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Tue 5 Apr 2016 | 12:51
David Pocock suspended after choking Chiefs number eight

16
Comments

Brumbies forward David Pocock has been suspended for three weeks for a dangerous bit of play againt the Chiefs at the weekend. Pocock was cited and has since pleaded guilty to the charge, after he basically put Michael Leitch in a choke hold in a maul.

Pocock was cited following the match after the Citing Commissioner deemed the incident, in which he was effectively strangling Leitch, to have met the red card threshold for foul play.

SANZAAR Duty Judicial Officer Adam Cassleden accepted a guilty plea from Pocock during the disciplinary hearing after he was charged with having contravened Law 10.4(e) Playing a player without the ball is dangerous play.

Pocock got his arm around the head of Japanese captain Leitch during a maul late in the game, and despite Leitch's clear protestations and 'tapping out', Pocock wouldn't realease him.

Leitch had to spend some time recovering, and while the referee checked with the TMO to see what had happened, they didn't spend long enough looking at the footage, so missed it.

Pocock has been suspended for three weeks. Due to the fact the Brumbies have a bye in Rd 7, Pocock will miss Rd 8 and Rd 9 of Super Rugby, in effect making it a two match sanction.

APOLOGY UPDATE

Pocock has issued an official apology via his website. In it he stated the following:

"Yesterday I faced the judiciary for the first time in my rugby career. I am incredibly disappointed with my actions. I endeavour to play the game I love in a way that reflects the kind of toughness and decency I think rugby can teach us.

"On Saturday night I did not live up to those standards, placing Michael Leitch in danger by binding on his neck in a maul. It was not my intention to hurt Michael, but in these sorts of circumstances it is not intention that matters. I am grateful that World Rugby and SANZAAR are concerned about making the game safer for all of us.

"I would like to take this opportunity to apologise again to Michael. And to apologise to the Chiefs, Brumbies and all those who follow rugby. I'd also like to apologise to my team mates who I will let down over the next few weeks while suspended."

Posted By: Grant Constable

16 Comments

  • dancarter
    6:59 PM 07/04/2016

    Not really sure what your point is. By that logic, only people who never get cited can stand up for their beliefs. I entirely agree with his decision to bring up the use of homophobic slurs, everyone should feel welcome on a rugby field and not be on the receiving end of insults because of their sexuality. I punched someone playing rugby once, so I probably can't stand up for important issues either.

  • eddie-g
    7:03 PM 06/04/2016

    I guess Joe Marler needed at halftime to apologise on Twitter rather than in person to Samson Lee to avoid his punishment.

  • bman
    3:35 PM 06/04/2016

    Which Du Plessis example are you talking about... he has a long list and should have been banned for a year for cleaning mud off his boots on the Cheifs player.

  • rugbydump
    3:33 PM 06/04/2016

    Check the update above! It should have come sooner though. First timer error

  • drg
    10:21 AM 06/04/2016

    Finedisregard, the guy just comes across as an all out 'nice guy' (aside from this), when he has the skill, toned body, probably money and fairly good looks to get away with being a total dick....

    It's a bit like Dan Carter... I'm not really sure he's someone you can ever really dislike.... Even if you don't like him!

    To say "Dan Carter is a bit of a dick, so is Pocock etc" will probably only make people think you're an idiot...

    However, if you turned around and said "Farrell is a dick" most people would probably go, "yeh I can see where you're coming from"...

  • drg
    1:38 AM 06/04/2016

    I agree, but it didn't seem to stop the bunch in the 6N...

  • stroudos
    11:12 PM 05/04/2016

    Eddie - do you see any public apology on this page:
    https://twitter.com/pocockdavid

    There's your answer mate. The rules are simple, if you want leniency, get your Twitter apology in early.

  • finedisregard
    11:06 PM 05/04/2016

    Well, his track record is not impeccable anymore is it?

    What makes him such a "top bloke" anyway? His use of his platform as a sportsman to showcase his political beliefs?

  • 10stonenumber10
    10:32 PM 05/04/2016

    They are setting an example, who better to use than Mr Perfect? That is the extra week Du Plessis was owed for hoofing Leitch.

    I'm not saying it is right, but it is one way of sending a message.

  • eddie-g
    10:12 PM 05/04/2016

    Pure frustration, the Chiefs had schooled the Brumbies when this happened.

  • eddie-g
    9:48 PM 05/04/2016

    This is a bit inside-rugby, but there's a patent absurdity with this punishment. Pocock really is the epitome of top bloke, with an impeccable track record. He pled guilty, and you know what happened?

    The citing guys added a week to his punishment.

    I mean, you see it often enough I don't have a huge problem with bans being reduced for prior good behavior etc, but if you aren't applying it in the case of Dave Pocock then something is seriously messed up.

  • katman
    9:44 PM 05/04/2016

    And carried on after they all hit the ground and no one was contesting the maul any longer. Not cool at all.

  • flanker2712
    7:32 PM 05/04/2016

    With hindsight, yes! But remember in the first few games of the world cup last year, the referees were as far as I can recall criticised for stopping the game too often to look at replays of what often ended up being nothing.

  • drg
    6:50 PM 05/04/2016

    Strange that they didn't really look into that - unless the video was edited to avoid us watching through 2 minutes of "hmm dunno what happened"....

    Rightly or wrongly, during the 6N sometimes a good minute or two (at least?) was spent reviewing all different angles to see what happened during an incident... Whilst this is not an international, and perhaps not have as many angles, it'd surely have been easy to pick up watching the Chiefs player entering the maul and just following it through...

  • finedisregard
    5:24 PM 05/04/2016

    When Dave Pocock is not chaining himself to trees, acting as a social justice warrior, or stopping games of rugby because some uses a gay epithet he is choking out the opposition. Nice.

  • stroudos
    3:40 PM 05/04/2016

    Ahaa!! He is a bastard after all! Had a suspicion that the legend of Pocock was a bit too good to be true...

    I know it's a different sport, but the "tapping out" thing is a pretty universal code and it's strange that Pocock seemingly chose to ignore that.

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