World Cup's pattern of red card punishments filters down into PRO14

Benetton’s Marco Lazzaroni has been banned for a period of three weeks as a result of his red card in the Guinness PRO14 round three fixture with Ospreys on October 12.

Lazzaroni was shown a red card by referee Frank Murphy under Law 9.13 – “A player must not tackle an opponent early, late or dangerously.

“Dangerous tackling includes, but is not limited to, tackling or attempting to tackle an opponent above the line of the shoulders even if the tackle starts below the line of the shoulders.”

The disciplinary hearing was handled by Roddy Dunlop (Scotland) and it was accepted that the player’s actions were not deliberate but warranted a red card for foul play. 

The incident was deemed to be a mid-range offence which carries a six-week suspension. The player’s previous clean disciplinary record, acceptance of his actions and remorse shown warranted application of 50 per cent mitigation which brought Lazzaroni’s ban to three weeks.

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That leaves him free to resume playing from midnight on Sunday, November 10.

Most of the red card suspensions meted out at the World Cup in Japan have similarly resulted in six-week entry points where the sanction in most cases has been reduced to three weeks. 

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