Exeter star sees red over Slade’s sending off

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Luke Cowan-Dickie has slammed the decision to send off Exeter Chiefs teammate Henry Slade against the Vodacom Bulls on Saturday, saying “how soft is rugby”.

The Chiefs skipper was red carded at the end of the third quarter for a tackle on Springbok flyer Kurt-Lee Arendse in a 10-try Champions Cup thriller at Loftus Versfeld. The Bulls won 39-28.

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Slade was deemed to meet the threshold for a “high level of danger”, the call made by replacement referee Thomas Charabas who took over for an injured Mathieu Raynal.

Cowan-Dickie, who missed the trip to SA due to an ankle injury and has been ruled out of the start of England’s Six Nations campaign, took to social media to vent his frustrations with Charabas’ decision.

His post got plenty of support from players and supporters.

A fan wrote: “Henry Slade and Exeter Chiefs ABSOLUTELY shafted. Disgraceful decision by another cowboy official.”

A second commented: “Henry Slade has been absolutely done there… Contact made with Kurt-Lee’s shoulder before sliding up. That’s borderline yellow, let alone red. Horrible decision making there.”

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“No way is this ref debating a red card for Henry Slade!!!!! What a joke. That’s not even a yellow.” a third commented.

However, the 29-year-old hooker also took some flak for his rant.

Photo: Steve Haag Sports/INPHO/Shutterstock/BackpagePix

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