Trevor Brennan must wait another 10 days to discover whether his appeal against a life ban has been successful. The former Irish international and Toulouse forward was in Dublin yesterday to put forward his plea against the sanction before the independent appeal committee.
The ERC-approved committee, chaired by WynWilliams QC (Wales), with Robert Horner (England) and Sheriff Bill Dunlop (Scotland), heard from Brennan, several character witnesses and from ERC's disciplinary officer Roger O'Connor, in a hearing that took a little over three hours.
The appeal hearing related to the decision of an independent disciplinary committee, which found Brennan guilty of misconduct under the Heineken European Cup disciplinary rules. The appeal committee have retired to deliberate and intend to communicate their decision by Monday, June 11th. Brennan's legal team were pleased with the hearing, but in cases of this ilk it is difficult to anticipate the result.
The whole case arises from an incident during the European Cup match between Toulouse and Ulster at Stade Ernest Wallon on January 21st when the player entered the seating area and struck a supporter, PatrickBamford.
The independent disciplinary committee imposed on Brennan a life suspension from playing rugby union and a life ban from participating in any capacity in tournaments organised by ERC.
He was fined ¤25,000 and ordered to pay ¤5,000 compensation to Bamford and the costs of the hearing.
The appeal committee was chosen by Prof Lorne Crerar, the chairman of the independent disciplinary panel. Meanwhile, Ireland A coach Michael Bradley has made three changes for today's clash with Scotland A in the plate final of the Barclays Churchill Cup (Twickenham, 1.45pm).
The back division has been reshuffled, with Leicester's Johnny Murphy switching to fullback in place of Ross McCarron, who has returned home with an injured thumb. Munster's Keith Earls reverts to the left wing, with Northampton's Seamus Mallon returning to the starting XV alongside Darren Cave in the centre.
Up front, Leinster loosehead John Lyne replaces the injured Ray Hogan, while John Muldoon replaces Johnny O'Sullivan at blindside flanker.
Ireland A were beaten 50-22 by the New Zealand Maori on Tuesday night and meet the Scots in the third-place play-off.
IRELAND A (v Scotland, Churchill Cup plate final): J Murphy (Leicester); P McKenzie (Ulster), D Cave (Ulster), S Mallon (Northampton), K Earls (Munster); J Sexton (Leinster), F Murphy (Leicester); J Lyne (Leinster), J Fogarty (Connacht, capt), M Ross (Harlequins), R Caldwell (Ulster), A Farley (Connacht), J Muldoon (Connacht), J O'Connor (Wasps), R Wilson (Ulster).
Replacements: S Cronin (Munster), D Fitzpatrick (Ulster), D Toner (Leinster), J O'Sullivan (Munster), C Keane (Connacht), I Keatley (Leinster), F McFadden (Leinster).
