SCOTT MURRAY became the second Scotland player to be sent off in an international when he kicked out after a late tackle and was shown a red card 23 minutes into yesterday’s RBS Six Nations Championship game in Cardiff. His team were already trailing 7-3 to Wales, and without him the sparks of revival seen the week before against France were extinguished. Scotland fell 22 points behind at one stage before a couple of late scores salvaged a 28-18 defeat.
It was a personal anguish for Murray who had been in the form of his career and the contrast from his previous outing in a Scotland shirt, when he had won the man of the match award, was stark as he loped off the pitch and into the sanctuary of the changing room.
“I am not a dirty player,” Murray said in a statement. “The incident was a complete accident and I would never intentionally injure an opponent in that way. I apologised to Ian (Gough, the player he struck) and to the referee as soon as I realised what had happened. I will now be liaising with the team management as they look at the incident in detail and determine our position for the disciplinary hearing.”
While the Scots were predictably quick to defend their player, perhaps the real measure of his international status and the feeling that he was hard done by was the way that Gareth Thomas leapt to his defence. “He apologised at once and it takes a man to do that,” the Wales captain said.
None of the coaches or players would own up to having seen the incident, partly because Murray was reacting to a tackle long after he had passed the ball. Television replays, however, showed Murray’s foot hitting Gough, the Wales lock, in the head, and if the disciplinary panel agrees with Steve Walsh, the referee, that it was a deliberate kick, then Murray’s ban could be as long as 26 weeks, though it could also be as short as one week.
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Neither side seemed happy with the decision, the Welsh knowing it had overshadowed their bounce-back win after being thrashed by England, Scotland feeling that it contributed directly to the result. “There was no shortage of guts and determination out there, hopefully that is a given now,” Frank Hadden, the Scotland coach, said. “Despite the circumstances, we created enough chances to make it close at the finish. It was not to be, the Welsh were more clinical when the chances came.
“The critical incident was the sending-off. Those who know Scott Murray know he is not a dirty player, hard but fair. He is obviously bitterly disappointed. I have seen the incident again, it was a late tackle long after he had released the ball. He was tackled from behind and was trying to get out of the tackle as quickly as he could and in order to extricate himself he flicks out with his foot. He is not looking in Gough’s direction at the time. He is extremely remorseful and it was extremely unfortunate that it happened at that juncture.
“There was never any doubt that our heads would not go down, or that they would not battle on. Even at half-time, all we talked about was winning the game and the biggest body blow was the Welsh score ten minutes into the second half after we had had a long spell on their line. There is tremendous spirit in the squad but we made a few too many errors.”
Jason White, the Scotland captain, was one of the many who had not seen what happened. “All he said afterwards was that it had not been intentional at all. He felt it was harsh for him to be sent off. The referee said he saw Scott’s foot hit Gough in the face and he had no choice but to give him the red card.”
Down to 14 men, the Scots raised their game well above the slightly awestruck level they had hit in the opening few minutes when they gave away a penalty try. “It is hard when you are a man down, particularly against the game that Wales like to play,” White said. “It meant the workrate had to be increased and it was but it is hard when you are down for that length of time.”