Ulster's Matthew Rea has been banned for four weeks following his red card against Connacht last week and will miss the province's opening Heineken Champions Cup game against Leicester Tigers on Saturday.

Rea was sent off by referee Andrew Brace after tackling's Connacht's Cian Kelleher in the air in an incident that occurred in the 41st minute of the Pro14 fixture at Kingspan Stadium.

Rea accepted that he had committed an act of foul play but did not accept that it warranted a red card. The Disciplinary Committee, meeting in Edinburgh, and comprising Pamela Woodman (chair), Kathrine Mackie and Ian Douglas (all Scotland), concluded that the player had committed an act of foul play, that the act of foul play warranted a red card and so the referee’s decision to issue the red card was not wrong.

The Committee took into account that there were no aggravating factors, the player’s clean disciplinary record and other mitigating factors. Rea will be free to resume playing on Monday, November 5th.