Johannesburg – Sharks prop Ox Nche pleaded “not guilty” of a red card offence when he faced an EPCR disciplinary hearing on Tuesday, but he was nevertheless found guilty and suspended for three weeks.
That means his rugby for 2022 is over and he cannot play in the Sharks’ Heineken Cup match against Bordeaux (Friday night) as well as their United Rugby Championship derbies against the Lions (23 December) and Bulls (31 December).
During the Sharks’ 39-31 victory over Harlequins over the weekend, Nche was sent off by the referee, Tual Trainini (France), in the 59th minute for tackling the Harlequins hooker, Jack Walker, in a dangerous manner.
An independent Disciplinary Committee comprising Declan Goodwin (Wales), Samantha Hillas (England) and Martyn Wood (England) considered video footage of the incident and heard submissions from Nche, who did not accept the red card decision.
Michael Horak, the Sharks’ High-Performance Manager, and André Barnard, the Sharks’ Head of Team Culture, were also present on the video link.
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The committee upheld the red card decision, finding that in executing the tackle in a dangerous manner, Nche had made contact with Walker’s head. It then determined that the offence was at the mid-range of World Rugby’s sanctions and six weeks was selected as the appropriate entry point.
As the player has a good disciplinary record, and as there were no aggravating factors, it was decided to grant him the full 50% mitigation, and the suspension was reduced by three weeks and Nche is free to play from 2 January 2023.
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