The independent Six Nations Disciplinary Committee, chaired by Antony Davies (England) along with John Doubleday (England) and Jean-Noel Couraud (France), having considered the citing report and the television footage and having listened to the player’s explanation, found that the incident, in which the player lifted his opponent beyond a horizontal position but did not bring him to the ground safely contrary to Law 10.4(j) and the IRB’s particular emphasis on this aspect of the game, merited a top end entry to the IRB’s table of sanctions.
The Committee applied an additional two weeks to the entry point of 10 weeks to reflect the need for a deterrent for this type of foul play but, in mitigation, took account of various factors in the player’s favour including his admission of guilt, his previous good disciplinary record and his conduct at the hearing in allowing the maximum possible reduction of five weeks.
Bradley Davies can resume playing on 26 March 2012, and has the right of appeal.
In response the WRU said: The WRU has been informed that a seven week playing ban has been imposed on Bradley Davies by a Six Nations Disciplinary Committee after the lock forward was cited for an incident during the Ireland versus Wales RBS 6 Nations international in Dublin on February 5.
The Disciplinary Committee agreed that there were compelling mitigating factors in the case, including that a guilty plea was entered, an immediate apology was made to Donnacha Ryan and the remorse shown by Bradley Davies for his actions. The Disciplinary Committee accepted that there was no intention to cause any injury.
The WRU will study the findings of the disciplinary committee in full before considering any further comment.
