Sinckler’s shame England prop banned for seven weeks for gouging
Harlequins prop pleads guilty to eye contact Forward will now miss England autumn games
Kyle Sinckler, the Harlequins prop, will miss England’s autumn internationals after receiving a sevenweek ban for gouging Michael Paterson, the Northampton lock.
Sinckler pleaded guilty at an independent disciplinary hearing in Bristol last night to the offence of making contact with the eye of Paterson.
His suspension runs until Nov 20, ruling him out of England’s matches against Argentina and Australia and even though he will be free to return to play ahead of England’s final match against Samoa on Nov 25, it is almost certain he would not be considered because of a lack of game time.
The three-man panel, chaired by Dan White, concluded that Sinckler’s actions were intentional but even though the sanction carries a low-end entry point of 12 weeks, his punishment was reduced to an entry-point of seven because of a lack of injury. That decision is likely to cause surprise, given that Chris Ashton, the former Saracens wing, received a 10-week ban last year for making contact with the eye of Ulster centre Luke Marshall.
Sinckler, who was arrested without charge because of a “minor offence” in Auckland following the British and Irish Lions’ draw in the third Test against New Zealand, was also not given full mitigation because of a suspension in 2015.
“The panel heard evidence from the player as to his actions,” said White. “They found that it was an intentional action but, due to the absence of injury it merited a low-end entry point.
“The player has not got a clear record because of a suspension in 2015 and so the panel could not give full mitigation. The player will therefore be suspended for seven weeks and is free to play again on November 21.”
Sinckler said he accepted the outcome of the hearing but insisted he would not deliberately gouge an opponent.
“I accept the outcome of the hearing and wanted to go on record to say I am sorry that I have let my team-mates down, but more importantly I feel terrible that anyone would think I would deliberately gouge an opponent,” said Sinckler, who had been left out of England’s training camp in Oxford last week despite making the Lions bench for the drawn Test series with New Zealand.
“That was never my intention – it was a genuine mistake and an act of recklessness on my part. I will spend the next seven weeks working hard on my fitness and rugby to ensure that when I am able to get back on the field I am fit and ready to do so and make the best possible contribution to Quins.”
The incident occurred in the 49th minute of Northampton’s 30-22 victory over Harlequins on Saturday. Paterson was seen to draw referee Luke Pearce’s attention after Sinckler removed his headguard at the bottom of a ruck. When asked by the official if there had been contact with the eye area, Paterson replied, “100 per cent”.
A few minutes before the Paterson incident, Sinckler had been angered after claiming to have been pulled back off the ball and had already been admonished by Pearce for his language at a scrum.
John Kingston, Harlequins director of rugby, said he would be working to improve his squad’s discipline following the incident, although he
‘I let my team-mates down but I feel terrible that people would think I deliberately gouge’
insisted it had been “accidental”. “Despite Kyle’s unfair public reputation he actually has a very good on-field disciplinary record,” said Kingston.
“There is no doubt in my mind that this incident was accidental, but both myself, and as a club, we fully accept the importance of player welfare and believe wholeheartedly that there is no place for any players’ hand ever to be around the eye area of an opponent. We therefore accept the sanction and will be working with the whole squad around improving our discipline over the coming matches.”
Meanwhile, James Haskell insists he can fight back into the England reckoning despite admitting he is “halfway down the cliff ” on his climb back towards Eddie Jones’s squad. Haskell was omitted from head coach Jones’s Oxford training squad late last month, and has conceded he could have few arguments given his patchy form.