Reds angry at Kiwi referee after player hurt in tackle by All Black Shannon Frizell

Queensland Reds loose forward Harry Wilson has criticised Kiwi referee Brendon Pickerill for his “disrespectful” treatment of Connor Vest after he suffered a fractured neck during the Super Rugby Pacific match against the Highlanders last Friday night.

Vest, who walked off the field at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, was taken to hospital after fracturing his C7 vertebrae during the Reds’ 35-30 loss to the Highlanders and was allowed to fly back to Queensland on Sunday for more treatment.

The Reds lock was injured after a no-arms tackle by Highlanders No 6 Shannon Frizell, and Pickerill’s handling of the incident was questioned by Wilson.

“Rugby has really been big on player welfare and for us there wasn’t much player welfare there with a no-arms tackle to the head,” Wilson told reporters on Monday. “Vesty broke his neck and for me that’s pretty ridiculous.

“On top of that as a playing group we were very frustrated with the referee trying to rush him off the field. We thought that was pretty disrespectful for a player who has just broken his neck, trying to rush him off the field as if he’s wasting time.

“That’s why he walked off the field so quickly. He was on the ground for a long time and they had him in all the positions and the external pressure from the ref forced him to walk off. You don’t know what sort of extra damage that could do to someone with a broken neck.”

Vest doesn’t require surgery, which Wilson said was a relief to his family and Reds team-mates.

“On Friday night we weren’t sure,” Wilson said. “This is a great thing for him and his family, I know how worried they were, being in another country on a hospital bed in not a good way.”

The Reds, who sit seventh on the competition table, must beat the Fijian Drua to qualify for the quarterfinals.

Also in the hunt for the final two playoff spots are the Highlanders, Force, Fijian Drua and Rebels.