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Michael Rhodes cleared to play in Saracens' semi-final in Paris

22 Sep 2020

(Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images)

Saracens have received a major boost ahead of their Heineken Champions Cup semi-final as flanker Michael Rhodes has had his citing dismissed at an independent disciplinary hearing.

The South African was man of the match in the quarter-final win over Leinster last Saturday but he learned on Monday that he had been cited for allegedly head-butting Robbie Henshaw in the second minute of the Aviva Stadium victory.

A ban would have ruled Rhodes out of the semi-final trip to Paris but it was confirmed by tournament organisers EPCR on Tuesday night that the back row has been cleared to play and is available for Saracens selection to face Racing 92.

Will rugby clubs in England be able to survive six months without any fans coming in through the turnstiles?

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Will rugby clubs in England be able to survive six months without any fans coming in through the turnstiles?

A statement from EPCR read: “Rhodes was alleged to have committed an act of foul play in that he struck the Leinster centre, Robbie Henshaw, with his head in the second minute of the match at the Aviva Stadium in contravention of Law 9.12 – striking with the head.

“The complaint was made by the match citing commissioner, Beth Dickens (Scotland). An independent disciplinary committee comprising Simon Thomas (Wales), Frank Hadden (Scotland) and Val Toma (Romania) heard evidence by video conference from Rhodes, who did not accept the charge.

An all-time #HeinekenChampionsCup classic between two giants of European rugby ?
Relive the best bits from @Saracens' sensational win in Dublin over @leinsterrugby ?? pic.twitter.com/h4W9U0jxp8
— Investec Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) September 20, 2020

“They also heard from the player’s legal representative, Paul Harris QC and from the EPCR disciplinary officer, Liam McTiernan. The Saracens director of rugby, Mark McCall, and the Saracens team manager, Warrick Lang, were also present.

“The committee decided that Rhodes had committed an act of foul play. However, it was not proven to the required standard that contact had been made to Henshaw’s head. The committee concluded that the act of foul play did not warrant a red card and the citing complaint was therefore dismissed.

“Rhodes is free to play and EPCR has the right to appeal the decision.”

Look who's back ?https://t.co/dBQ8prAZH6
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 22, 2020

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Billy 11 minutes ago

'Matches between Les Bleus and the All Blacks are rarely for the faint-hearted.'

There are two solutions to this ABs vs France issue.

a) NZ (or any other Southern Hemisphere side for that matter) field their best team and put record scores on France.

b) Don’t play them.

All Southern Hemisphere sides boycott them, Galthie and the FFR with their logic will understand.

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YeowNotEven 1 hour ago

Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

Would have been awesome to have a Bledisloe ANZAC game.

It would suck if they had it in Perth every year though. Gotta get it to Eden park.

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Spew_81 1 hour ago

Hurricanes vs Waratahs takes: The yellow wall in midfield, Tahs backs outshined

Love should get some time at 10. He’s clearly got the ability to be a second playmaker, but primarily at 15. Some time at 10, even just standing at first receiver, will only help his playmaking skills. He set up two tries with good distribution.

He kicks goals well. He could be a second B Barrett. But keep his main position at 15.

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SG 2 hours ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

England have absolutely no need for him. Tom Willis and Ben Earl are better with a much higher work rate.

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JW 2 hours ago

'Ulster, though no one wants to admit it, isn't much more than a development province right now.'

No full games on the IRU YT channel unfortunately, all on subscription? Looks a fairly good level (1A).

Yes I mean I wouldn’t really know the local ratio of origin here, but certainly as a province with less resources mine has a ratio that veers heavily towards club rep. The club stories are often the best so get probably an imbalanced proportion of coverage to where most players actually come from though.

Those were a couple of Ulster (regional) clubs too, good good. Those clubs/size towns are very much where you find most talent coming from (compared to the big city), so your productivity depends very much on your systems in place for scouting talent. With the more wealthy and popular sport of NRL (hence more info out there) I’ve seen some interesting studies on player origins in this respect, which I think would be a very balanced base of data to draw conclusions from.

Yes I’m wondering how those names as examples compare to the likes of Bryne getting squeezed out for a lack of places. I’m only thinking of effects far down the line as a result of Irelands #1 ranking and increased publicity/interest and how Irelands system will take advantage of them.

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GP 2 hours ago

James O'Connor earns first Crusaders start against Moana Pasifika

Regarding the Crusaders side . Great to see promising young lock Jamie Hannah back in the starting team. He has certainly been through the mill since debuting for the Crusaders, even before playing for Canterbury. All his hard work has paid off. Antonio Shalfoon , who has been rested for this match has been amazing locking with AB captain Scott Barrett. I really rate Jamie Hannah as one of the best young locks of which there are a few coming through. Including his Canterbury and Crusaders team mate Liam Jack. Father is Graham Jack ,he played for Canterbury and the Crusaders in the 1990’s. Older brother of Chris, who of course was an All Black.

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Andrew Nichols 2 hours ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Gloucester are in the market for a top-class replacement ..Well why would they then be talking to HS?

7 Go to comments

Utiku Old Boy 2 hours ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

I include Cunningham-South. He was born in England but moved to NZ at 4 yrs and learnt his rugby there. His dad was a schoolboy coach. In recent years, Teimana Harrison was - as was Brad Shields.

7 Go to comments

GB 2 hours ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Cunningham-South was born in the UK but raised in NZ.

Makes a good point, wouldn't walk into the English set up.

Better to roll his sleeves up and play himself into the ABs

7 Go to comments

Spew_81 2 hours ago

Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

Not sure what the ethical issue is. If it’s going for the money, it’s either do that or NZ rugby slowly dies as all the better players leave. So it’s the more lesser of two evils. Sell out a bit more as a Union, or the players sell out one by one.

42 Go to comments

Spew_81 2 hours ago

Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

Yes, the team was similar. But the two locks made a huge difference. Kaino wasn’t a lock and Tuipolutu has only very recently started playing close to his potential (his work rate was terrible until recently).

The Irish lineout maul wouldn’t have been the weapon it was on that day if Hansen started Whitelock and Retallick (or even two proper locks). Though they wouldn’t have been guaranteed to win.

Doing the new haka when the Irish were mourning a great of theirs didn’t help. The action at the end of that haka has been interpreted negatively and some see it as a but disrespectful.

Still if the All Blacks did their normal haka they wouldn’t have been guaranteed to win.

42 Go to comments

Koro Teeps 2 hours ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Absolutely no certainty he would make the current English squad. He’s not in the All Black conversation either. Physical, explosive player with ball in hand but sometimes struggles to impose himself fully on all aspects of the game.

7 Go to comments

DC 3 hours ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Who are the Kiwis (plural)? The only one I can think of is Ethan Root.

7 Go to comments

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