Saints prop incensed after Springbok gets away with bone-breaking red offence
Leicester Tigers No8 Jasper Wiese can count himself very lucky that he remained on the field against Northampton Saints on Saturday at Welford Road.
There was plenty of commotion around a tackle made by the South Africa No8 in the closing stages of the first half, which left prop Alex Waller absolutely incensed. And after replays have emerged, it is easy to understand why he was so angry.
Replays have shown the Wiese directly targeted the ankle of Waller, yanking at it while his shoulder was against the prop's shin. There was no need to do it either as there were already teammates there to assist the tackle and drive Waller back. This has the potential to cause breakages, dislocations or torn ligaments, and there are not many dirtier moves to make on a rugby field.
The fact that this was not looked into by referee Wayne Barnes makes Wiese a very lucky man, although he may not necessarily be come the end of the week if the tackle is cited. The thing that worked in his favour was the Waller, although angry, was not injured.
Take a look at the tackle by Leicester's Wiese:
Leicester Tigers
15 Freddie Burns [114]
14 Anthony Watson [10]
13 Matt Scott [57]
12 Guy Porter (vc) [53]
11 Harry Potter [56]
10 Handré Pollard [4]
9 Sam Edwards [8] **
1 James Whitcombe [34]
2 Julián Montoya (vc) [33]
3 Will Hurd [18]
4 Harry Wells [171]
5 Eli Snyman [27]
6 Hanro Liebenberg (c) [74]
7 Tommy Reffell [91]
8 Jasper Wiese [50]
Replacements:
16 Charlie Clare [68]
17 Tom West *
18 Dan Richardson [9] **
19 George Martin [48]
20 Olly Cracknell [14]
21 Tom Whiteley *
22 Jimmy Gopperth [8]
23 Harry Simmons [29]
Northampton Saints
15 James Ramm
14 Courtnall Skosan
13 Matt Proctor
12 Rory Hutchinson
11 Ollie Sleightholme
10 George Furbank (c)
9 Tom James – 50th Saints Appearance
1 Alex Waller
2 Mike Haywood
3 Paul Hill
4 Alex Moon
5 Alex Coles
6 Angus Scott-Young
7 Aaron Hinkley
8 Juarno Augustus
Replacements:
16 Robbie Smith
17 Ethan Waller
18 Alfie Petch
19 Brandon Nansen
20 Karl Wilkins
21 Sam Graham
22 Callum Braley
23 Tom Litchfield