Danny Cipriani’s week went from bad to worse as he was sent off in Gloucester’s 36-22 defeat to Munster in the European Champions Cup on Saturday.
The Gloucester fly-half was shown the red card for a dangerous tackle on Munster centre Niall Scannell, only two days after being left out of England’s autumn internationals squad.
Cipriani’s shoulder caught Scannell directly in the face as the players collided shortly before the half-hour mark, with referee Alexandre Ruiz producing the red card after consulting the TMO.
Munster were 5-3 ahead at the time of Cipriani’s dismissal, and it was the Gloucester No. 10 who scored his side’s opening points from the tee.
But the Limerick side ran riot with the man advantage, adding four more tries to secure a bonus-point.
The Cherry and White fought back with late scores from Gerbrandt Grobler, Jason Woodward and Ben Morgan, but the damage had already been done.
It leaves the Premiership side third in Pool 2, behind Munster and Top 14 champions Castres, who defeated Exeter Chiefs 29-24.