THE TESTIMONY OF Ireland interim head coach Simon Easterby and an email from the IRFU to Leinster were key in ensuring that Garry Ringrose will be available for the final game of the Six Nations against Italy in two weekends.
Ringrose was given a three-game suspension after his red card against Wales in Cardiff two weekends ago, although his application to go through ‘tackle school’ means it will be reduced to a two-game ban.
His suspension includes this weekend’s big clash with France but Ireland will have him back for their Super Saturday clash with Italy in Rome on 15 March.
An independent disciplinary committee decided that Leinster’s game against Cardiff in the URC last Saturday during the second Six Nations fallow week would be included in Ringrose’s ban, causing confusion and consternation in France, among other places.
France out-half Romain Ntamack was earlier handed a two-game suspension after his red card against Wales in les Bleus’ Six Nations opener, but his ban covered two Six Nations games and did not include Toulouse’s Top 14 clash with Clermont during the first Six Nations fallow week in between.
Ntamack is set to return for France against Ireland in Dublin this Saturday.
The Fédération Française de Rugby has contacted the Six Nations for an explanation as to why Ringrose’s suspension included a club game, whereas Ntamack was not entitled to use a Toulouse match as part of his ban.
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The written report from Ringrose’s independent disciplinary hearing outlines why his suspension included the Leinster game.
Easterby took part in the online disciplinary hearing and explained that “with three world-class centres in the current Ireland squad,” Ringrose’s game time in this Six Nations so far had been “limited.”
Ringrose started Ireland’s opener against England and played the full 80 before coming off the bench in their win over Scotland, playing 23 minutes. Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw started that clash with the Scots before Ringrose returned in place of Aki against Wales.
As such, Easterby said “the decision had been made to release” Ringrose to Leinster for their clash with Cardiff in the first fallow week.
Ringrose was shown a 20-minute red card against Wales. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Furthermore, Eastery told the independent committee that part of the reason for releasing Ringrose to Leinster “was to allow him the chance to play in a different position in order that Ireland can consider using [Ringrose] on the wing as well as in the centre.”
The independent committee were shown an e-mail sent by the IRFU to Leinster on 24 February which confirmed that Ringrose was included in the list of Ireland squad players released to Leinster for the match against Cardiff.
Ireland had played Wales on 22 February, so the email from the IRFU to Leinster was sent after that game and before Ringrose’s disciplinary hearing on 27 February.
Taking all of the above into account, the independent disciplinary panel – made up of ex-Springbok Stefan Terblanche, ex-England centre Leon Lloyd, and Matthew Weaver KC – decided that Ringrose “had been expected to play at least some part” in Leinster’s clash with Cardiff and that the URC game should count towards Ringrose’s ban.
This was different to the Ntamack case, which may seem extremely similar but had some unique circumstances.
In this instance, the independent disciplinary committee – made up of ex-Wallaby John Langford, former international referee Donal Courtney, and Stephen Hardy – didn’t feel there was enough certainty that Ntamack would have played for Toulouse.
“There is no direct evidence confirming that the Player was fit, available and expected to play in that match” against Clermont, was their sense of the matter.
Ntamack was sent off in France’s opening game of the Six Nations against Wales, meaning they had another game against England before the first fallow week of the championship.
Ntamack was shown a 20-minute red card against Wales. Manuel Blondeau / INPHO
Manuel Blondeau / INPHO / INPHO
“Establishing that a player was ‘expected to play’ for his club in the first fallow week is very difficult in the context of red cards/citations following Six Nations match week 1 fixtures,” is how the independent disciplinary panel put it.
It took them several additional days to confirm that the Toulouse game wouldn’t be part of the suspension, with confirmation of Ntamack’s ban originally stating that he was suspended for France’s game against England but that “confirmation of the remaining match(es) to be missed will be confirmed in due course.”
There was lots of detail provided in the Ntamack case, with several references to the official agreement between the FFR and the LNR regarding ‘designated players’ who aren’t released back to the Top 14 clubs in fallow weeks.
But it essentially boiled down to the testimony provided by France boss Fabien Galthié, which was in contrast to Easterby’s.
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Galthié confirmed that he “would have waited to see Mr Ntamack’s performance in match week 2 [against England] to make that decision” as to whether the out-half would have been released back to Toulouse in the first fallow week.
While Galthié said Ntamack “may have benefited from further game time for Toulouse against high quality opposition,” he accepted that Ntamack’s quality and importance to France meant “he might seem an obvious choice for designation in this tournament.”
Galthié concluded by pointing out that “it’s difficult to be categoric” about whether Ntamack would have been released to Toulouse until after France had played England.
With all of that in mind, the independent committee felt that “the key decision maker [Galthié] who is ultimately responsible for determining which players are allowed to play for their clubs, is still not certain that [Ntamack] would have been permitted” to play for Toulouse against Clermont.
As such, they decided that the Clermont game would not be included in Ntamack’s ban.
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Why Garry Ringrose's ban included Leinster's game against Cardiff
THE TESTIMONY OF Ireland interim head coach Simon Easterby and an email from the IRFU to Leinster were key in ensuring that Garry Ringrose will be available for the final game of the Six Nations against Italy in two weekends.
Ringrose was given a three-game suspension after his red card against Wales in Cardiff two weekends ago, although his application to go through ‘tackle school’ means it will be reduced to a two-game ban.
His suspension includes this weekend’s big clash with France but Ireland will have him back for their Super Saturday clash with Italy in Rome on 15 March.
An independent disciplinary committee decided that Leinster’s game against Cardiff in the URC last Saturday during the second Six Nations fallow week would be included in Ringrose’s ban, causing confusion and consternation in France, among other places.
France out-half Romain Ntamack was earlier handed a two-game suspension after his red card against Wales in les Bleus’ Six Nations opener, but his ban covered two Six Nations games and did not include Toulouse’s Top 14 clash with Clermont during the first Six Nations fallow week in between.
Ntamack is set to return for France against Ireland in Dublin this Saturday.
The Fédération Française de Rugby has contacted the Six Nations for an explanation as to why Ringrose’s suspension included a club game, whereas Ntamack was not entitled to use a Toulouse match as part of his ban.
The written report from Ringrose’s independent disciplinary hearing outlines why his suspension included the Leinster game.
Easterby took part in the online disciplinary hearing and explained that “with three world-class centres in the current Ireland squad,” Ringrose’s game time in this Six Nations so far had been “limited.”
Ringrose started Ireland’s opener against England and played the full 80 before coming off the bench in their win over Scotland, playing 23 minutes. Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw started that clash with the Scots before Ringrose returned in place of Aki against Wales.
As such, Easterby said “the decision had been made to release” Ringrose to Leinster for their clash with Cardiff in the first fallow week.
Furthermore, Eastery told the independent committee that part of the reason for releasing Ringrose to Leinster “was to allow him the chance to play in a different position in order that Ireland can consider using [Ringrose] on the wing as well as in the centre.”
The independent committee were shown an e-mail sent by the IRFU to Leinster on 24 February which confirmed that Ringrose was included in the list of Ireland squad players released to Leinster for the match against Cardiff.
Ireland had played Wales on 22 February, so the email from the IRFU to Leinster was sent after that game and before Ringrose’s disciplinary hearing on 27 February.
Taking all of the above into account, the independent disciplinary panel – made up of ex-Springbok Stefan Terblanche, ex-England centre Leon Lloyd, and Matthew Weaver KC – decided that Ringrose “had been expected to play at least some part” in Leinster’s clash with Cardiff and that the URC game should count towards Ringrose’s ban.
This was different to the Ntamack case, which may seem extremely similar but had some unique circumstances.
In this instance, the independent disciplinary committee – made up of ex-Wallaby John Langford, former international referee Donal Courtney, and Stephen Hardy – didn’t feel there was enough certainty that Ntamack would have played for Toulouse.
“There is no direct evidence confirming that the Player was fit, available and expected to play in that match” against Clermont, was their sense of the matter.
Ntamack was sent off in France’s opening game of the Six Nations against Wales, meaning they had another game against England before the first fallow week of the championship.
“Establishing that a player was ‘expected to play’ for his club in the first fallow week is very difficult in the context of red cards/citations following Six Nations match week 1 fixtures,” is how the independent disciplinary panel put it.
It took them several additional days to confirm that the Toulouse game wouldn’t be part of the suspension, with confirmation of Ntamack’s ban originally stating that he was suspended for France’s game against England but that “confirmation of the remaining match(es) to be missed will be confirmed in due course.”
There was lots of detail provided in the Ntamack case, with several references to the official agreement between the FFR and the LNR regarding ‘designated players’ who aren’t released back to the Top 14 clubs in fallow weeks.
But it essentially boiled down to the testimony provided by France boss Fabien Galthié, which was in contrast to Easterby’s.
Galthié confirmed that he “would have waited to see Mr Ntamack’s performance in match week 2 [against England] to make that decision” as to whether the out-half would have been released back to Toulouse in the first fallow week.
While Galthié said Ntamack “may have benefited from further game time for Toulouse against high quality opposition,” he accepted that Ntamack’s quality and importance to France meant “he might seem an obvious choice for designation in this tournament.”
Galthié concluded by pointing out that “it’s difficult to be categoric” about whether Ntamack would have been released to Toulouse until after France had played England.
With all of that in mind, the independent committee felt that “the key decision maker [Galthié] who is ultimately responsible for determining which players are allowed to play for their clubs, is still not certain that [Ntamack] would have been permitted” to play for Toulouse against Clermont.
As such, they decided that the Clermont game would not be included in Ntamack’s ban.
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