Saracens lock Will Skelton has been handed a four week ban after being sent off against Racing 92 at the weekend.
The second row was red carded in the 39thminute of the Heineken Champions Cup match for tacking French full-back Brice Dulin in a dangerous manner in contravention of Law 9.13.
Will Skelton sees red for a late and high shoulder tackle.
— Robert Rees (@Rreesrugby) January 19, 2020
Their week just gets worse. pic.twitter.com/1QmZ7ekBSd
He attended an independent disciplinary hearing in London today (Tuesday) and an independent Disciplinary Committee consisting of Roddy Macleod (Scotland), Chair, Frank Hadden (Scotland) and Craig Sowman (Ireland), considered video imagery of the incident and heard evidence and submissions from the player, who accepted the red card decision, from the Saracens Team Manager, Warrick Lang, and from the EPCR Disciplinary Officer, Liam McTiernan.
The Committee upheld the red card decision, finding that Skelton had made contact with Dulin’s head in a dangerous manner. It then determined that the offence was at the mid-range of World Rugby’s sanctions and selected six weeks as the appropriate entry point.
EDITORS PICKS:
- Female prop reaches Miss GB finals
- The worst England XV of all-time
- Brilliant nicknames of the England squad
- LIST: 5 epic rugby union spats on Twitter
- The 5 best players who NEVER won an England cap
- Rugby’s 5 Most Controversial Refereeing Decisions
There were no aggravating factors, and taking into account the player’s guilty plea, good disciplinary record and expression of remorse, the Committee reduced the sanction by two weeks before imposing a four-week suspension.
Skelton is free to play on Monday 24th February, and both he and EPCR have the right to appeal the decision.