Argentina loose forward Leonardo Senatore was banned for seven matches on Thursday after being found guilty of biting South Africa lock Eben Etzebeth during Saturday’s test last week.
It means he misses the rest of the Rugby Championship and three matches for his English club Worcester Warriors from now until Oct. 28.
Earlier in the day, teammate Pablo Matera had been found not guilty of allegations of eye-gouging during the same match.
The pair had been cited after a feisty encounter in Mendoza, where South Africa squeezed out a 22-17 triumph.
Separate hearings found the 29-year-old Senatore guilty of contravening laws on “good sportsmanship,” but Matera was cleared.
A judicial hearing heard evidence from two doctors, the referee Steve Walsh and Senatore himself and decided he had bitten on the forearm of Etzebeth in the second half of the test.
A reduced punishment was decided on after judicial officer Terry Willis found Senatore had an unblemished record in 19 tests for Argentina and that there had been provocation from Etzebeth.
“In the absence of any aggravating feature and significant mitigating factors, it was determined that a seven-match suspension was appropriate in the circumstance,” a SANZAR statement said.
The International Rugby Board’s minimum ban for players found guilty of biting is 12 weeks.
The 20-year-old Matera was cited after accusations by Springbok flanker Francois Louw, but his case had a different outcome.
“The judicial officer was not satisfied on the balance of probabilities that there was contact with the eyes or eye gouging such as to constitute a breach of the laws of the game of rugby,” SANZAR said.
ADVANTAGE ATLETICO: Well off the pace in La Liga, the Copa del Rey represents Atletico Madrid’s best chance of silverware this season Atletico Madrid on Thursday hammered Copa del Rey holders Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of their semi-final. After an Eric Garcia own-goal sent Diego Simeone’s side ahead early on, Antoine Griezmann, Ademola Lookman and Julian Alvarez struck to give Atletico a landslide lead by halftime. Barca defender Garcia was sent off in the final stages, with Atletico maintaining their significant advantage on the record 32-time winners, which they take into the second leg at the Camp Nou on March 3. Both sides missed good chances in the second half, with Barca’s Pau Cubarsi having a goal disallowed before Garcia was sent off
Stade Rennais, four days after firing coach Habib Beye, stunned Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 on Friday, snapping the defending champions’ seven-match winning run in French Ligue 1. Second-placed RC Lens could leapfrog the champions and retake top spot last night after press time if they beat Paris FC in the capital. PSG started brightly, with Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue carving openings to no avail. Rennes fired Beye on Monday and promoted his assistant Sebastien Tambouret, and the same players who had lost four games on the bounce seemed transformed. Jordanian forward Mousa al-Tamari bagged the opener, unleashing a fierce strike
Dasun Shanaka hammered the fastest half-century by a Sri Lankan in T20Is as the cohosts thrashed Oman by 105 runs at the World Cup yesterday in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, for their second win in Group B. The 2014 champions piled up 225-5, the highest total of the tournament, before restricting an outclassed Oman to 120-9. The 43-year-old Mohammad Nadeem waged a lone battle for Oman, compiling an unbeaten 53 to become the oldest player to score a 50 in T20 World Cups. Having promoted himself up the order and under pressure to deliver, Sri Lanka skipper Shanaka smashed a 19-ball half-century. It has been
Manchester City FC halved Arsenal FC’s lead at the top of the Premier League with a 3-0 home defeat of Fulham FC, and Aston Villa FC stayed in the frame with a late 1-0 victory at home to Brighton and Hove Albion FC on Wednesday. Nottingham Forest FC squandered a chance to put some distance between themselves and the bottom three as they drew 0-0 at home to bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers FC. Second-from-bottom Burnley FC pulled off a remarkable 3-2 comeback win over Crystal Palace FC to boost their slender survival hopes. City have little margin for error in their pursuit
RSS