Ross Moriarty banned for four weeks

Wales number eight Ross Moriarty has received a four-week ban for his stranglehold on Nicolas Sanchez in the 30-12 victory over Argentina last Saturday.

The incident, which took place right at the end of the game, slightly soured a contest that was almost altogether played in good spirit.

Moriarty admitted the act of foul play, accepted the red card and will face a ban of four weeks, making him unavailable for the Dragons’ first PRO14 match of the season.

The 24-year-old bid farewell to Gloucester last season, where he spent six seasons and his signing is seen as a major coup for the Dragons.

“Having conducted a detailed review of all the available evidence, the Independent Judicial Committee deemed the offence to be at the mid-range scale of seriousness, which has an entry point of six weeks,” read an independent disciplinary judicial statement.

“However, taking into account the aggravating factor that the player did not desist from his actions on the direction of the Assistant Referee (which resulted in an addition of an extra week) and mitigating factors including the player’s immediate apology and disciplinary record (which resulted in a deduction of three weeks), the player was suspended for a period of four weeks.

“The suspension, which is based on Moriarty’s playing schedule, will end following his club’s first match of the 2018/2019 Pro 14 season.”