Nine weeks of bans doled out following three red cards in single Prem game

The three players who received red cards during the Wasps versus Leicester game last weekend have been haned down their bans.

Leicester’s Jasper Wiese has been banned for four weeks and team-mate Hanro Liebenberg for two weeks following an online disciplinary hearing.

Wiese was suspended for dangerous play after catching the head of an opposition player and Liebenberg for tackling the jumper, Josh Bassett, against Wasps on Saturday.

Nigel Owens talks red cards:

Nigel Owens talks red cards:

Wasps’ Kieran Brookes has been banned for three weeks for a dangerous tackle on Leicester’s Tomas Lavanini in the same match.

All three players were shown a red card by referee Craig Maxwell-Keys and accepted the charges.

Independent panel statement – Wiese hearing:
“Jasper Van Der Weshuizen Wiese of Leicester Tigers appeared on 24 February 2021 at a remote hearing before a RFU Disciplinary panel (Sir James Dingemans QC, Becky Essex and Rob Vickerman) and accepted that he had committed the offence of dangerous play in a ruck or maul, contrary to law 9.20a, in the match between Leicester Tigers and Wasps on 20 February 2021 by making contact with the head of a Wasps player. The Wasps player had a head injury assessment and was fit to return to play in the match, and subsequent investigations have shown no injury to the Wasps player. As this was an act of foul play which resulted in contact with the head at least a mid-range entry point was required by RFU Regulation 19. It was determined that this was a mid-range entry point which was 6 weeks. It was common ground that there was no aggravating factors. The mitigation available to the player was reduced to 33 per cent because of two previous relevant disciplinary matters,. This meant that the sanction was a suspension of 4 weeks. The player is suspended until 22 March 2021 and will be free to play from 23 March 2021.”

Independent panel statement – Brookes hearing:
“Kieran Brookes of Wasps FC Tigers appeared on 24 February 2021 at a remote hearing before a RFU Disciplinary panel (Sir James Dingemans QC, Becky Essex and Rob Vickerman) and accepted that he had committed the offence of a dangerous tackle, contrary to law 9.13 in the match between Leicester Tigers and Wasps on 20 February 2021 by making contact with the head of a Leicester Tigers player. The Leicester Tigers player continued to play and remains fit to play. As this was an act of foul play which resulted in contact with the head at least a mid-range entry point was required by RFU Regulation 19. It was determined that this was a mid-range entry point of 6 weeks. There were no aggravating factors and full mitigation of 50 per cent was applied. This resulted in a sanction of 3 weeks. The player is suspended until 15 March 2021 and will be free to play from 16 March 2021.”

Independent panel statement – Liebenberg hearing:
“Hanro Liebenberg of Leicester Tigers FC Tigers appeared on 24 February 2021 at a remote hearing before a RFU Disciplinary panel (Sir James Dingemans QC, Becky Essex and Rob Vickerman) and accepted that he had committed the offence of tackling the jumper in the air, contrary to law 9.17 in the match between Leicester Tigers and Wasps on 20 February 2021 when he had come into contact with a Wasps player who was in the air. When falling to the ground the Wasps player managed to place his hands above his head to avoid injury when landing and the Wasps player continued to play and remains fit to play. This was determined to be a low-end entry point which is 4 weeks. Full mitigation of 50 per cent was applied. This resulted in a sanction of 2 weeks. The player is suspended until 8 March 2021 and will be free to play on 9 March 2021.”