Bordeaux's prop suspended after Pollock incident

NEWS: Bordeaux-Begles prop Jefferson Poirot has been given a two-match ban after grabbing the throat of Northampton’s Henry Pollock after the Champions Cup final.

Tempers flared in Cardiff after the full-time whistle as the French club secured a breakthrough European triumph in a captivating 28-20 battle.

Pollock was involved in a fracas with a number of Bordeaux-Begles players, including the replaced loosehead Poirot.

Poirot accepted that he had committed an act of foul play that warranted a red card, with a four-week entry point cut in half due to his guilty plea and his good disciplinary record.

The loosehead appeared before an independent disciplinary committee this afternoon and accepted he had committed an act of foul play, which warranted a red card. Poirot had been cited for a violation of Law 9.27, which states: “A player must not do anything that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship”.

The independent Disciplinary Committee upheld the complaint, and it determined that the offending was at the low end of World Rugby’s sanctions, and four weeks was selected as the appropriate entry point.

“Taking into account the player’s guilty plea, his good disciplinary record and his full co-operation with the disciplinary process, the Committee decided to reduce the sanction by a maximum of 50% before imposing a two-week suspension,” an EPCR statement said.

Poirot will miss Bordeaux’s final two games of the Top 14 regular season versus Toulon and Vannes, but will be available to return for the play-offs.