Last night the ruling in the Calum Clark hearing made, with the Northampton Saints loose forward being suspended from the game for 32 weeks. He will only play again in November. Below is a short report with a reverse angle of the incident.

The 22 year old flanker was cited for his seemingly unprovoked attack on Leicester Tigers' Rob Hawkins, which left the hooker with a broken arm after his elbow was hyperextended.

Hawkins had surgery earlier this week and will be out of rugby for the rest of the season. At one stage it appeared as though he might have been out of a contract as he was playing for a renewal, but Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill has stepped out and said that they'll take care of him.

Clark pleaded guilty to hyperextending Hawkins' right arm, and to committing 'an act contrary to good sportsmanship'. As expected, he received a fairly heavy ban, although it appears that in many circles the opinion is that a heftier punishment wouldn't have gone amiss.

He will be out of rugby until 1 November though, and will also have to pay hearing costs of £500. He has the right to appeal and Northampton Saints are backing their player, reportedly saying they are disappointed with the severity of the ruling.

"The disciplinary panel found that Calum Clark had not intended to injure Rob Hawkins in the course of moving his arm. Accordingly, the unfortunate injury suffered by Rob Hawkins was unintentional.

"In the light of that finding of the disciplinary panel, Northampton Saints is bound to express concern and disappointment at the imposition of such a long suspension, even after significant mitigation in recognition in what was accepted to be Calum Clark's genuine remorse," they said.

The RFU have published a full report from the hearing, which you can view here.

The incident was featured when he was first cited so you can watch the full clip here, but below is a quick news report from this morning, which features a reverse angle of what happened. 

Video: Sky News

Posted at 08:08 am | 47 comments

Check out these related posts

  Calum Clark cited for bending Rob Hawkins' arm backwards
  Young Calum Clark red carded for a head butt - JWC

Share | |

Star Welsh winger George North made his return to the Scarlets this past weekend and proved vital in their win over the Cardiff Blues, as he came on late in the match and showed more of his Six Nations form to set up a lovely try.

North, still just 19 years old and already having racked up 21 Test caps, came off the bench and made his impact immediately. His strength and balance saw him burst through the tackle of Welsh wing team mate Alex Cuthbert, which allowed him to pop the ball to flying lock Dominic Day.

It was 19-14 to the Scarlets at the time, so it proved to be a decisive try in their 26-14 win.

Cuthbert had a mixed game as he made some awful mistakes, but then on occasion provided moments of magic, including an intercept try. North got the last laugh though, and one up on the lanky Blues winger with this strong run.

North is a serious contender for the British & Irish Lions tour of Australia next year, and is arguably the most exciting young winger in world rugby right now. The Scarlets have done well to hang onto him, and earlier this week he stated that he's not going anywhere.

"I'm very happy down at the Scarlets at the moment," he told the BBC.

"I'm getting game time on the pitch and at my age that's what you want to get, a bit more exposure and experience out there. I can't see myself going elsewhere right now. I'm enjoying my rugby in Wales. I'm there for two years now. So happy days really."

This try may not be mindblowingly amazing as there was a straight missed tackle, but many of you will be keen to see the one-on-one between the two Welsh wingers, and of course more of North in action. The support play from second rower Day is nothing to be scoffed at either.

Posted at 19:27 pm | 25 comments

Check out these related posts

  Alex Cuthbert try and Grand Slam celebrations
  Wales win Grand Slam after tense battle with France
  The big hits, try savers, and collisions from England vs Wales
  Wales seal victory with late kick in Six Nations thriller
  Scarlets Tries Of The Season 2010/2011

Share | |

In what's been a poor week for English rugby, and it looks as though another Aviva Premiership player could be suspended, namely Ben Youngs after he lost his cool against London Irish on Sunday. As of last night, he has officially been cited.

Dylan Hartley was recently handed an eight week ban for biting Stephen Ferris, and later tonight we'll know the fate of Calum Clark, after he broke Rob Hawkins' arm.

Youngs will possibly be added to the list soon, even if his offence is less severe, after he lost his rag with Exiles number eight Jamie Gibson who had held him back by the foot.

Leicester have suspended Youngs internally for one week, and he will face an RFU disciplinary panel next week after being charged with striking Gibson. An RFU statement said the following:

"Ben Youngs of Leicester Tigers will appear before an RFU Disciplinary Panel after being cited for striking London Irish’s Jamie Gibson contrary to Law 10(4)(a) during the Aviva Premiership match at the Madejski Stadium on March 25 following a report by the match citing officer Wade Dooley."

The touchjudge at the time took an old school approach to it, saying Youngs punched but then saying it was only a penalty. Interestingly Youngs was penalised for retaliation, but Exiles number nine Darren Allinson wasn't even spoken to. 

If found guilty of striking with either the knee or fist, Youngs could get a 2 week suspension, which is the low-end entry point. Mitigating factors, such as Gibson's provocation, could come into play.

In other England rugby news, Stuart Lancaster has now official been made England Head Coach, with a contract running up until January 2016, shortly after the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Posted at 12:36 pm | 36 comments

Check out these related posts

  Calum Clark cited for bending Rob Hawkins' arm backwards

Share | |

Over the course of his Test and Super Rugby career, Adam Ashley-Cooper has found himself shifted all over the back division, and his latest move sees him taking up a spot on the wing, a role he's head over heels about.

Following injuries to regular wingers Lachie Turner and Drew Mitchell, the Waratahs have had to bring in youngster Tom Kingston on the right wing, and shift Ashley-Cooper to the left.

He's obviously a highly versatile player so hasn't had any problems with the move, and after turning 28 earlier this week has said that he's feeling as good as ever.

"It's certainly been a game-changer for me. I'm 28 today. I mean, I don't have too much left in me, but the way I feel and the way I'm motivated, it's like I've started all over again," he said.

It could have all gone wrong for the Wallaby though as he had to take evasive action during the Sharks match, a game the hosts won 34-30 thanks to a late Kingston try. It happened as he chased back in a footrace with speedster Lwazi Mvovo, and ended up over the advertising hoardings.

"I had to do something, I don’t really know what happened," he said. "I got lucky, because it could have got ugly. I was thinking about going again and taking a seat like Piggy Riddell."

[For those of you who don't know, Mark 'Piggy' Riddell was a rugby league star who famously scored then hopped over the ad boards to sit in a front row seat, then applaud his own try. If you're interested, you can see it here]

Take a look at the related posts below the video for more spectacular moments, as well as other clips involving Ashley-Cooper. You can also view highlights of the Waratahs vs Sharks match

Photo credit: AP Photo/Rob Griffith

Posted at 19:08 pm | 4 comments

Check out these related posts

  Waratahs vs Sharks Highlights - Super Rugby Round 5
  Richard Kahui crunching hit on Adam Ashley-Cooper
  Adam Ashley-Cooper answers the Wallabies call
  Friday Funnies - Marshall over the advertising boards
  Justin Murphy flips over advertising boards (League)

Share | |

The Hurricanes snatched a 26-25 win from the Blues in one of the games of the weekend in Super Rugby, as captain Conrad Smith scored a try with time up, which young flyhalf Beauden Barrett duly converted.

While New Zealand won the Rugby World Cup with their fourth choice number ten on the field, this season they already have a host of contenders for the key position, with a number of players showing great form already. Barrett is one of them, and he was crucial to this win.

His break set up Smith for his second try of the game, giving the them their third win of the season. Former center Ma'a Nonu scored against his old side after another local, Piri Weepu, charged towards the tryline, but the All Black number nine was left shouldering the blame for the loss.

"It's tough. Personally I felt I've let the team down," he said after he'd missed an earlier tackle on Cory Jane, and also kicked away possession late in the match.

"We didn't play to the final whistle and those guys did and you can't take anything away from them. People had written them off and they may not have showed a lot of promise in pre-seasons, but the competition's different. I take my hat off to them."

Below are highlights of what was a great game of rugby, with a fantastic finish. Remember that you can view highlights of all Super Rugby matches in the dedicated Super Rugby Highlights section.

Posted at 17:25 pm | 9 comments

Share | |

Time for some quality tries as we catch up on the best from the Top 14 for Round 20, which took place a couple of week's back. As always there's a whole lot of talent on show and some amazing tries that are well worth sitting still for eight minutes for.

Shortly after it took place we featured the Toulouse vs Castres highlights here on the site. The game was a classic and went right down to the final few minutes of play, as Toulouse snatched the win with a late try by number eight Gillian Galan.

In this compilation, as made by Canal+ as always, some of the best tries from that game are featured, including the winning effort by Galan, and another great one scored by Florian Fritz.

When Stade Francais played Lyon, the final score was 41-19 to the hosts and some excellent tries were scored, including two for Djibril Camara, and a fantastic effort from former England winger Paul Sackey. Remi Grosso's try for Lyon in the same game was also great to see.

The try of the round, or at least the best solo effort anyway, went to French winger Yoann Huget, who scored a length of the field effort in Bayonne's 37-26 loss to Montpellier.

After beating the first line of defence with a lovely run and chipping the cover, it looked as though he'd run out of out of gas but a loose bit of defending and a good tackle allowed the ball to pop free and Huget to finish off a brilliant, determined, solo try.

Did they get the order correct? Which was your favourite try?

Posted at 11:27 am | 12 comments

Check out these related posts

  Toulouse come from behind twice to snatch win over Castres

Share | |

Fiji beat New Zealand 35-28 in a thrilling Cup final to win the 2012 Hong Kong Sevens tournament, moving them within a few points of the overall HSBC Sevens World Series leaders. Today we've got highlights from each day's play, including the final itself.

A high scoring final produced some incredible rugby in what was arguably one of the best games seen at the tournament. Fiji took their 13th Hong Kong title, and started the final impressively with two early tries. New Zealand came back in typical fashion, setting up a grandstand second half.

The Fijians did the same after the break, as they scored twice early and couldn't be caught, despite a Bryce Heem effort that put New Zealand back in touch. Waisea Nayacalevu settled matters though with a quick return try, before New Zealand scored a consolation try on full time.

"I think we wanted it more than New Zealand in the last ten minutes," said Fiji coach Alavereti Dere, who now has the honour of having won the tournament as both a player and a coach.

South Africa scored four tries to beat England 28-0 in the third place game, and they stay third on the table with 93 points, behind Fiji on 109, and New Zealand on 111.

In other big news from the tournament, Canada, Spain, and Portugal have all qualified to take part in the entire HSBC Sevens World Series next year.

Below are three videos posted as a playlist. The first is of Day 1, then Day 2, then it's the final day. You can hit play once to watch them all, or skip straight to the final using the player controls. 

Mobile users: If you can't view the playlist above, view it here

Posted at 07:52 am | 6 comments

Share | |