Sam Underhill avoided a red card in the Challenge Cup Final, a decision that has sparked outrage from fans.

The Bath flanker looked destined for the same fate as Beno Obano in the Premiership final last season when he thundered into Lyon full-back Davit Niniashvili in the 28th minute.

Underhill made clear head-on-head contact with the Georgian international, a challenge that looked to be a clear red card, as Lyon attacked into the Bath 22.

Sam Underhill escapes red

However, referee Hollie Davidson and her TMO Mike Adamson deemed that there was enough mitigation which meant that the England flanker was only yellow-carded.

“There is head-on-head but we are seeing a change back inside from 15 (Niniashvili) so it is going to be a yellow card,” Davidson explained with her officiating team agreeing.

Former England fly-half Andy Goode made his stance clear on Premier Sports’ commentary stating that it was clearly a red card.

“You are very, very lucky,” he added.

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And many onlookers agreed and shared their views on social media platform X, including La Rochelle boss Ronan O’Gara, who wrote: “Players safety….” along with two mind-blown emojis.

Respected journalist Simon Thomas felt that while Underhill escaped punishment now, he may still be sanctioned for his actions.

“I suspect that Underhill incident will lead to a citing and that the disciplinary committee will deem it to be a red card offence,” he wrote.

One fan remarked: “Underhill might just be the luckiest man on the planet right now. Surely a red?”

Another raised the question why Niniashvili was allowed to carry on playing after the challenge.

“Underhill very lucky to only receive a yellow card. Surely Niniashvili should have gone for an HIA,” they wrote.

Bath winger Will Muir would follow Underhill to the sin bin later in the half after he took out Lyon winger Ethan Dumortier in the air.

Despite being two men down, Bath still went into the half-time break with a 17-5 lead courtesy of tries from Tom Dunn and Max Ojomoh. Finn Russell added the conversions and penalty with all of their scores coming after Dumortier opened the scoring in the third minute of the game.

READ MORE: Ben Spencer hails ‘absolutely vital’ Johann van Graan traits as Bath chase Challenge Cup glory

Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/sam-underhill-very-very-lucky-to-avoid-red-for-horror-tackle-in-challenge-cup-final