Matt Fagerson suspended for three weeks

The Glasgow Warriors No 8, Matt Fagerson, has been suspended for three weeks following an independent Disciplinary Hearing in London today (Thursday, 19 December 2019) arising from his club’s Heineken Champions Cup, Round 4 match against La Rochelle at Scotstoun Stadium.

Fagerson was sent off by the referee, Wayne Barnes (England), in the 80th minute of the match for striking the La Rochelle replacement prop, Danny Priso (No 17), 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 relating to striking with the arm 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 Gareth Graham (England), Chair, Val Toma (Romania) and Yannick Jauzion (France), considered video imagery of the incident and heard evidence and submissions from the player, who accepted the red card decision, from the Glasgow Warriors Team Manager, Kenny Brown, and from the EPCR Disciplinary Officer, Liam McTiernan.

The Committee upheld the red card decision, finding that Fagerson had made contact with Priso’s neck in a dangerous manner. It then decided that the offence was at the mid-range of World Rugby’s sanctions and selected six weeks as the appropriate entry point.

There were no aggravating factors, and taking into account the player’s guilty plea, clear disciplinary record and expression of remorse, the Committee reduced the sanction by the maximum of 50% before imposing a three-week suspension.

Fagerson is free to play on Monday, 6 January 2020, and both he and EPCR have the right to appeal the decision.

CHALLENGE CUP

Davide Zanetti suspended for four weeks

The Rugby Calvisano second row, Davide Zanetti, has been suspended for four weeks following an independent Disciplinary Hearing in London today (Thursday, 19 December 2019) arising from his club’s Challenge Cup, Round 4 match against Leicester Tigers at the Pata Stadium.

Zanetti was sent off by the referee, Thomas Charabas (France), in the 60th minute of the match for kicking the Leicester Tigers replacement hooker, Jimmy Stevens, in contravention of Law 9.12.

Law 9.12 Kicking
Under World Rugby’s Sanctions for Foul Play, Law 9.12 relating to kicking 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 Gareth Graham (England), Chair, Val Toma (Romania) and Yannick Jauzion (France), considered imagery of the incident and heard evidence and submissions by video conference from the player, who accepted the red card decision, from the Rugby Calvisano Chief Executive, Deane McKinnel, and from the EPCR Disciplinary Officer, Liam McTiernan.

The Committee upheld the red card decision, finding that Zanetti had kicked Stevens in a reckless and dangerous manner. It then decided that the offence was at the mid-range of World Rugby’s sanctions and selected eight weeks as the appropriate entry point.

There were no aggravating factors, and taking into account the player’s guilty plea, clear disciplinary record and expression of remorse, the Committee reduced the sanction by the maximum of 50% before imposing a four-week suspension.

Zanetti is free to play on Monday, 13 January 2020, and both he and EPCR have the right to appeal the decision.

Geoffrey Moise citing complaint dismissed

The Pau prop, Geoffrey Moise, has had a citing complaint against him dismissed following an independent Disciplinary Hearing in London today (Thursday, 19 December 2019) arising from his club’s Challenge Cup, Round 4 match against the Cardiff Blues at Stade du Hameau.

Moise was cited by the match Citing Commissioner, Wayne Sheridan (Ireland), for allegedly striking the Cardiff Blues replacement prop, Kieron Assiratti (No 18), with his head in a dangerous manner in the 47th minute of the match in contravention of Law 9.12.

Law 9.12 Striking with the head
Under World Rugby’s Sanctions for Foul Play, Law 9.12 relating to striking with the head carries the following sanction entry points - Low End: 6 weeks; Mid-range: 10 weeks; Top end: 16 to 104 weeks.

An independent Disciplinary Committee consisting of Gareth Graham (England), Chair, Val Toma (Romania) and Yannick Jauzion (France), considered video imagery of the incident and heard evidence and submissions from the player, who did not accept the red card decision, from Pau’s legal representative, Benjamin Peyrelevade, from the Pau joint-Head Coach, Nicolas Godignon, and from the EPCR Disciplinary Officer, Liam McTiernan.

After further consideration, the Committee decided that it was not satisfied that an act of foul play that warranted a red card had taken place, and the citing complaint was dismissed.

Moise is therefore free to play, 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, 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, log on to world.rugby

HEINEKEN CHAMPIONS CUP