Controversial red card gives Racing a mountain to climb against Toulon in Barcelona

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FRESH FROM ISSUING a red card to CJ Stander a fortnight ago, referee Mathieu Raynal issued another early carton rouge in tonight’s Top 14 final in Barcelona.

Racing Metro and Toulon were locked at three points apiece after penalties from Dan Carter and Leigh Halfpenny. But it looks like the typical tight tussle we expect from a French final won’t come to pass after Maxime Machenaud was sent off for a tip tackle on Matt Giteau after just 18 minutes.

Here’s an angle of the scrum-half on out-half tackle.

After TMO review, Raynal explained that Giteau landed on his head and so issued the red card to Machenaud.

Many agreed with the French ref’s latest game-changing card, but some felt that Giteau’s attempt to wriggle in mid-air made the incident worse than it needed to be.