It was a fiery start to the Heineken Cup as four players have been cited for various incidents taking place around Europe.
Sam Tuitupou
and Jonny Faamatuainu both made dangerous tackles, Martyn Williams dropped a knee in Chris Patersons face, and Jamie Cudmore has been cited for an alleged stamp, as you can see in this clip.
Cudmore, no stranger to controversy, was actually yellow carded after the incident but it was a punch that he got in trouble for at the time, not a stamp. The punch in question seemed more like a flathander rather than a closed fist, but its the damage done to Saracens flanker Jacques Burger that has landed him in hot water.
There werent any good replays of the stamp as all the focus was on the punch, but you can see where it happens just before that, as the maul begins to break up. The reaction of the players is obvious, as Andy Saul for one looked incensed.
Burger, who was recently named Aviva Premiership player of the month for September, needed stitches in the mouth and was reportedly furious about what had happened.
The hearings for all four incidents will take place in Dublin today. Cudmore is cited under Law 10.4 (b) A player must not stamp or trample on an opponent. The recommended IRB sanction for such an offence is 2 weeks for Low End, 5 weeks for Mid Range, 9 plus weeks for Top End, and the maximum punishment is 52 weeks.
The unfortunate thing is that Cudmore had earlier scored a nice try, but yet again managed to tarnish the good work. The commentator brought up the fight between
Cudmore and Paul OConnell from two years
ago, so thats been thrown in here too to make it more interesting.
UPDATE:
We've just heard that Cudmore got 10 weeks. Tuitupou got three for his tackle.
Time:
02:24
0 Comments