Sam Underhill cops hefty ban for ‘dangerous’ yellow-carded tackle that left everybody perplexed last Friday night

Sam Underhill won’t play any further part in Bath’s treble trophy chase as he has been slapped with a four-game ban after he was cited for his yellow-carded incident in last Friday’s Challenge Cup final win over Lyon.

The England back-rower was only yellow-carded by referee Hollie Davidson for his brutal head-on-head first-half collision with the ball-carrying Davit Niniashvili, an incident that perplexed social media over the weekend.

Rather than having to defend a 17-5 lead a man down for the remainder of the match, Bath were able to send Underhill back into the fray after just 10 minutes and they went on to comfortably win 37-12.

Underhill, though, was eventually cited for the gruesome head clash and will now miss the remainder of a club campaign where Bath are looking to add Gallagher Premiership glory to their Prem Rugby Cup and Challenge Cup titles.

An EPCR statement read: “Bath flanker Sam Underhill has been suspended for four weeks following the decision of an independent disciplinary committee arising from the Challenge Cup final at the Principality Stadium on May 23.

“Underhill did not accept that it warranted a red card…”

“Underhill was cited by the match citing commissioner, Philippe Lenne (Belgium), for tackling Lyon full-back Davit Niniashvili in a dangerous manner in contravention of law 9.13. An independent disciplinary committee comprising Pamela Woodman (Scotland, Chair), Stefan Terblanche (South Africa) and Donal Courtney (Ireland) heard the case by video conference on Tuesday.

“Underhill accepted that he had committed an act of foul play, but did not accept that it warranted a red card. The independent disciplinary committee upheld the complaint, finding that Underhill had tackled Niniashvili in a dangerous manner that warranted a red card and it determined that the offending was at the mid-range of World Rugby’s sanctions and six weeks was selected as the appropriate entry point.

Opinion: The real embarrassment of Sam Underhill’s controversial non-red card

“The committee gave the player credit for his remorse and timely acceptance that he had committed an act of foul play but because of his prior disciplinary record, the committee were only able to discount the entry point sanction by two weeks. They therefore imposed a four-week suspension.

“The date when Underhill can return to play will be determined once his future playing schedule is confirmed. Both the player and EPCR have the right to appeal the decision.”

Underhill’s suspension will affect his England summer tour participation as Bath have only a maximum of three games remaining in their season – this Saturday’s trip to Saracens, a home semi-final and then a potential final on June 14.

Progress to the league decider would mean that Underhill – who was overlooked by Andy Farrell for British and Irish Lions squad selection – would only miss the June 21 uncapped match with a France XV in London.

However, failure by Bath to reach the final would rule the back-rower out of the July 5 Test series opener versus Argentina in Buenos Aires if he is selected to tour.

READ MORE: Ronan O’Gara wades into the Sam Underhill card controversy with two-word tweet and damning emojis