Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Banned Brad Shields cleared to play again with immediate effect

(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Brad Shields has been cleared to play for Wasps with immediate effect after his appeal against a four-match ban was successful. The ex-England international was suspended following his red card for a tackle in last Sunday’s Heineken Champions Cup loss to Munster. The sending-off by referee Romain Poite was viewed as very harsh, yet the New Zealander had the red card decision upheld at a disciplinary hearing and was set to miss this weekend’s European game at Toulouse and three Gallagher Premiership matches. 

ADVERTISEMENT

Wasps were furious with the outcome and their coach Lee Blackett explained on Wednesday at his weekly media conference that they would be appealing the verdict. They were right to do so as Shields was successful in arguing his case, is now free to play again and was named as his team’s skipper for their round two match in France but that fixture was ultimately postponed on Friday because of new travel restrictions brought in by the French government.

An EPCR statement read: “Brad Shields has had his appeal against a four-week suspension upheld following a hearing by video conference before an independent appeal committee on Thursday.

Video Spacer

Ali Price guests on the latest RugbyPass Offload

Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
Duration 59:28
Loaded: 0%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time 59:28
 
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions off, selected
    • en (Main), selected
    Video Spacer

    Ali Price guests on the latest RugbyPass Offload

    “Shields was sent off by referee Romain Poite during his club’s Heineken Champions Cup round one match against Munster for tackling prop Dave Kilcoyne in a dangerous manner in contravention of law 9.13 and was subsequently suspended by an independent disciplinary committee. 

    “The independent appeal committee comprising James Dingemans (England) chair, Donal Courtney (Ireland) and Roddy Dunlop (Scotland) considered video imagery of the incident and heard submissions from Shields, from Wasps team manager Dave Bassett, and from EPCR disciplinary officer Liam McTiernan. 

    “The appeal committee agreed with the original decision that the red card threshold was passed. However, it decided that the disciplinary committee was wrong to find that there was no on-field mitigation. The appeal committee determined that there was on-field mitigation in that there was a late change in the dynamics of the tackle due to the tackle of another Wasps player, Thomas Young. This reduced the red card to a yellow card for the purposes of World Rugby’s head contact process. Therefore the appeal was upheld, and Shields is free to play.”

    “He is desperate to play,” explained Blackett at his Wednesday media briefing. “He probably feels harshly done a little bit but honestly we have not had loads of conversations about it, we were talking about other things. We were hoping we would get a positive result from last night, which we have not and whatever will happen will happen. Brad is the ultimate team man and he was gutted on the day, but he has reacted positively and has been leading out on the field on both training days we have done this week.”

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Shields, who last month spoke at length to RugbyPass about the first-ever red card in his career which he received in September for two yellow-carded maul offences, had his tackle versus Munster ranked as a six-week entry point at his hearing and the fact he contested the charge meant he then didn’t receive the usual 50 per cent mitigation and was banned for four weeks rather than three.

    There was mainly surprise that the original decision was a red card, pundits such as Andy Goode calling out the outcome reached by referee Poite, “He is what is known as a cowboy,” said Goode on this week’s Rugby Pod. “He is French, he is an absolute cowboy of a referee, Romain Poite, with that decision to send off Brad Shields with a red card. It is never a red. It doesn’t even make contact with his head for me.”

    WASPS (vs Toulouse, Sunday)
    15. Zach Kibirige; 14. Francois Hougaard, 13. Josh Bassett, 12. Michael Le Bourgeois, 11. Luke Mehson; 10. Jimmy Gopperth, 9. Sam Wolstenholme; 1. Tom West, 2. Dan Frost, 3. Biyi Alo, 4. Vaea Fifita, 5. Tim Cardall, 6. Brad Shields (capt), 7. Thomas Young, 8. Alfie Barbeary. Reps: 16. Michael van Vuuren, 17. Robin Hislop, 18. Pieter Scholtz 19. Kieran Curran, 20. Nizaam Carr, 21. Will Porter, 22. Rob Miller, 23. Alex McHenry.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    England A vs Ireland A | Full Match Replay

    HSBC SVNS Vancouver | Men's Day Three Highlights

    HSBC SVNS Vancouver | Women's Day Three Highlights

    "I would love to play with Siya Kolisi" | HSBC Life on Tour | Vancouver

    Kubota Spears vs Shizuoka BlueRevs | JRLO 2024/2025 | Full Match Replay

    Behind the Scenes with the Stars of the Kenya Rugby Sevens Team | HSBC SVNS Embedded | Episode 7

    O2 Inside Line: This Rose | Episode 3 | France Week

    Watch now: Lomu - The Lost Tapes

    Trending on RugbyPass

    Comments

    0 Comments
    Be the first to comment...

    Join free and tell us what you really think!

    Sign up for free
    ADVERTISEMENT

    Latest Features

    Comments on RugbyPass

    b
    bryan li wong 26 minutes ago
    Chiefs head coach apologises to midfielder on 50th appearance

    HOW CAN I RECOVER MY LOST CRYPTO (BTC, USDT) investment.

    It's very easy when you contact: Trojanhack@qualityservice.com

    Hi Guys, I'm Bryan Li wong from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ok let me start this way.

    Though At first i was very skeptical when a friend Davies Frank from Chicago Illinois told me about them and how they were able to help him recovered his Crypto Loss during the Covid 19 pandermic.

    I was a victim of a Fake Forex Trading Guru Investment online in 2023 and i was so gullible to get scammed to the tone of 254,650 USDT. i believed them after seeing multiples of their trade result online. little did i know they were all scam and i was so foolish to fell for such stunt. i got depressed and my whole world was shattered as a result of my heavy mistakes.

    I couldnt' withdraw my USDT profit from them. they came up with stories and they kept demanding for more and more from me and it was them i confirmed further they were syndicates.

    it was such a terrible and ugly ordeals i went through.

    After contacting TROJANHACK CYBER SECURITY COMPANY, i experienced a life changing recovery process, they were able to trace and recovered all for me within 4 days.

    Their team are the best and very good at what they do. which if not could have been my life's greatest mishap. I am forever indebted to this reputable company (TROJANHACK CYBER SECURITY COMPANY) and i know there are thousands of people who are undergoing same situation as mine and for that reason i'd be listing their contact details once again which are as follows:

    Email: Trojanhack@qualityservice.com

    Whatsapp: +1 8 0 2 681 3837

    Telegram: @Trojanhackqservice

    1 Go to comments
    D
    Dominique Wilburn 1 hour ago
    Rassie Erasmus names Springboks squad of 56 for March meet-up

    It started with a dream—a dream of financial independence, of escaping the grind and securing a future for my family. Like many others, I was drawn to the world of cryptocurrency. The stories of people striking it rich with Bitcoin were everywhere, and I thought, why not me? That’s when I stumbled upon an online investment platform promising astronomical returns. I invested a substantial amount of my savings, believing I was on the path to financial freedom.But within weeks, everything fell apart. The platform vanished overnight. Emails bounced back, phone numbers were disconnected, and my funds were gone. I felt like I had been hit by a truck. The weight of my mistake was crushing I had not only lost my savings but also jeopardized my family’s future. I was drowning in guilt, anger, and despair, unsure of where to turn.That’s when I found Washington Recovery Pro. At first, I was skeptical. How could anyone recover money from anonymous Bitcoin scammers? But I was desperate, and I decided to give them a shot,from the moment I reached out, Washington Recovery Pro was different. They listened to my story with genuine empathy and assured me that they had helped countless others in my situation.They specialized in tracing cryptocurrency transactions, uncovering the identities of scammers, and working with international authorities to recover stolen funds. Their transparency gave me hope. Finally, the breakthrough came. They had traced my funds to a series of wallets and identified the individuals behind the scam. Through their network of legal and law enforcement partners, they initiated a recovery process.The day I received the news that a significant portion of my funds had been recovered was one of the happiest of my life. Washington Recovery Pro had not only given me back my money but also restored my faith in justice.Reach out to them Via..

     Email~WashingtonRecoveryPro@engineer.com WhatsApp ~‪+1 (903) 249‑8633‬ Telegram ~https://t.me/Washingtonrecoverypro

    4 Go to comments
    LONG READ
    LONG READ Brendan Fanning: 'Wales have been insulted by the degree of arrogance abroad on this side of the Irish Sea.' Brendan Fanning: 'Wales have been insulted by the degree of arrogance abroad on this side of the Irish Sea.'
    Search