The disciplinary process related to Tomás Lezana’s red card in the BKT United Rugby Championship round 10 game against Ospreys on Monday, December 26 resulted in a three-week suspension.
After an act of foul play against Ospreys player No.4 (Rhys Davies), referee Craig Evans showed the player a red card in the fifth minute of the game under Law 9.13 – A player must not tackle an opponent early, late or dangerously. Dangerous tackling includes, but is not limited to, tackling or attempting to tackle an opponent above the line of the shoulders even if the tackle starts below the line of the shoulders.
In the player’s responses to the Judicial Officer overseeing the disciplinary process, he had accepted that he had committed an act of foul play which warranted a red card. The Judicial Officer found that the incident met the red card threshold, with entry of mid-range warranting six weeks. The player received three weeks mitigation due to his good record and apology to Ospreys’ Rhys Davies which resulted in a three-game suspension.
The player was also eligible to participate in the World Rugby Coaching Intervention programme. Lezana successfully completed this therefore the suspension will be reduced by a further week to two weeks. He is now available for selection this weekend.