was helped off the field, French referee Mathieu Raynal reviewed a video of the collision and decided Ewels’ conduct, for which there was no mitigation, merited a red card.

Johnny Sexton kicked the ensuing penalty to give Ireland the lead. Ryan failed his head injury assessment and was permanently replaced by Iain Henderson.

According to respected rugby statistician Stuart Farmer, Ewels’ red card was the quickest sending off in the history of the Championship, including the Four and Five Nations eras, and the fastest received by any England player since Mike Burton’s dismissal against Australia at Brisbane back in 1975.

Ireland, capitalising on their man advantage, scored two tries but at half-time England, thanks to three Marcus Smith penalties, were still in touch at 15-9 behind.