ADAM HASTINGS will miss Scotland’s games against Ireland and Italy as well as two upcoming Glasgow matches after being given a “three-match” ban for the red card he received while playing against Leinster last Sunday. He should, however, be free to play in the rearranged Six Nations match against France, which is currently expected to take place on Friday 26th March.
In their announcement of Hastings’ suspension on Thursday night, PRO14 specified the games that would be taken in by the ban: Zebre v Glasgow tomorrow[Sat], Glasgow v Ospreys on Friday 12th, and Scotland v Italy on Saturday 20th. However, after the Warriors sought clarification, PRO14 later explained that the Ospreys game and Scotland's match against Ireland count as one match for the purposes of the suspension, as they take place on the same weekend.
The announcement said that Hastings was free to play from midnight on Sunday 21st, which PRO14 explained means the start of Sunday. That means that Hastings can play in Glasgow's game against the Dragons, which kicks off at three o'clock that afternoon.
Hastings was sent off for dangerous play in Glasgow’s 40-21 defeat by Leinster after catching a ball in the air, kicking a leg out and making contact with Cian Kelleher’s head. A disciplinary panel that met yesterday decided that a six-week sanction was the starting point for such an offence, but they cut that in half because the stand-off has a good disciplinary record and accepted he deserved to be sent off.
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“The Disciplinary Process of the red card offence was presided over by Judicial Officer Owain Rhys James (WRU), who concluded that an act of foul play had occurred,” a PRO14 press release said. “The incident was found to merit a mid-range entry point, which indicates a six-week suspension for this offence.
“The Judicial Officer determined that there were mitigating factors, including the player’s acceptance of the foul play, immediate and genuine remorse, cooperation with the disciplinary proceedings and clear disciplinary record, which under the disciplinary rules warranted a reduction in the sanction of 50 percent.
“The Player is suspended from participating in the next 3 meaningful matches. Should a game be postponed or cancelled during this window of games, the player and PRO14 are to submit updated fixtures to the Judicial Officer so the return date can be advised.” Glasgow will not appeal against the suspension.
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