Red Card – Ross Batty (Bath Rugby)

The Bath Rugby replacement hooker, Ross Batty (No 16), was issued with a red card during his club’s Heineken Champions Cup, Round 6 match against Ulster Rugby at the Kingspan Stadium on Saturday, 18 January 2020.

Batty was sent off by the referee, Alexandre Ruiz (France), in the 73rd minute of the match for tackling the Ulster scrum half, John Cooney (No 9), in a dangerous manner in contravention of Law 9.13.

Roddy Macleod (Scotland), Chair, Frank Hadden (Scotland) and Craig Sowman (Ireland), have been appointed as the independent Disciplinary Committee for the hearing which will take place today (Tuesday, 21 January) at the London office of Bird & Bird LLP.

Law 9.13 Dangerous tackling
Under World Rugby’s Sanctions for Foul Play, Law 9.13 relating to dangerous tackling carries the following sanction entry points - Low End: 2 weeks; Mid-range: 6 weeks; Top end: 10 to 52 weeks. 

Red Card – Will Skelton (Saracens)

The Saracens replacement second row, Will Skelton (No 19), was issued with a red card during his club’s Heineken Champions Cup, Round 6 match against Racing 92 at Allianz Park on Sunday, 19 January 2020.

Skelton was sent off by the referee, Nigel Owens (Wales), in the 39th minute of the match for tackling the Racing 92 full back, Brice Dulin, (No 15), in a dangerous manner in contravention of Law 9.13.

Roddy Macleod (Scotland), Chair, Frank Hadden (Scotland) and Craig Sowman (Ireland), have been appointed as the independent Disciplinary Committee for the hearing which will take place today (Tuesday, 21 January) at the London office of Bird & Bird LLP.

Law 9.13 Dangerous tackling
Under World Rugby’s Sanctions for Foul Play, Law 9.13 relating to dangerous tackling carries the following sanction entry points - Low End: 2 weeks; Mid-range: 6 weeks; Top end: 10 to 52 weeks. 

Citing complaint – Joe Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs)

EPCR has received a citing complaint against the Exeter Chiefs outside half, Joe Simmonds (No 10), arising from his club’s Heineken Champions Cup, Round 6 match against La Rochelle at Sandy Park on Saturday, 18 January 2020.

Simmonds is alleged to have committed an act of foul play in that he tackled the La Rochelle wing, Kini Murimurivalu (No 14), in a dangerous manner in the 16th minute of the match in contravention of Law 9.13.

An independent Disciplinary Hearing chaired by Tommy Dalton (Ireland) will take place on Thursday (23 January).

The complaint was made by the match Citing Commissioner, Kevin Beggs (Ireland).

Law 9.13 Dangerous tackling
Under World Rugby’s Sanctions for Foul Play, Law 9.13 relating to dangerous tackling carries the following sanction entry points - Low End: 2 weeks; Mid-range: 6 weeks; Top end: 10 to 52 weeks. 

Citing complaint – Kieran Treadwell (Ulster Rugby)

EPCR has received a citing complaint against the Ulster Rugby replacement second row, Kieran Treadwell (No 19), arising from his club’s Heineken Champions Cup, Round 6 match against Bath Rugby at the Kingspan Stadium on Saturday, 18 January 2020.

Treadwell is alleged to have committed an act of foul play in that he tackled the Bath flanker, Tom Ellis (No 6), in a dangerous manner in the 68th minute of the match in contravention of Law 9.13.

Jeremy Summers (England), Chair, Marcello d’Orey (Portugal) and John Greenwood (England), have been appointed as the independent Disciplinary Committee for the hearing which will take place on Thursday (23 January) at the London office of Bird & Bird LLP.

The complaint was made by the match Citing Commissioner, Stefano Marrama (Italy).

Law 9.13 Dangerous tackling
Under World Rugby’s Sanctions for Foul Play, Law 9.13 relating to dangerous tackling carries the following sanction entry points - Low End: 2 weeks; Mid-range: 6 weeks; Top end: 10 to 52 weeks. 

CHALLENGE CUP

Red card – Johan Meyer (Zebre Rugby Club)

The Zebre Rugby Club flanker, Johan Meyer (No 7), was issued with a red card during his club’s Challenge Cup, Round 6 match against Bristol Bears at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi on Saturday, 18 January 2020.

Meyer was sent off by the referee, Thomas Charabas (France), in the 63rd minute of the match for tackling the Bristol Bears wing, Toby Fricker (No 11), in a dangerous manner in contravention of Law 9.13.

Marcello d’Orey (Portugal), Chair, Jeremy Summers (England) and John Greenwood (England), have been appointed as the independent Disciplinary Committee for the hearing which will take place on Thursday (23 January) at the London office of Bird & Bird LLP.

Law 9.13 Dangerous tackling
Under World Rugby’s Sanctions for Foul Play, Law 9.13 relating to dangerous tackling carries the following sanction entry points - Low End: 2 weeks; Mid-range: 6 weeks; Top end: 10 to 52 weeks. 

Red card – Kyle van Zyl (Rugby Calvisano)

The Rugby Calvisano wing, Kyle van Zyl (No 14), was issued with a red card during his club’s Challenge Cup, Round 6 match against Cardiff Blues at the Cardiff Arms Park on Saturday, 18 January 2020.

Van Zyl was sent off by the referee, Nika Amashukeli (Georgia), in the 77th minute of the match for tackling the Cardiff Blues full back, Dan Fish (No 15), in a dangerous manner in contravention of Law 9.13.

Marcello d’Orey (Portugal), Chair, Mitchell Read (England) and John Greenwood (England), have been appointed as the independent Disciplinary Committee for the hearing which will take place on Thursday (23 January) at the London office of Bird & Bird LLP.

Law 9.13 Dangerous tackling
Under World Rugby’s Sanctions for Foul Play, Law 9.13 relating to dangerous tackling carries the following sanction entry points - Low End: 2 weeks; Mid-range: 6 weeks; Top end: 10 to 52 weeks. 

Citing complaints – Hans N’Kinsi (Castres Olympique)

EPCR has received two citing complaints against the Castres Olympique second row, Hans N’Kinsi (No 5), arising from his club’s Challenge Cup, Round 6 match against Worcester Warriors at Sixways Stadium on Friday, 17 January 2020.

N’Kinsi is alleged to have committed two acts of foul play in that firstly, he made contact with the eye area of the Worcester Warriors prop, Ethan Waller (No 1), in the 6th minute of the match in contravention of Law 9.12, and that secondly, he made contact with the eye area of the Worcester Warriors replacement prop, Richard Palframan (No 18), in the 69th minute of the match in contravention of Law 9.12,

Simon Thomas (Wales), Chair, Mitchell Read (England) and Jean-Noel Couraud (France), have been appointed as the independent Disciplinary Committee for the hearing which will take place tomorrow (22 January) at the London office of Bird & Bird LLP.

The complaints were made by the match Citing Commissioner, Ed Kenny (Ireland).

Law 9.12 Contact with the eye area
Under World Rugby’s Sanctions for Foul Play, Law 9.12 relating to contact with the eye area carries the following sanction entry points - Low End: 4 weeks; Mid-range: 8 weeks; Top end: 12 to 52 weeks.

Notes

(i) Red Cards
a) The case of any player sent off in Heineken Champions Cup, Challenge Cup and Continental Shield 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

HEINEKEN CHAMPIONS CUP