Suspended: Fabrice Estebanez
Racing Métro centre Fabrice Estebanez has been suspended for four weeks after striking Saracens winger David Strettle.
Estebanez was alleged to have struck Strettle with his arm during the first half of the match at Stade de la Beaujoire.
The Judicial Officer upheld the complaint and found that Estebanez had committed a reckless act. He determined that the act was in the mid-range (5 weeks) of the IRB's sanctioning regime and taking into account the limited mitigating factors of the player's remorse and good conduct during the hearing, the Judicial Officer reduced the suspension by one week.
Estebanez will be free to play on Monday, 11 February 2013.
Meanwhile, Stade Français player Juan Cruz Guillemain has been suspended for five weeks for striking Grenoble's Fabien Alexandre with his head during the second half of the match at Stade Lesdiguières.
The Judicial Officer determined that the act was in the mid-range (10 weeks) of the IRB's sanctioning regime and taking into account the player's clean disciplinary record, his guilty plea, his remorse, his inexperience and his exemplary conduct during the hearing, the Judicial Officer reduced the suspension by the maximum 50 per cent permitted.
Guillemain will be free to play on Monday, 18 February 2013.
Comments
Bones7 says...
Oh Fabrice, what a clown. I really rate Estebanez, he's got a touch of class and quality to his game that not many 12s do. His distribution and footwork are really top drawer, as you'd expect from a league player and I think he deserved a few more caps. I have to agree with shrimps here though, Hore's 5 week ban for 1 reckless elbow compared to 4 for an incident that while not as bad appeared to be more premeditated
Posted 11:18 18th January 2013
pierredelot1 says...
Fair sanction and always remember that his name is now out there in lights. Any more petty rubbish like that and he's going to get hammered. French commentary at the time said he was in for a hefty ban.
Posted 10:12 18th January 2013
Iyhel says...
Can't see any mitigating factors when one sees the rest of the match and a continued 'reckless' attitude.
Posted 10:11 18th January 2013
shrimps says...
I know he was cited for this incident alone, but the player did this more than once in the match, I saw it at least one other time and apparently I missed one. not to mention just prior to this he was caught on camera blatantly and forcibly blocking another player with his shoulder while he was mid run.
considering hore's ban was 5 weeeks, and this was a similar incident, i feel this player should have gotten more as he was clearly out to hurt other players outside the laws of the game.
Posted 21:02 17th January 2013
rugby_rockstar says...
it was reckless but I'm not going to call for the bonfires to be lit and start selling bags of stones to the mob.
Posted 16:19 17th January 2013