Two-Week Ban For Van Den Heever
Munster winger Gerhard van den Heever, accompanied by team manager Niall O’Donovan, appeared before an independent PRO12 Rugby disciplinary committee in Cardiff today, having been cited by the independent citing commissioner for an alleged dangerous tackle during last Saturday’s win over Edinburgh.
Gerhard van den Heever allegedly tackled an opponent in the air in contravention of law 10.4(i) in the GUINNESS PRO12 match between Edinburgh and Munster at BT Murrayfield.
The South African winger did not accept that he had committed an act of foul play. However, the disciplinary committee, chaired by Rhian Williams, alongside Ray Wilton and Richard Cole (all from Wales), having viewed video footage of the incident, listened to evidence and representations from and on behalf of the player, and reviewed all of the other evidence, found that van den Heever had committed an act of foul play, and went on to find that the foul play had warranted a red card.
The disciplinary committee then turned to consider what would be the appropriate sanction. In assessing the seriousness of the incident, they considered that it merited a lower-end entry point based on World Rugby’s scale of seriousness, which is a three-week suspension.
The disciplinary committee found that there were no aggravating factors and that there were a number of mitigating factors such that his suspension be reduced by one week meaning van den Heever is therefore suspended for a total of two weeks, up to and including Sunday, 22 November 2015.
The player, whose ban rules him out of Munster’s European Champions Cup clashes with Benetton Treviso and Stade Francais, was also reminded of his right of appeal.