Rory Kockott suspended for three weeks The Castres Olympique scrum half, Rory Kockott, has been suspended for three weeks following an independent Disciplinary Hearing in Paris today (Wednesday, 19 December) arising from his club’s Heineken Champions Cup, Round 4 match against Munster Rugby at Stade Pierre Fabre. Kockott was cited by the match Citing Commissioner, Chris Catling (England), for making contact with the eye and/or the eye area of the Munster wing forward, Chris Cloete, in the 21^st minute of the match in contravention of Law 9.12. Law 9.12 – Contact with the eye Under World Rugby’s Sanctions for Foul Play, Law 9.12 carries the following sanction entry points – Low end: 12 weeks; Mid-range: 18 weeks; Top end: 24 to 208 weeks Law 9.12 – Contact with the eye area Under World Rugby’s Sanctions for Foul Play, Law 9.12 carries the following sanction entry points – Low end: 4 weeks; Mid-range: 8 weeks; Top end: 12 to 52 weeks An independent Disciplinary Committee consisting of Pamela Woodman (Scotland), Chair, Anthony Davies (England) and Leon Lloyd (England), heard evidence and submissions from Kockott, who pleaded guilty to the charge of making contact with the eye area, from the Castres Olympique Managing Director, Matthias Rolland, from the Castres Olympique legal representative, Clément Germain, and from the EPCR Disciplinary Officer, Liam McTiernan. The Committee upheld the citing complaint in that it warranted a red card and found that Kockott had made contact with Cloete’s eye area. It was decided that the act of foul play was at the low end of World Rugby’s sanctions and four weeks was selected as the appropriate entry point. Due to the player’s guilty plea and good conduct at the hearing, the Committed decided to reduce the sanction by one week before imposing a three-week suspension. Kockott is free to play on Monday, 7 January 2019, and both he and EPCR have the right to appeal the decision. Marc-Antoine Rallier suspended for one week The Castres Olympique replacement hooker, Marc-Antoine Rallier, has been suspended for one week following an independent Disciplinary Hearing in Paris today (Wednesday, 19 December) arising from his club’s Heineken Champions Cup, Round 4 match against Munster Rugby at Stade Pierre Fabre. Rallier was cited by the match Citing Commissioner for tackling the Munster wing forward, Peter O’Mahony, dangerously in the 69th minute of the match in contravention of Law 9.13. Law 9.13 – Dangerous tackling Under World Rugby’s Sanctions for Foul Play, Law 9.13 carries the following sanction entry points – Low end: 2 weeks; Mid-range: 6 weeks; Top end: 10 to 52 weeks An independent Disciplinary Committee consisting of Pamela Woodman (Scotland), Chair, Anthony Davies (England) and Leon Lloyd (England), heard evidence and submissions from Rallier, who pleaded guilty to the charge, from the Castres Olympique Managing Director, Matthias Rolland, from the Castres Olympique legal representative, Clément Germain, and from the EPCR Disciplinary Officer, Liam McTiernan. The Committee upheld the complaint in that it warranted a red card and found that the act of foul play was at the low end of World Rugby’s sanctions and selected two weeks as the appropriate entry point. There were no aggravating factors and due to the player’s guilty plea and clear disciplinary record, the Committee decided to reduce the sanction by the maximum allowable of 50% before imposing a one-week suspension. Rallier is free to play on Monday, 24 December, and both he and EPCR have the right to appeal the decision. Etienne Oosthuizen suspended for three weeks The Lyon second row, Etienne Oosthuizen, has been suspended for three weeks following an independent Disciplinary Hearing in Paris today (Wednesday, 19 December) arising from his club’s Heineken Champions Cup, Round 4 match against Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun. Oosthuizen was sent off by referee, Ben Whitehouse (Wales), in the 70^th minute of the match for striking the Glasgow Warriors fly half, Adam Hastings, with his arm in contravention of Law 9.12. Law 9.12 Striking with the arm Under World Rugby’s Sanctions for Foul Play, Law 9.12 carries the following sanction entry points - Low End: 2 weeks; Mid-range: 6 weeks; Top end: 10 to 52 weeks.  An independent Disciplinary Committee consisting of Jeremy Summers (England), Chair, Rory Bannerman (Scotland) and Val Toma (Romania), heard evidence and submissions from Oosthuizen, who pleaded guilty to the charge, from the Lyon President, Yann Roubert, and from the EPCR Disciplinary Officer, Liam McTiernan. The Committee upheld the red card decision and found that the act of foul play was at the mid-range of World Rugby’s sanctions and selected six weeks as the appropriate entry point. As there were no aggravating factors, and due to Oosthuizen’s guilty plea and his clear disciplinary record, the Committee reduced the sanction by the maximum amount of 50% before imposing a suspension of three weeks. Oosthuizen is free to play on Monday, 7 January 2019 and both he and EPCR have the right to appeal the decision. Notes (i) Red Cards a) The case of any player sent off in Heineken Champions Cup and Challenge Cup matches shall be adjudicated by an independent Disciplinary Committee or an independent Judicial Officer as soon as is practicable. b) Until the hearing the player is ineligible to play in any tournament. (ii) Citing Commissioner a) Citing Commissioners are appointed by EPCR for all Heineken Champions Cup and Challenge Cup matches and shall be entitled to cite a player for any act or acts of Foul Play that in the Citing Commissioner's opinion warranted a red card. b) For such matches, clubs will not have the power to cite a player but may refer incidents to the Citing Commissioner within 26 hours of the start of the match. c) The Citing Commissioner will have 50 hours from the start of the match to make a citing. In certain circumstances this deadline can be extended. d) The tournament Disciplinary Officer may forward the submitted citing to a Citing Officer to determine whether there are sufficient grounds for the citing to progress. e) The Disciplinary Officer will then bring a charge against the cited player. (iii) Disciplinary Hearing a) The independent Disciplinary Committee or independent Judicial Officer are chosen by the chairman of the independent Disciplinary Panel, Mike Hamlin. b) EPCR's Disciplinary Officer presents the case against the player. c) If a decision is upheld, the Disciplinary Committee or Judicial Officer will be required to consider the appropriate sanction under World Rugby's sanctioning regime, which EPCR is obliged to follow. The seriousness of the player's actions will be first assessed in order to determine which of the three stipulated entry points (lower end, mid-range and top end) is the most appropriate. d) The Disciplinary Committee or Judicial Officer will determine the appropriate entry point based on an assessment of a number of particular characteristics of the player's actions, including whether or not they were intentional, whether or not they caused any injuries and whether or not they had any effect on the relevant match. e) After deciding the entry point, the Disciplinary Committee or Judicial Officer will then consider whether the suspension should be increased from the entry point to take account of certain specified aggravating factors, such as a poor disciplinary record or the need for deterrence, and/or decreased from the entry point to take account of certain specified mitigating actions, such as a guilty plea, a good disciplinary record, the player's conduct at the hearing and expressions of remorse. f) A suspension is a blanket ban from playing rugby union anywhere in the world. Players are suspended on the basis that a one-week period of suspension would ordinarily result in a player missing one match. Suspensions take into account periods of inactivity (such as the close season), periods when a player is injured or otherwise not fit to play, and when a player is not available or not expected to play. Suspensions should also take into account any out-of-season matches which are not considered to be meaningful, or which are not close enough to the season to be a determining factor in a player’s future selection. g) Both parties to the hearing (EPCR and the player) have the right to appeal decisions. Appeals must be lodged within three (3) working days of receiving the full written decision of the Disciplinary Committee or Judicial Officer. h) The full written decision will be available on epcrugby.com/discipline/hearing-decisions when the disciplinary process is complete. i) For World Rugby's Sanctions for Foul Play, found at Appendix 1 to World Rugby Regulation 17, go to world.rugby