James Ryan will miss Leinster’s opening Champions Cup fixture against Harlequins next week after receiving a three-match ban following his red card in Ireland’s defeat to South Africa on Saturday.
The secondrow was shown a yellow card by referee Matthew Carley for a challenge on Springbok hooker Malcolm Marx. The card was later upgraded to a 20-minute red on review.
An independent disciplinary committee – made up of Wang Shao-ing (Singapore), Bogdan Zebega (Romania) and Val Toma (Romania) – found Ryan acted contrary to Law 9.20a, upholding the sanction.
They placed the incident in the mid-range, which carries a six-match suspension. However, taking into consideration Ryan’s acceptance of wrongdoing, his clean disciplinary record, and other mitigating factors, the committee applied the maximum 50 per cent reduction.
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Ryan can further reduce the suspension to two games if he opts to go to ‘tackle school’, World Rugby’s coaching intervention programme.
As it stands, the sanction will cover Leinster’s URC visit to Dragons on Friday and the province’s opening two Champions Cup games against Harlequins (December 6th) and Leicester Tigers (December 12th).
Should Ryan decide to partake in the coaching intervention programme, he would be available for the latter Champions Cup fixture at Welford Road.
