Fagerson could play a part in Six Nations
Zander Fagerson has achieved partial success in his appeal against the four-week suspension handed out for his red card against Wales.
The prop will now be allowed to play some part in the remainder of Scotland’s Six Nations campaign after the appeal committee reconfigured the terms of his ban.
Fagerson will still miss four matches, but two of them will be Glasgow Warriors games, one of which has already been played.
The tighthead was originally suspended for Scotland’s remaining Championship games against France, Ireland and Italy and one further match to be determined.
However, the appeal committee has ruled that the terms of the original ban did not give “appropriate weight to the evidence before it about the matches to be covered by the period of suspension”.
A statement from the Six Nations added: “Necessarily, decisions on matches to be covered by suspensions are fact-sensitive and playerspecific. On the basis of all the evidence, the Appeal Committee was satisfied that the suspension should have covered the Glasgow matches against Ulster and Zebre.”
The Ulster game was played last weekend, so Fagerson has served one game of his fourmatch ban already. The Zebre game is scheduled for March 6, on the next Six Nations fallow weekend.
The other two games covered by the suspension are Scotland’s match against France and Ireland. However, the situation has now been further complicated by the postponement of the former due to the Covid-19 outbreak in the French squad.
The Six Nations statement added: “Due to the postponement of the France v Scotland match, the Appeal Committee
will have the opportunity to review Mr Fagerson’s playing schedule and consider the consequences of the postponement.”
No new date has been agreed for the France game. Scotland’s home match against Ireland is scheduled for March 14, with Italy due to visit BT Murrayfield six days later.
The good news for Scotland and Fagerson is that he will be available for at least one of the games against Italy or France.
The player was sent off in the 25-24 home defeat by Wales on February 13 for charging into a ruck where he made contact with Wyn Jones.
He then appeared before a Six Nations independent disciplinary committee which found him guilty of infringing
Law 9.20(a). Fagerson accepted he had committed an act of foul play, but did not accept it warranted a red card.
The disciplinary committee disagreed and found that it warranted a “mid-range entry point” of six weeks’ suspension, which was reduced by two weeks due to mitigating factors
The appeal heard submissions from Fagerson and his legal counsel, Bruce Caldow, as well as from Six Nations’ legal representative. The committee dismissed Fagerson’s contentions about the red card and the length of the ban but conceded that the two Glasgow matches should count as part of the suspension.
There’s only one reason Neil Mccann wants his stint at Inverness Caledonian Thistle to be a success and it isn’t for his own benefit.
His agreement to return to football came with one large condition. His old team-mate John Robertson, someone with whom he shared one of his greatest playing triumphs, had to be firmly onside with it.
In Mccann’s eyes, they are as much a partnership now as when he was dropping balls into the box from the left for the striker during their days together at Hearts. One of the most notable of these occasions was Mccann's cross for Robertson to make it 2-2 in the classic 1996 Coca Cola Cup final against Rangers, which the Tynecastle side eventually lost 4-3.
Almost a quarter of a century later, Mccann is back providing assistance while his friend is on compassionate leave after a close family bereavement. The ties remain strong with those of that era. They made up for the exciting, albeit heart-wrenching, loss by beating the same side in the Scottish Cup final back at Celtic Park 16 months later.
“John’s an old friend and when you achieve things as great as we did with the 1998 win, it creates a real and lasting bond,” said Mccann yesterday.
“I’m hoping I can come in and have an impact with the team. I can’t come in and change everything because this is essentially John’s team. But I need to do my own things with the side.
"John has been great in giving me the freedom to do it. I’m hoping I can then hand the team back to John, whenever he is ready, in a good place.”
Mccann is not eyeing the main chance. He’s not angling for a way back into football following what has turned into a longer break than he would have liked after his departure from Dundee in October 2018. He stressed this point to Scot Gardiner, the Inverness chief executive, when he was first contacted on Sunday about the possibility of job-sitting in the Highlands. This isn’t an audition. Mccann will happily return to speaking eloquently about the game in the media.
“I am not looking any further forward that what I am doing for John,” said Mccann. “If he comes to me in two weeks’ time and says he is ready to come back, I will leave and go back to doing what I was doing.
“I am not here to give myself opportunities or put down foundations, I am here to help the club and John, and do it to the best of my ability. I know nothing other than trying to win and give 100 per cent. John knows that, Scot knows that and I hope it comes across to people.
“I want to be successful here but I want to be successful for one guy only and that’s John.
“We have a group who are really focused," he added. "I can see the desire they have. In training they were first class. I saw grit and determination and we want to push on up the league.”
His first assignment is this evening against Hearts (of course),onarecord-breaking night for Inverness. They have sold nearly 10,000 virtual tickets, a record ‘crowd’. Popular though Mccann was and is at Hearts, this remarkable uptake is almost entirely due to Robertson’s involvement with Inverness. The legendary striker, pictured inset, signed every ticket bought. He will be in everyone’s thoughts on an emotional occasion.
While Mccann is very conscious of the identity of the opposition, and their threat, his heart’s already in the Highlands.
“I have a lot of love for Hearts but anyone who knows me knows that all I want to do is win games for Inverness,” he said.
“I have a job to do here and I will be as professional as I can. "It is a tough game. Hearts are favourites for the title and rightly so.
"They have good coaches and a great squad with an incredible fanbase as we have seen with ticket sales. I think we have a good group of players here who are focused and we go into the game with one objective and that’s to try and win the game.”
Mccann does not know how long he will be needed, but then, that’s the fate of most managers. Among the exceptions was when he first came in at Dundee, almost four years ago, for what was intended to be a five-game spell.
Two wins and a draw from his first three games in charge ensured he steered the club where he started his playing career to safety. He had intended to head back into the sunset. However, the success of this initial arrangement brought both parties back to the table. After initially rejecting the chance to become permanent manager at Dens Park, Mccann accepted a contract. He was sacked, some would contend harshly, in October 2018.
Even the dolphins that swim in the Moray Firth estuary could have told you where Mccann’s Inverness side would be due next after tonight – Dens Park, Dundee, on Tuesday.
Mccann draws a parallel with being parachuted into the manager’s position there. He had a very specific brief – keep a team on a seven-match losing streak in the top flight. His latest assignment is reaching the play-offs.
“This one has got a similarity that I am coming in with a short-term view and I need an impact – and a fast impact,” he said.
“To make that achievable, you need a group of players who are going to buy into it. And if it is anything like today, I think they are a good group. It will be tough.
"But it’s the same goals. I want to be successful.
“Success was getting Dundee out of trouble. Here, success is getting things going again and putting the club in a good position within the division for when John is ready to come back.”