Good news for Saints as trio see citing complaints dismissed

There was good news for three Saints players on Wednesday as Matt Proctor, Lewis Bean and Andy Symons saw citing complaints against them dismissed.
Matt ProctorMatt Proctor
Matt Proctor

The trio found themselves in hot water for three separate incidents during Saints' 50-21 Champions Cup defeat to Leinster in Dublin last Saturday.

Proctor, Bean and Symons were all cited for dangerous tackles by match citing commissioner Jeff Mark.

But the cases against them were dismissed at hearings in London earlier today.

Proctor pleaded not guilty and the independent disciplinary committee decided that while the Kiwi centre had committed an act of foul play, the tackle on Ciaran Frawley in the 72nd minute of the match did not warrant a red card.

It determined that the contact to Frawley’s head and neck area was indirect rather than direct, and therefore constituted an on-field mitigating factor under World Rugby’s high tackle decision-making framework.

The citing complaint was dismissed, and Proctor is free to play with immediate effect.

Symons also pleaded not guilty pleaded not guilty and the committee decided that the primary contact between Symons and Leinster hooker James Tracy had been shoulder-to-shoulder, and that there had been no contact with Tracy’s head or neck area.

As the tackle was not an act of foul play and could not therefore have warranted a red card, the citing complaint was dismissed.

Symons is also free to play with immediate effect, and so is the third Saints player who found himself cited, Lewis Bean.

Bean pleaded not guilty and the committee decided that the clash of heads between the Saints lock and Cian Healy was accidental, and that there was no act of foul play that could have warranted a red card.

The citing complaint was therefore dismissed, and Bean is free to play.

EPCR have the right to appeal the decisions.

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