Keith Earls Handed Ban Following Champions Cup Red Card

Munster’s Keith Earls has been handed a two week suspension following his red card in last Saturday’s Champions Cup win over Glasgow Warriors, ruling him out of Ireland’s first Autumn test match with New Zealand.

Earls was sent off for a dangerous tackle on the Glasgow Warriors hooker Fraser Brown and reacted poorly due to the emotion surrounding the game following the untimely death of their head coach Anthony Foley..

Earls’ ban will expire two days after that game, so he will be in line to return for the clash with Canada at the Aviva Stadium on 12 November.

An independent Disciplinary Committee heard evidence and submissions from Earls, who pleaded guilty to the offence, from Munster Rugby Team Manager, Niall O’Donovan, from Munster Rugby’s legal representative, Derek Hegarty, and from the EPCR Disciplinary Officer, Liam McTiernan.

In upholding the red card decision, the Committee found that the offence was at the low end of World Rugby’s sanctions and selected four weeks as the appropriate entry point.

As there were no aggravating factors, the Committee then reduced the sanction by a maximum of two weeks due to Earls’ timely guilty plea, expression of remorse and clean disciplinary record before imposing a suspension of two weeks.