Shane Jennings Appeal Hearing

The independent Appeal Committee will be chaired by Christopher Quinlan (England) and will also comprise Rod McKenzie (Scotland) and Jean-Noel Couraud (France).

Shane Jennings appeared before an independent Judicial Officer, Roger Morris (Wales), on Wednesday, 14 October, having been cited by the Citing Commissioner for the match, Richard McGhee (Scotland).

The independent Judicial Officer found Mr Jennings guilty of an act contrary to good sportsmanship in contravention of Law 10.4 (l) in that he made contact with the eye / eye area of Nick Kennedy (London Irish).

The Judicial Officer determined that the act was in the low-end in the level of seriousness for an offence of that type and having taken into account any mitigating and aggravating factors he suspended the player for a period of 12 weeks running up to and including 6 January, 2010.

Under IRB Regulation 17 and the ERC Heineken Cup Disciplinary Rules, the recommended sanction entry point for a low-end offence of contact with eye / eye area is 12 weeks.

NOTES
The full written decision of the original independent Disciplinary Hearing and the Appeal Hearing will be made available on ercrugby.com/disciplinenews at a later date when the full written decisions for the Appeal hearing have been completed and issued to all parties.

Independent Appeal Committee
a) Following a decision of an independent Disciplinary Hearing, both the Club/player and ERC have the right to appeal the decision of the Judicial Officer.
b) The initial independent Disciplinary Hearings are determined by an independent Judicial Officer. Appeal Hearings are determined by a three man independent Appeal Committee.
c) The independent Appeal Committee is chosen by the Chairman of the independent Disciplinary Panel, Professor Lorne Crerar.
d) The independent Judicial Officer who issued the decision being challenged may not sit on the independent Appeal Committee.