England captain gets four-game ban

NEWS: England’s Lewis Ludlow has been banned for four games for foul play in his team’s 70-14 victory over Canada.

The 26-year-old flank, who was leading England for a second successive match, received a yellow card in the 30th minute for striking Canada’s Jake Ilnicki with the knee his past Saturday. Ludlow was subsequently cited.

He appeared before an independent judicial committee and admitted he had committed an act of foul play worthy of a red card.

“The independent Disciplinary Committee chaired by Roddy Dunlop QC (Scotland), joined by former elite player Jamie Corsi (Wales) and former international coach Frank Hadden (Scotland), heard the case, considering all the available evidence, including multiple broadcast angles and submissions from the player and his representative,” said a World Rugby statement.

“The player admitted that he had committed an act of foul play worthy of a red card. Having reviewed all the evidence, the committee deemed that:

“The offence was a breach of Law 9.11 (players must not do anything that is reckless or dangerous to others)

“The foul play was not intentional but was a reckless act

“On that basis, the committee applied World Rugby’s mandatory minimum mid-range entry point for foul play resulting in contact with the head. This resulted in a starting point of a six-match suspension.

“The committee acknowledged mitigating factors including the player’s admission of foul play but noted that the player did not have a clean disciplinary record. Accordingly, the committee reduced the six-match entry point by two matches resulting in a sanction of four matches being imposed.”

Ludlow will miss Gloucester’s matches against Ealing (August 28 and September 4), Hartpury (September 11) and Northampton (September 18).