>Montpellier Back-Rower Zach Mercer has had his red card rescinded following a recent disciplinary hearing, and faces no ban from the incident. Mercer was sent off for a shoulder-to-head collision with Exeter Chiefs’ Christ Tshiunza, in last weekend’s Heineken Champions Cup Round of 16 clash.
After a lengthy TMO review, which saw the Sandy Park faithful react with cries of ‘oooooh!’ to each replay, Mercer was dismissed for the collision. However, rugby fans soon voiced their disagreeing opinions, as the collision was not at a great deal of force, which called for some level of mitigation from the referee.
Andrew Brace was the referee on the day, with his decision sending the 25-year-old to the stands, just 10 minutes in the second half. After Mercer saw red, he spoke to Brace and voiced his frustrations “come on bro, my knees are bent!”
Thankfully, Mercer will not miss any more action for Montpellier, as the former Bath man will be back in action this weekend again Castres. The Southern France side were eliminated from the Champions Cup, and turn their full focus to the Top 14 league.
Paolo Garbisi’s later penalty took the Chiefs to extra time, and Montpellier took the lead and looked to be through to the quarter finals. However, Jack Yeandle’s last minute try, and Joe Simmonds equalising conversion sent the Chiefs through to the last eight on tries scored (5-4).
How England should line-up for World Cup:
15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers)
14. Anthony Watson (Leicester Tigers)
13. Elliot Daly (Saracens) for Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
12. Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby) for Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks)
11. Christian Wade (Racing 92) for Henry Arundell (London Irish)
He’s since impressed in the Top 14 so much that former teammate Danny Cipriani believes he’s the best English winger in the world.
The fly-half wrote on Twitter: “This fella has left the country, had 4 years in a serious professional sport, come back and is still the best winger in England.