Could Edinburgh’s Pierre Schoeman have seen yellow for untying an opponent’s laces?

Scotland loosehead Pierre Schoeman continued his love affair with Irish frontrow forwards on Saturday. Particularly hookers. After becoming well acquainted with Dan Sheehan and the Stade de France advertising hoardings during the World Cup, another Leinster hooker came into unusual contact with the loosehead prop over the weekend.

Towards the end of the first half, Schoeman was pictured at the bottom of a ruck reaching out towards the boot of Lee Barron, who was stood in the defensive line. The prop appears to be trying to untie the laces of the Leinster hooker.

It’s not the first time we’ve seen something like this. Last season, Harlequins’ in-house social media accounts highlighted Leicester prop Ellis Genge appearing to tie their own Joe Marler’s laces together.

On Saturday, Barron did well not to lash out and spark a bigger scene. The incident begs the question, though, of what the laws say about interfering with an opponent in this non-violent way.

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If this was an attempt to untie the laces, it could be construed as obstructing a player by impeding their ability to run. The laws on obstruction could be applicable. Law 9.1 states that “an offside player must not intentionally obstruct an opponent or interfere with play.” Lying in front of the ball, Schoeman was offside and could be seen as interfering with play by impeding a defender’s ability to play the ball.

However, the more likely option for a referee, should they spot such an incident, appears to be law 9.27: “A player must not do anything that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship.” The sanction would be a penalty.

Given that this law is in the foul play section of the rule book, the following principle would apply: “A player who commits foul play must either be cautioned or temporarily suspended or sent off.” One would imagine a referee would have a quiet word of caution before going to the pocket, but stranger things have happened.

More injury woe for Carbery

Joey Carbery must be wondering what he has done to annoy the rugby injury gods. Between 2020-21, the Munster outhalf missed a combined period of 13 months due to various ankle and wrist injuries.

Now, after just two games of campaign, the Ireland international has picked up another wrist injury. He sustained the issue during last weekend’s draw with Benetton and subsequently missed Saturday’s win over the Dragons.

After the latest game at Musgrave Park, head coach Graham Rowntree confirmed that Carbery would be out for “a few months at least” following surgery.

It is a devastating blow in more ways than one for the one-time understudy to Johnny Sexton. Last season, Carbery was overlooked by Andy Farrell for the Six Nations and World Cup. He subsequently lost his job as Munster’s starting outhalf towards the back end of Munster’s successful run to the URC title as Jack Crowley emerged.

For Carbery, who no doubt would have hoped to launch himself back into Ireland reckoning given the retirement of Sexton, the odds of such a recall happening soon now seem remote.

“A couple of months at least” could well rule him out of the Six Nations. It certainly will rule him out of the Champions Cup matches that will likely determine selection for the Ireland squad in the new year.

At 28, Carbery has plenty of time left to make his international mark once again. Fate, however, seems to have lengthened that timeline significantly.

No change at the top of AIL

Women’s AIL league leaders UL Bohs ensured they remain top of the pile with a comfortable 5-69 win away to Ballincollig on Saturday. Chisom Ugwueru continued her try-scoring run with a hat-trick for the Limerick side while Eilís Cahill and Ciara O’Dwyer also bagged a double each.

Bohs remain four points clear of Old Belvedere, who have a game in hand. The Tania Rosser-coached side had a bonus point victory of their own over Cooke in Ballsbridge.

Belvedere opened up a 22-0 lead before Ireland international Jenny Murphy saw yellow for a high tackle, albeit it did not dramatically alter the result as the hosts crossed seven times in the 48-7 victory.

Blackrock continue to sit just one point back of Old Belvedere, within striking distance of Bohs as they too have a game in hand. They beat Suttonians 12-33 in the only other game of the round that went ahead.

Emily Whittle, Shannon Heapes, Catherine Martin, Hannah O’Connor and Mya Alcorn shared the try-scoring load in a 12-33 win. Leomie Kloppers and Kerry Browne hit back with five-pointers for the hosts.

Wicklow and Railway saw their clash postponed due to an unplayable pitch at Ashton Lane.

Number: 10

How many minutes Dan Biggar lasted during Toulon’s defeat to Perpignan on Saturday. The former Wales international sustained a bizarre back injury while attempting a conversion, forcing him to pull out of the kick and limp off the park.

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“There was no panic at any point. We believed we were going to win the game, it was just a matter of when.” Conor Oliver after Connacht overturned a 20-3 scoreline to beat Ulster 22-20.