The Scottish referee took control of the situation and declined to use the bunker system so many officials rely on

Referee Hollie Davidson has received huge praise for her strong and decisive action after she issued Toulouse star Rodrigue Neti with a rare permanent red card just 15 minutes into the Champions Cup match against Exeter.

Davidson stepped in after Neti struck Ross Vintcent with a tucked shoulder to the head in an incident the Premier Sports commentators described as "horrible".

The poor tackle attempt drew gasps from the crowd, with Davidson immediately asking the TMO to view replays of the moment, which looked brutal in real time.

Slow motion footage did not improve the picture, with Davidson ruling there were no mitigating circumstances whatsoever.

Since the introduction of 20-minute red cards, referees have generally been criticised for taking the easy option by issuing only yellow cards for serious incidents and sending decisions for review by the off-field bunker team. That has resulted in some players receiving only 20-minute red cards for serious incidents, rather than seeing their team reduced to 14 for the rest of the match.

Davidson had seen all the evidence she needed, though, calmly going through her process with the help of her assistants before declaring: "It's fist down and shoulder tucked. Therefore, we apply no mitigation to our process. We have a player who is upright that makes direct contact [to the head] with a tucked arm and high degree of danger. It is a permanent red card."

Neti was informed of the decision, apologising to Vintcent before departing the field.

Premier Sports pundit Ian Madigan said: "As Hollie Davidson explained it, Neti is always illegal here. That's the type of tackle we want to get out of rugby. It's really dangerous.

"I thought she went through the process really well and made it clear. It would have been easy to give a yellow and leave the decision to the bunker."

Benjamin Kayser added: "The more you look at the replay, the worse it gets. That has to be taken out of the game. It is a clear red card.

"There were a lot of difficult decisions in that game. I thought she got most of them spot on. When you have to issue a red card in a home ground in front of 33,000 people it is a big consequence. She did it with a lot of good explanation and a lot of kindness."

Viewers were also impressed to see an official taking strong action, with Davidson previously doing the same in this summer's Fiji v England match.

One fan on social media said: "Some proper refereeing from Hollie Davidson; dangerous, no mitigation, not referring it to the bunker. Permanent red. Excellent to see a ref stand by their conviction."

Another added: "Well done to Hollie Davidson calling it as it is! No mitigation and no being swayed from the home crowd."

"Well played Hollie Davidson. Some refs would have hidden behind a 20-minute red card there, but a permanent red absolutely spot-on call," said another.

The decision shaped the game, which turned into a classic as Exeter came within a whisker of history before going down 43-40. Henry Slade missed a last minute penalty to tie the scores in a game that saw the lead change hands seven times.