Benjamin Kayser defends Dylan Hartley from further punishment after sin-bin

Benjamin Kayser, Dylan Hartley’s opposite number at Clermont Auvergne on Saturday, believes punishing the hooker further would be bad for the game, after the Northampton and England captain was sent to the sin-bin for hitting an opponent in the face with a swinging arm.

Hartley will know on Monday evening whether he faces further disciplinary action following his act 29 minutes into the 24-7 defeat at Clermont when he crashed into a ruck off his feet and caught the home prop Rabah Slimani, who was later sent to the sin-bin for a shoulder charge at Hartley’s head, in the face with his right arm.

Slimani received treatment for a bleeding nose and Hartley, who is in line to be named on Thursday as England captain for the opening autumn international against Argentina at Twickenham, was sent to the sin-bin after Ben Whitehouse, the referee, ordered a review of the incident.

“I think a sanction was merited because a penalty is a penalty and, if he deserved yellow, it was a yellow,” said Kayser, the France hooker who spent a season with Leicester. “Should it have been a red card? No, come on.

“Rugby is rugby and, if you say that any hit on the head is a red card, there will be 25 a match. The last thing we want is to go out and start playing on the rules and to start saying [to the referee], ‘It was a cheap shot.’ We are not football. We are just here to play hard and to keep on going. I don’t think it was a red card, just a yellow.”

A year ago World Rugby launched a crackdown on challenges that made contact with an opponent’s head. Hartley was sent off playing for Northampton against Leinster last December when he caught Sean O’Brien with a swinging arm that left the British & Irish Lions flanker concussed. Hartley was banned for six weeks.

“It is a physical game and serious offences need to be dealt with harshly for the health and safety of the players,” Kayser said. “But it must not be taken too far. It is about players taking it in our own hands and ensuring we do not spoil this wonderful game of ours.

“It is a sport where we are fortunate enough to be able to talk to referees and have decent relations. There is nothing better than a referee turning round and asking the opposition captain whether a player deserved a red card. Most of the guys would say: ‘Listen, it is nothing.’ We are not idiots and we are not cheats.”

If Hartley were cited, and it would be on the basis of the risk his action posed to Slimani, who remained on the pitch after treatment and did not require a head injury assessment, rather than its consequence. At the start of the year, when World Rugby’s aim was to punish high challenges to deter others, a citing would have been likely but so far this season the disciplinary process has been less punitive.

The England head coach, Eddie Jones, has steadfastly supported Hartley and said the hooker would lead the side in the first autumn international against Argentina if his form merited selection. But as Jamie George closes the gap, Hartley needs to be disciplined, not just playing well.