AUSTRALIA rugby star Darcy Swain was sent off for headbutting England’s Jonny Hill.
The pair tussled following a maul before Swain squared up to the England second row and headbutted him in the face.
𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐃!
Australia's Darcy Swain!
After some hair pulling…England's Jonny Hill is sent to the sin bin, but Australia's Swain is sent off for a 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐁𝐔𝐓𝐓!
#AUSvENGpic.twitter.com/OX4lm3nAUf
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) July 2, 2022
A clearly upset Hill raised his arms up towards the officials in response, who were left with no option but to show the Aussie a red card.
Hill received a yellow card for his provocation, angering Swain by pulling his hair.
England led 6-3 at the time of the incident and BBC pundit Ugo Monye suggested the referee got the call “spot on”.
Another former England player Dylan Hartley told Sky Sports: “A moment of madness – which is ironic coming from me.”
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But the referee did miss Hill striking Swain in the face with two open palms despite the incident occurring right under his nose.
Some Australia rugby fans felt that warranted further action from the officials, with one writing: “How did the ref miss this?”
Another added: “What a joke! That looks much worse along with the hair pulling than the collision of the heads.”
England trailed 9-6 by the time Hill returned from his sin bin but minutes after his reintroduction Ellis Genge scored a try to restore England’s lead.
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It was an important response from Eddie Jones’ side after being thrashed by 14-man Barbarians two weeks ago.
The Barbarians scored eight tries against England in a 52-21 win despite playing 43 minutes a man down.
But England did not learn their lessons from that defeat as the Aussies hit back with three tries to lead 30-14.
A last-minute fightback saw England make the scoreline less embarrassing with two converted tries but Australia ran out 30-28 winners.
