FRENCH AND TOULOUSE superstar, Antoine Dupont, will miss his club’s Champions Cup game against Munster on December 9.
Dupont has been hit with a four-week ban after recklessly tackling former Toulouse colleague, Cheslin Kolbe, last week in France’s narrow win over South Africa.
Dupont broke Law 9.17 whereby ‘a player must not tackle, charge, pull, push or grasp an opponent whose feet are off the ground‘.
Accordingly, an independent Disciplinary Committee chaired by Stephen Hardy (Australia), joined by former international coach Frank Hadden (Scotland) and former international John Langford (Australia), ruled that Dupont’s act was “reckless” (and not intentional or deliberate).
But after accepting mitigating factors including Dupont’s exemplary prior disciplinary record, the Disciplinary Committee reduced the eight-week/match entry point by four weeks/matches, resulting in a sanction of four weeks/matches.
It means Dupont will now miss France’s game against Japan this weekend, Toulouse’s Top14 games against Lyon and Perpignan and that huge Munster clash on 11 December.
Dupont has the right of appeal within 48 hours.
