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Deian Gwynne has been banned for three weeks
These are your evening rugby headlines on Tuesday, December 9.
Welsh teenager banned
Gloucester flanker Deian Gwynne has been banned for three weeks after making contact with the eye or eye area of Castres Olympique lock Florent Vanverberghe during his side’s 34-14 win in the Champions Cup on Sunday.
The Wales U20s star was making his debut in the competition when he clashed with Vanverberghe at a ruck. Replays showed that he had made contact with the Frenchman’s eye or eye area but, while he was shown a yellow card, the contact was deemed to be accidental by the officials.
However, Gwynne was later cited and faced a disciplinary panel on Tuesday afternoon, with former Wales captain Ken Owens part of the committee that decided the appropriate sanction against him.
While he was shown a yellow, during the hearing, the 19-year-old accepted his actions warranted a red card, and an initial entry point of six weeks suspension was deemed appropriate by the committee. However, this was halved to three due to his clean disciplinary record and relative inexperience.
An EPCR statement on Tuesday afternoon read: “The Gloucester Rugby back row, Deian Gwynne (No 6), has been suspended for three weeks following an independent Disciplinary Hearing arising from his club’s Investec Champions Cup Round 1 match against Castres Olympique at Kingsholm on Sunday, 7 December.
“An independent Disciplinary Committee comprising Marcello d’Orey (Portugal, Chair), Ken Owens (Wales), and Val Toma (Romania) heard the case via video conference today, Tuesday, 9 December. The Committee heard evidence and submissions from the player and his representatives, and from the EPCR Disciplinary Officer, Liam McTiernan.
“Gwynne accepted that he had committed an act of foul play that warranted a red card. The committee upheld the citing complaint, finding that Gwynne had recklessly made contact with the eye of an opponent. It then determined that the offending was at the low end of World Rugby’s sanctions and six weeks was selected as the appropriate entry point.
The statement continued: “Taking into account the player’s clear disciplinary record, his timely acceptance of the charge, plus his young age and relative inexperience, the Committee decided to reduce the sanction by the maximum of 50%, before imposing a three-week suspension. Gwynne is free to play on Monday, 29 December. Both the player and EPCR have the right to appeal the decision.”
Wales star victim of ‘dog act’
Eben Etzebeth has been slammed for the “senselessly violent act” he committed against Wales’ Alex Mann during the Springboks’ 79-0 win in Cardiff, with outspoken pundit Matt Williams saying the lock’s actions “smashed the boundaries” of what is acceptable in rugby.
The South Africa veteran was shown a straight red card in the final moments of his side’s rout at the Principality Stadium, following an ugly clash with Mann, in which he made contact with the Cardiff forward’s eye.
A disciplinary panel later agreed that Etzebeth had committed an intentional gouge and the Sharks man was hit with an 18-week ban, which was then reduced to 12 weeks with mitigating factors.
Former Scotland head coach Williams has slammed the experienced Springbok for his actions, describing them as “senselessly violent” and “on a totally different level” to other offences such as mistimed tackles.
“Within the strict confines of the playing field, when the referee’s whistle blows, a social contract materialises that allows many of the laws from the outside world to be temporarily suspended and the differently wired ones to have fun,” he wrote for the Irish Times.
“Within this strange twilight realm, where extreme physical contact is normalised, cultural boundaries remain. Any violence that breaks these boundaries is colloquially known as ‘dog acts.’ The action that still sits at the pinnacle of the dog act table is regrettably still with us.
“The senselessly violent act of Eben Etzebeth, in attacking the eye of Welsh backrower Alex Mann, did not just break the boundaries of the social contract of what is physically acceptable in our game; it smashed it,” Williams added. “In Cardiff, in the 78th minute, despite South Africa leading 73-0, Etzebeth broke the game’s law and rugby’s lore.
“To the officials’ credit, Etzebeth was correctly given a full red card by the referee, putting to bed once and for all the ridiculous arguments that the 20-minute red card had undermined the referee’s ability to correctly sanction egregious foul play.
“Etzebeth received a full red card because his actions were on a totally different level of violence when compared to accidental head contact in a mistimed tackle. Our regulators have correctly changed the sanctions to differentiate between the two.”
Tributes paid to Welsh club stalwart
A Welsh rugby club has paid tribute to its former captain and long-serving chairman, who has died.
Wil Martin served as chairman of Clwb Rygbi Pwllheli for over 30 years and made an “immeasurable contribution” to shaping the club’s success over the years. He had previously represented the club on the pitch, serving as captain.
Paying tribute in a statement, the club said: “It is with great sadness that the club received the news today of the passing of Wil Martin. As an ex player,captain and chairman for over 30 years,Wil was responsible above all others for the success and the standing of the club today.
“Generations of players are grateful for his organisational skills and support bringing long periods of success for the club’s teams,organising many tours to foreign climes and winning many trophies on the way. Wil’s contribution to rugby on Llŷn is immeasurable and his loss today will be sorely felt by many.
“The club’s condolences go out to Dilys, David, Bethan and Geraint and all the grandchildren who will suffer his loss tonight and over the weeks and months to come,” the statement continued.
“Wil’s wider family and world wide network of friends will tonight be reflecting on and celebrating their times and shared experiences together. Thank you for your tireless work,Will.”
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