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20th January 2024
01:13pm GMT

'The Bristol Bears second row, Josh Caulfield, has had his red card overturned following an independent Disciplinary Hearing arising from his club’s Investec Champions Cup, Round 4 match against Connacht Rugby at the Dexcom Stadium. 'Caulfield was sent off by the referee, Pierre Brousset (France), in the 13th minute of the match for stamping on the Connacht Rugby prop, Finlay Bealham, in contravention of Law 9.12 - A player must not stamp on an opponent Under World Rugby’s Sanctions for Foul Play, Law 9.12, stamping or trampling, carries the following sanction entry points - Low End: 2 weeks; Mid-range: 6 weeks; Top end: 12 to 52 weeks. An independent Disciplinary Committee comprising Paul Thomas (Wales), Chair, Marcello D’Orey (Portugal) and Stefan Terblanche (South Africa) viewed footage of the incident and heard evidence by video conference from Caulfield who did not accept that he had committed an act of foul play. The committee also heard submissions from the player’s legal representative, Sam Jones. Also present on the conference call were the Bristol Bears Director of Rugby, Pat Lam, the Bristol Bears Team Manager, Jack Targett, and the EPCR Disciplinary Officer, Liam McTiernan. The committee determined that Caulfield had committed an act of foul play, however, it found that the offence did not warrant a red card, and the red card decision was therefore overturned. Caulfield is free to play immediately and EPCR has the right to appeal the decision.Connacht took advantage of their extra man and were 17-3 up at the break, after tries from Jack Augnier and Caolin Blade. An Andrew Smith try, in the second half, secured the bonus point. Connacht will only advance if Saracens lose their home game to Lyon, and do not pick up any sort of bonus point. *Join SportsJOE’s WhatsApp community for first access to news, sports updates, and quizzes. Click on this link to receive news and the latest sports headlines directly to your phone. You can leave the group at any time.
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