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PRO Rugby San Francisco lock Nick Grass has been suspended for a week by team officials with the possibility of further sanctioning looming. The suspension stems from a second half incident where Grass threw a punch at a player laying on the ground and then appeared to go for that player’s face. The play resulted in a yellow card for Grass that shifted the tide in Sacramento’s favor. Another yellow card to Tom Coolican minutes later reduced San Francisco to 13 men and opened the doors for the home team to come from behind and win the match.
“This is going through additional review,” stated San Francisco Coach Paul Keeler. “But we are sending a clear message to all players that foul play has no place in this game and will not be tolerated.”
Gouging is taken very seriously by World Rugby and the sanctioning for such an offense runs from a minimum of eight weeks to around 24 weeks although consideration is given to the magnitude of the indiscretion. Tomas Francis of Wales was the most recent recipient with an 8-week ban for gouging England’s Dan Cole during the 2016 6 Nations. David Attoub of Stade Français was handed a 70 week ban for a heinous attack on Stephen Ferris of Ulster in 2009. Current England Captain Dylan Hartley was handed a 26-week ban in 2007 for two separate incidents during a match against Wasps while he was playing for Northampton.
There has been no word as to whether World Rugby is going to step in to look at the incident involving Grass, but as a USA Rugby and World Rugby sanctioned competition it is highly likely that the video may end up going to the citing committee. If so, Grass could be looking at missing the rest of the inaugural PRO Rugby season or at the very least a good portion of it. Second row is already a position that is thin in numbers throughout the competition, so if his suspension is increased, San Francisco will suffer a tough loss to their pack.
Here’s the incident from Sunday’s #PRORugby game that has landed Nick Grass in hot water. pic.twitter.com/1K7IJaJCbq
— Bryan Ray (@raysrugby) April 19, 2016
