David Paice attended a Disciplinary Panel in the week and pleaded guilty to 'dangerous charging' and 'making contact with the head' (of the Gloucester scrum-half, Willi Heinz).
The London Irish club captain has as a result been banned from 5 weeks of rugby, and is set to miss two Challenge Cup and three Premiership matches for the Exiles. One of the Premiership matches being Worcester, who sit marginally above them in the Premiership table - so a must win for London Irish.
Aidan O'Brien, a Disciplinary Panel Chairman, said; "The panel found that this was a reckless challenge in which contact was made with the head of the Gloucester player causing an injury. The entry point was mid-range, one week was added on to reflect the player's previous disciplinary record and, after allowing mitigation to reflect the player's guilty plea, remorse and conduct at the hearing, the final sanction is five weeks."
This is a big knock for London Irish, and they will have to play a stint of fixtures without their ex-England international hooker as the captain. No doubting that this will play a major part in the battle to stay up this season.
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