RugbyRebels

"Bath flanker Francois Louw has been banned for three weeks after pleading guilty to making contact with the eye area of Benetton forward Marco Fuser.

South Africa international Louw was cited for a challenge in the 77th minute of Bath's Champions Cup victory on 14 October.

The 32-year-old's suspension will end on Monday, 6 November.

Meanwhile, a citation against Fuser for biting Louw prior to the off-the-ball incident has been dismissed.

A disciplinary committee ruled there was insufficient evidence to prove the charge against the 26-year-old Italian second-row".

Anyone want to suggest why Louw gets 3 weeks and Sinckler 7 for an offence that looked to be remarkably similar? These bans are farcically inconsistent.

Not really; I can see differences; in that there a still shot of Sinkler clearly showing him making contact within the eye socket; whilst Louw was lucky in that there was no good angle (that I've seen) showing where in the action he's actually making conact with Fuser - basically, there are too many legs in the way to see clearly.

Both were "low end" bans, which is a 4 week entry point; IIRC both got 1 week off for remorse, but no more than that as they've both had bans before.

I'm really not sure how Sinkler's "low end" ban ended up starting the calculation from 8 weeks, whilst Louw's started at 4 weeks. Was the charge the same? was one "contact with the eye", and the other "... eye area"?

It must have been that, as you'd think the fact Louw is looking straight at the guy (and Sinkler is unsighted) would suggest a bit more culpability on his part.

The lottery continues. Louw's wife must make a mean garibaldi.

Mellsblue wrote:The lottery continues. Louw's wife must make a mean garibaldi.

Koekies

Digby wrote:

Mellsblue wrote:The lottery continues. Louw's wife must make a mean garibaldi.

Koekies

Ha. Very good.