Davies regrets Ryan spear tackle

HEINEKEN CUP:DONNACHA RYAN shared a pint with Wales lock Bradley Davies just hours after he was on the receiving end of a spear tackle. The Wales secondrow dumped Ryan on to his head during the closing stages of Wales' Six Nations victory last month.

Davies was yellow-carded and hit with a seven-week ban following the incident, which ended his Six Nations campaign.

The Cardiff player, who returns to the Aviva Stadium to face Leinster in the Heineken Cup quarter-final on Saturday week said: “Obviously I regret what happened. I overstepped the mark and the emotions got the better of me. But the most important thing was that he was okay because it was a stupid thing for me to do. I shook his hand after the game and he was really understanding. We’re quite good friends and we had a beer together.

“Luckily enough, he went on to have an outstanding tournament and was probably one of the best players for Ireland.”

Davies admits he should have been red-carded. “I saw Ryan counter-rucking on Adam Jones. By the letter of the law, it is legal, but it is dangerous. It’s similar to what Bakkies Botha did to Adam a couple of years ago on the Lions tour. I went to move him off the ruck. We had a bit of a tussle and I have basically just thrown him.

“I didn’t think I had done much wrong or that it was that bad, until I saw it on the big screen. It looked terrible then and I thought ‘bloody hell’. I expected a red card, to be honest with you, even though I pleaded my innocence out on the field, like a good actor!”