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'I should have torn it off so I could say I returned to South Africa with the guy's ear'

Chris Ashton and Cameron Redpath have both served bans for biting /Getty

British & Irish Lions prop Kyle Sinckler tomorrow protests his innocence at a World Rugby disciplinary hearing following his second test citing for an alleged bite on Franco Mostert.

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Should the Bristol Bears prop be found guilty he will face a minimum ban of 12 weeks.

While biting cases remain extremely rare, precedent does exist – here is a selection of historic cases to get your teeth into…

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Warren Gatland speaks about the role emotion will play in the decisive third Test

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Warren Gatland speaks about the role emotion will play in the decisive third Test

DANNY GREWCOCK
A renowned ‘enforcer’ the former Bath and England second row had many skirmishes with rugby’s authorities – including an incident which took place on the ill-fated 2005 Lions tour.

Grewcock copped a two-month ban for biting New Zealand hooker Keven Mealamu’s finger which the disciplinary committee decided had inadvertently found its way into his mouth.

Grewcock maintained his innocence but had no choice but to miss the remainder of the trip.

JOHAN LE ROUX
South African prop Johan le Roux showed little contrition after being found guilty of biting All Blacks captain Sean Fitzpatrick’s ear during a 1994 test match in Wellington.

The Beast (but not that one) as he was nicknamed was sent home by the South African management immediately after the match and received a hefty ban that wound up ending his career.

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Infamously le Roux is later quoted as saying: “For an 18-month suspension, I feel I probably should have torn it off. Then at least I could say I’ve returned to South Africa with the guy’s ear.”

CHRIS ASHTON
The much-travelled former England winger received a 13-week ban in 2016 for biting Northampton prop Alex Waller.

Like a number of others in this list Ashton was no stranger to the disciplinary process – in fact this ban followed hot on the heels of a 13-week suspension for making contact with Ulster centre Luke Marshall’s eyes.

Dylan Hartley was banned for biting in 2012 (Photo by David Rogers/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)
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DYLAN HARTLEY
Former England captain Dylan Hartley could write a book on disciplinary hearings.

Among his many indiscretions, in 2012 he received eight weeks on the sidelines for taking a nibble of Ireland flanker Stephen Ferris’s finger during the Six Nations.

The incident was missed by the match officials, though referee Nigel Owens took note when Ferris showed him the bite marks.

LEONARDO SENATORE
The Argentinian forward had two bites of the cherry – of more accurately the opposition – during his chequered career.

In 2013 he received a nine-week ban for chomping on Springbok lock Ebe Etzebeth’s arm during a Rugby Championship clash.

Three years later the former Worcester Warrior received a ten-week suspension for biting Sharks flanker Keegan Daniel while playing for the Jaguares against the Sharks in Super Rugby.

Remarkably, the disciplinary committee began with a 12-week period, added two weeks because this was Senatore’s second biting offence, but then removed four weeks because of “the player’s good character.”

KEVIN YATES
Despite pleading his innocence, Bath’s former England prop Kevin Yates received a six-month ban in 1998 for biting the ear of London Scottish flanker Simon Fenn following a collapsed scrum.

The back-rower subsequently required 25 stitches to his ear, but with no visual evidence found of the bite Yates’ ban was six months.

The man in charge, Ashley Rowden, commented: “In my experience as a referee, I’ve never experienced anything like it. The player was clearly missing some part of his ear lobe. There was a lot of blood.”

OBLIVIERO FABIANI
Biting is extremely difficult for a referee to pick up, so the Zebre hooker is somewhat unusual in having received a straight red card from this Saturday’s third test official Mathieu Raynal for biting Connacht lock Quinn Roux during a 2016 Champions Cup match in Parma. He subsequently received a nine-week ban.

SISA KOYAMAIBOLE
Bordeaux Begles’ Fijian No.8 – who also had a stint at Sale Sharks – was handed a 12-week ban for biting London Irish flanker Declan Danaher during a 2012 European Challenge Cup clash.

Scotland’s Cameron Redpath in action for England against Ireland in a World Rugby U20 Championship. (Photo by Amilcar Orfali/Getty Images)

CAMERON REDPATH
Scotland’s Bath centre copped a three-month ban in 2019, when representing England Under-20’s.
Redpath was found guilty of sinking his teeth into opposition hooker Dylan Tierney-Martin during England’s 30-23 win over Ireland at the World U20 Championships in Argentina.

LIZ PATU
The captain of Australia’s women’s team was banned for six weeks after biting Rebecca Clough during a 2019 Super W match between Queensland and Rugby WA.

Clough alerted the referee by pointing to a bite mark on her arm made by her Walleroo teammate.

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f
fl 1 hour ago
Ex-Wallaby laughs off claims Bath are amongst the best in the world

I ultimately don’t care who the best club team in the world is, so yeah, lets agree to disagree on that.


I would appreciate clarity on a couple of things though:

Where did I contradict myself?

Saying “Trophies matter. They matter a lot. But so does winning games. So does making finals.” is entirely compatible with ranking a team as the best - over an extended period - when they have won more games and made more finals than other comparable teams. It would be contradictory for me to say “Trophies matter. They matter a lot. But so does winning games. So does making finals.” and then completely ignore Leinster record of winning games and making finals.


“You can get frustrated and say I am not reading what you write, but when you quote me, then your first line is to say thats true (what I wrote), but by the end of the paragraph have stated something different, thats where you contradict yourself.”

What you said (that I think trophies matter) is true, in that I said “Trophies matter. They matter a lot. But so does winning games. So does making finals.”. Do you understand that Leinster won more games and made more finals than any other (URC-based) team did under the period under consideration?


“Pointless comparison on Blackburn and Tottenham to this discussion as no-one includes them on a list of the best club. I would say that Blackburns title season was better than anything Tottenham have done in the Premier League. My reference to the league was that the team who finished second over two seasons are not better than the two other teams who did win the league each time. One of the best - of course, but not the best, which is relevant to my point here about Leinster, not comparing teams who won 30 years ago against a team that never won.”

I really don’t understand why you would think that this is irrelevant. You seem to be saying that winning trophies is the only thing that matters when assessing who is the best, but doesn’t matter at all when assessing who is 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.


“What I referred to in my Leinster wouldn’t say the were the best is your post earlier where you said Leinster were the best overall. You said that in two separate posts. Seasons dont work like that, they are individual. Unless the same team keeps winning then you can say they were the best over a period of time and group them, but thats not the case here.”

Well then we’ve just been talking at cross purposes. In that my position (that Leinster were the best team overall in 2022-2024) was pretty clear, and you just decided to respond to a different point (whether Leinster were the best team individually in particular years) essentially making the entire discussion completely pointless. I guess if you think that trophies are the only thing that matters then it makes sense to see the season as an individual event that culminates in a trophy (or not), whereas because I believe that trophies matter a lot, but that so does winning matches and making finals, it makes it easier for me to consider quality over an extended period.

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M
MT 2 hours ago
Ex-Wallaby laughs off claims Bath are amongst the best in the world

As I said in one of my first replies to you - we can agree to disagree. If you want to leave it no problem. I completely disagree with your ranking of Leinster as the best team in the world. Now you have said you will change it if Bordeaux win the Top 14. Well as Leinster themselves prioritise the CC over the URC and Bordeaux won the CC, how are they not ranked higher by you? Are Leinster one of the best teams, yeah - never said they weren’t. But not the very best team, as the very best team have trophies to show for their seasons. They matter when you discuss the very best.


You can get frustrated and say I am not reading what you write, but when you quote me, then your first line is to say thats true (what I wrote), but by the end of the paragraph have stated something different, thats where you contradict yourself. Just so we are clear, you said you would too on my statement that I would rather be a fan of a team that won a trophy over the three seasons, but end the paragraph saying you would rather be a fan of the team that won the most matches but didn’t win a trophy. Both cant be true. Thats one example of where you contradict yourself.


Pointless comparison on Blackburn and Tottenham to this discussion as no-one includes them on a list of the best club. I would say that Blackburns title season was better than anything Tottenham have done in the Premier League. My reference to the league was that the team who finished second over two seasons are not better than the two other teams who did win the league each time. One of the best - of course, but not the best, which is relevant to my point here about Leinster, not comparing teams who won 30 years ago against a team that never won.


What I referred to in my Leinster wouldn’t say the were the best is your post earlier where you said Leinster were the best overall. You said that in two separate posts. Seasons dont work like that, they are individual. Unless the same team keeps winning then you can say they were the best over a period of time and group them, but thats not the case here.

24 Go to comments
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