‘Wholly unacceptable’ Steve Diamond handed hefty ban after verbally abusing match officials
Newcastle Falcons director of rugby Steve Diamond.
Newcastle Falcons director of rugby Steve Diamond has received a six-match suspension after being found guilt of verbal abuse of match officials by the Rugby Football Union (RFU).
Diamond learned his fate after an RFU disciplinary panel reviewed two incidents from him towards the match officials after Newcastle’s Premiership clash with Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park on Saturday, March 29.
An independent disciplinary panel convened on Friday to review two incidents of abuse from Diamond towards the TMO and match officials following Newcastle‘s Premiership encounter against Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park on Saturday, March 29.
Exeter clinched narrow victory
The Falcons held the lead for the entire second-half before Greg Fisilau scored a try in the game’s dying moments to secure a narrow 17-15 victory for the home side.
Diamond was upset by what happened in the build-up to Fisilau’s five-pointer, as Tamati Tua made contact with Alex Hearle at a ruck, but it was not reviewed by the TMO, and the Chiefs would go on to score just one minute later.
Speaking to the media after the game, Diamond vented his frustrations on the incident, calling it a “clear act of foul play”.
The disciplinary panel was chaired by Sam Hillas KC sitting with fellow members Becky Essex and Martyn Wood.
Hillas said: “Mr Diamond’s behaviour on 29 March was wholly unacceptable: the language used was inappropriate, abusive and entirely contrary to rugby’s core values.
“There is no place for abuse of match officials and this applies with equal force whether dealing with the professional or community game.
Diamond ‘ apologised to the match officials for his conduct’
“Mr Diamond has, quite rightly, apologised to the match officials for his conduct on the day and the panel has made it clear that this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated and should not be repeated.
“Mr Diamond accepted that his conduct was prejudicial to the interests of the game.
“The two issues for the panel were, firstly whether the words used towards the TMO amounted to disrespect or verbal abuse of a match official and secondly, whether the circumstances of what happened after the match gave rise to two separate charges.
“The panel determined that Mr Diamond’s course of conduct should be dealt with as one charge of verbal abuse.
“This offence was charged as a breach of RFU rule 5.12 and, as such, the panel was not bound by the sanctions table.
“The panel had regard to the entry points for breaches of law 9.28 (match official abuse) as well as the relevant mitigating and aggravating features and determined a ban of six weeks was proportionate in all the circumstances.
“The full judgment will be made available in due course.”
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