Shane Jennings has been banned for 12 weeks after being found guilty of making contact with the eye or eye area of London Irish lock Nick Kennedy last Friday. The sanction will keep Jennings out of action until the start of January.
Following a disciplinary hearing in Dublin this afternoon, Jennings was found guilty “of an act contrary to good sportsmanship” after he tangled with Kennedy during the first half of Leinster’s defeat at the RDS.
Roger Morris, the independent judicial officer appointed for the hearing, deemed Jenning’s actions to be in the “low-end in the level of seriousness for an offence of this type” and a three month ban was imposed under Heineken Cup guidelines.
Jennings has the right to lodge an appeal, a likely course of action given Leinster’s limited options in the back row.
Having lost Rocky Elsom during the summer, Jenning’s lengthy absence will leave coach Michael Cheika short on numbers as his side attempt to retain their Heineken Cup title and mount a serious challenge in the Magners League.
Leinster, already behind the eight ball in Pool Six, face Brive in France this Saturday with that game looking like a must-win for the defending champions.
Unless he has the ban reduced or overturned, Jennings will also miss December’s back-to-back meetings with the Scarlet, not to mention the three Ireland internationals next month.
He will be available again to Leinster for their Magners League game against Glasgow at the RDS on the second weekend of January.
Leinster released a statement this evening expressing their “shock” and “disappointment” with the ruling.
“Leinster Rugby are surprised and extremely disappointed with today’s ruling even though there was clear evidence from the opposition player that the act was not intentional,” the province stated.
“The ERC Disciplinary Committee appears to have found that Shane Jennings was careless with his actions, which is a shock to us. Shane has an impeccable record and a strong leadership role within the squad as our vice captain and we will be appealing this decision.
“Leinster Rugby will not be commenting further until after the written report which will ‘be issued as soon as is reasonably practicable’ according to the ERC rules.”
The IRB called for global consistency in how offenders were punished following a spate of notorious incidents, including Schalk Burger’s clash with Lions winger Luke Fitzgerald in the second Test.
The Lions felt Burger got off lightly with an eight-week suspension when Munster flanker Alan Quinlan was banned for 12 weeks for a clash with Leinster’s Leo Cullen in last season’s Heineken Cup semi-final.
*Andrew Beattie, the Bath player sent off for stamping against Ulster last Friday, has been banned for three weeks.
Beattie was shown a red card in the 75th minute of their Ulster’s 26-12 Pool Four win at Ravenhill and it was determined that the offence was mid-range in the level of seriousness for stamping.
