INSANE SCENES! Cheap shot on England rookie leads to triple yellow carding in absurd Champions Cup moment

Three players were sent to the sin-bin by referee Andrea Piardi in one fell swoop in Northampton Saints’ Champions Cup clash with Castres at Franklin’s Gardens.

Northampton Saints were winning 34-16 at the time of the incident, which resulted in Saints lock Temo Mayanavanua and Castres duo Remy Baget and Lois Guerois Galisson spending 10 minutes on the naughty step.

Three players sin-binned at once in Champions Cup clash

The incident occurred in the 53rd minute of an entertaining Champions Cup quarter-final, which was also a repeat of a pool stage clash earlier this season, as winger Baget flew into newly capped international Henry Pollock.

As a result, Pollock got entangled with Castres prop Galisson, who took offence and pinned the back-rower on the ground. In turn, Fijian lock Mayanavanua came to his teammate’s rescue and got involved with the loosehead.

It was then reviewed by referee Piardi, who in turn sent all three men to the sin-bin.

The cardings certainly had an effect on the French visitors, despite already conceding five tries courtesy of Tommy Freeman, Curtis Langdon, Alex Coles, George Furbank and Pollock himself, as Northampton later added 10 more points to their tally in that window thanks to another Pollock try and five from the boot of Fin Smith.

Adding the cherry on top of a great win, Tom Pearson powered over for his side’s seventh of the night.

While the scoreline might have suggested Saints were dominant throughout, and they certainly were full merit for the win, Castres were firmly in the game up until the early stages of the second-half thanks to a 16-point haul from Jeremy Fernandez.

This win for Northampton sees them secure a second-successive semi-final date with Leinster at the Aviva Stadium.