Ulster Prop Court Hit With Two-Week Ban

A two-week suspension ruling Tom Court out until Sunday week means the departing prop has played his final match for Ulster – unless they manage to qualify for the RaboDirect PRO12 final on May 31.

Tom Court appeared today before an independent PRO12 disciplinary committee in Neath, south Wales, having been red carded in last Friday’s derby game between Ulster and Leinster at Ravenhill.

The disciplinary committee, chaired by Simon Thomas, alongside Terry Vaux and Robert Williams (all from Wales), viewed the footage of the incident (between Court and Leinster lock Devin Toner) and listened to representations by, and on behalf of, the player via video-link.

The committee decided that the offence, a dangerous ‘lifting’ tackle contrary to law 10.4(j), was at the low end of the IRB’s scale of sanctions for this type of offence – four weeks.

In imposing a two-week suspension, they applied a deterrent factor of an additional week but then reduced the sanction by three weeks, to reflect, among other factors, the player’s acceptance of the red card and his previous excellent disciplinary record.

Court is therefore suspended until midnight on Sunday, May 18, making him unavailable for Ulster’s trip to Munster this weekend and also next week’s semi-final. He has the right of appeal.