Ireland’s Tadhg Beirne after his yellow card was upgraded to a red card during Saturday's Test match against New Zealand at Soldier Field. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/InphoThe relatively new 20-minute red card and bunker system were severely tested in Soldier Field last Saturday. His upgrading of Tadhg Beirne’s yellow to a red card was wrong – plain and simple. A huge amount of preparatory work is done by elite match officials in the area of in-game sanctions. Photograph: Gary Carr/InphoThere were other things in the performances of the match officials which should have been picked up.

Source: The Irish Times November 03, 2025 22:18 UTC