Kyle Eastmond banned after pleading guilty to red card hit on Smith

Kyle Eastmond of Wasps appeared before an independent disciplinary panel this evening.

He was shown a red card by referee Wayne Barnes for a dangerous tackle on Harlequins’ Marcus Smith contrary to law 9.13 in the 17th minute of the match Harlequins v Wasps on Sunday 11 February 2018. Eastmond was also cited by independent citing commissioner Paul Burke for a separate dangerous tackle on Harlequins’ Ross Chisholm contrary to law 9.13 in the 15th minute of the same match.

Eastmond (5’7, 83kg) pleaded guilty to the charges. He was given a six week suspension and is free to play again on 17th April 2018.

Panel chairman Sean Enright said: “The panel determined that each individual offence merited a mid-range entry point of six weeks. Thereafter the player was entitled to full 50% mitigation on account of his guilty plea, clear record and remorse for both incidents. This reduced the sanction on each charge to three weeks. The panel determined that these periods should run consecutively meaning a total ban of six weeks.

“We were satisfied that the running of the sanctions consecutively was proportionate to the level of overall offending to all of the circumstances”.

The panel comprised Sean Enright (chair) with Leon Lloyd and Tony Wheat.

Kyle Eastmond has been given a six-week suspension after this hit on Marcus Smith. pic.twitter.com/5iUrDiJf0j

— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) February 13, 2018