St Helens and Castleford Tigers coaches address Jackson Hastings-Tyler Dupree incident
Jackson Hastings and Tyler Dupree were involved in an altercation in the first-half of St Helens' win over Castleford Tigers
St Helens interim head coach Eamon O’Carroll and Castleford Tigers director of rugby Chris Chester have addressed the incident involving Jackson Hastings and Tyler Dupree.
The pair were involved in an altercation during the first-half of St Helens’ 36-12 win over Castleford Tigers in round 24 of Super League, with Hastings shown a straight red card and Dupree handed a yellow card.
But, following his exit from the pitch, the Tigers prop forward was seen shoving assistant coach Scott Murell out of the way, in an effort to get to Hastings in the tunnel.
St Helens and Castleford Tigers coaches address Jackson Hastings-Tyler Dupree incident
St Helens were leading 30-0 at the time of the incident between the pair, but upon being reduced to 12, scored just one more try in the second-half while Castleford grabbed two.
Commenting on the incident, Castleford director of rugby Chester told Sky Sports: “Scott Murrell just jumped (in the way of Dupree). We all know the rules: you can’t punch people in the face.
“We’ll let the disciplinary (match review panel) deal with those kinds of things. That’s what they’re there for.”
Also commenting, Saints interim head coach O’Carroll added: “It could (prove costly), but what we’ve had to do this year is have a ‘next man up’ mentality, and that’s what we’ll have to have again.
“I’ve not seen it yet, but I believe he’s punched someone, so we’ll deal with that when it comes to it.”
Hastings was not the only player to be brandished with a card for the Saints, though. Prop forward Alex Walmsley was shown a yellow card in the second-half after a string of penalties against his side, while replacement Chris Matagi was also sent to the sin bin in virtually the final act of the game.
“I don’t think it needed to be that crazy, that game,” added O’Carroll. “But it did; and in the long run it will do us good.”
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