Hardie suspended by club and country

Edinburgh Rugby have been plunged into a second disciplinary crisis in a week with international back rower John Hardie joining captain Magnus Bradbury suspended from action.

Hardie, 29, capped 16 times for Scotland since coming from New Zealand in 2015, was suspended from all duties – with club and with Scotland – pending “an internal investigation”, a Scottish Rugby statement confirmed.

A spokesman also confirmed that this case was unrelated to that of Edinburgh captain Magnus Bradbury, who is still suspended after suffering a head injury on a night out with friends prior to last week’s European Challenge Cup game against London Irish.

Hardie played in that game, but was not included in the travelling party going to Moscow this weekend for the second Challenge Cup fixture against Russian team Krasny Yar.

The Scottish Rugby statement added that the player would not be available for either Edinburgh or Scotland national team duty, but did not specify if this meant he would miss the entire Autumn Test series.

Scotland head coach Greg or Townsend is due to name his squad for the three Autumn Tests against Samoa, New Zealand and Australia on Monday, and Hardie was likely to have been included.

The Scottish Rugby statement concluded that it was “normal practice with such matters that we are unable to comment further given the nature of the investigation”.

Hardie made his debut for Scotland prior to the Rugby World Cup of 2015, playing in all but one of the matches in the tournament proper. He had previously played more than 50 times for the Highlanders Super Rugby team, having come out of the Southland province.

A New Zealand Under-19 international, he opted for Scotland by virtue of his grandmother who was born at Culross in Fife.

Hardie joined Edinburgh after the World Cup and signed a one year contract extension with the capital club at the beginning of this season.