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Looking at the Charlie Ewels incident a number of times, I think that Ewels was going for the ball carrier and James Ryan, who braced for the impact, stepped into his path in what could be construed as attempted obstruction to protect his man. 
Chris Garrod 

Hi Chris. Thank you for writing in. We have had a couple of questions on Ewels’ red card, suggesting that he was unlucky. Respectfully, I do not agree. In my opinion, Matthieu Raynal dealt with the incident impressively and outlined everything clearly.  

I thought his key line, while explaining Ewels’ sanction to England captain Courtney Lawes, was this: “It is the responsibility of the player [Ewels] to not put himself in a reckless position that can seriously injure an opponent.” Raynal went on to say: “He’s upright, he runs the risk. It is high speed, a high degree of danger, clear head contact. We go for a red card.” 

I find it difficult to argue with any of that. In May 2019, when World Rugby first published their high tackle framework, head-on-head contact was a big part of what they wanted to avoid. Since then, though, head-on-head contact has often seemed to be regarded as accidental.  

We only need to look at Ewels’ actions prior to his collision with James Ryan to see that his upright position is deliberate, and therefore avoidable. The phase before his fateful hit, he and Ellis Genge are side by side in England’s defensive line. Ireland are running a typically intricate pattern with Tadhg Furlong about to play a pass behind Peter O’Mahony to Bundee Aki: