Edinburgh centre Nick De Luca has been banned for 13 weeks following the red card he received for a dangerous tackle late in the game against the Ospreys at the weekend. He attended a disciplinary hearing in Dublin earlier today.
De Luca lifted and flipped Ospreys replacement back Tom Grabham, who we last saw on RD for his incredible ball control at the Glasgow Sevens in June last year.
After a quick chat, the touch judge and referee opted to send De Luca for an early shower just four minutes from time in Edinburgh’s 24-7 defeat to the Ospreys, their tenth loss in a row.
The tackle contravened Law 10.4(j), which states: “Lifting a player from the ground and dropping or driving that player into the ground whilst that player’s feet are still off the ground such that the player’s head and/or upper body come into contact with the ground is dangerous play.”
De Luca returned to action recently following a fractured eye socket that occurred while training in January. He is now back on the sidelines again though, this time with a ban for what was a nasty, albeit clumsy, looking tackle that could have caused a bad injury.
The PRO12 disciplinary committee took into account all the evidence presented, including videos of the incident, and concluded that the tackle was at the top level for this type of offence. The top level ranges from 12 to 52 weeks.
Having taken into account aggravating and mitigating factors, they concluded that 13 weeks was an appropriate suspension for the Scotland international.
The suspension runs until midnight on Sunday 26 May 2013. De Luca has the right to appeal.
NOTE: The video has now been removed by the BBC unfortunately.
You will need to view it on their website here (available to UK users only)
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