Eddie O'Sullivan slammed the decision not to award Leinster a yellow card in the first half of their victory over Connacht this evening.

Leinster eased to a 20-3 victory over their Irish rivals in their Pro14 clash in Galway.

However former Ireland coach O'Sullivan couldn't hide his disbelief when the defending Pro14 champions weren't shown a yellow card for an incident midway through the first half.

Scott Fardy and Sean Cronin were brought to the attention of referee John Lacey for a potentially dangerous clearout which saw Connacht backrow Robin Copeland apparently tip tackled.

Lacey decided not to show a card at the time, instead only awarding the home side a penalty.

O'Sullivan voiced his disbelief at the failure to show a yellow card, suggesting it could perhaps even have been worse for the visitors.

"It's a shocking decision. It's a yellow card minimum," O'Sullivan said on Eir Sport's coverage of the game.

"If [John] Lacey pulled out red there, you could say it's a harsh red. But it definitely was a yellow.

"It is a shocking decision. It is a yellow card minimum"



Eddie O'Sullivan can't believe there wasn't a yellow card shown for a potential tip tackle on Robin Copeland. #GuinnessPRO14 #CONvLEI pic.twitter.com/egopu4qW2X — eir Sport (@eirSport) September 29, 2018

"It just defies logic. He went above the horizontal and he came down on his shoulder, there's been red cards for less. I don't know how he looked at that and said 'It's only a penalty, don't do it again'. For me that's beyond belief."

Former Leinster winger Luke Fitzgerald was less severe in his criticism, but suggested a yellow card would have been the fairest outcome.

"It probably looks more like a yellow than a red to me, I hate to say but I think they might have got away with one there," Fitzgerald added.

"I think John Lacey might have missed that one, especially when he saw it, it was surprising to let that one go to be honest."

Online Editors