England's Alex Lozowski handed four-week ban
Alex Lozowski will miss England's first two autumn international games
©PA
England and Saracens centre Alex Lozowski has been suspended for four weeks following a dangerous tackle during the opening game of the European Champions Cup against Glasgow Warriors last month.
The 25-year-old was cited by the match Citing Commissioner Tim Lowry for a dangerous tackle on Ruaridh Jackson at the end of the first half of the game which the Sarries went on to win 3-13.
The citing was initially not upheld by the independent disciplinary committee but following an appeal by EPCR, a newly formed committee consisting of Kathrine Mackie (Scotland), Chair, Jean-Noel Couraud (France) and Leon Lloyd (England) upheld the complaint after taking into consideration evidence from Ruaridh Jackson through a phone call as well as submissions from EPCR’s legal representative.
As a result, Lozowski was charged for a breach of Law 9.13 that deals with dangerous tackle and was initially handed a six-week ban that was reduced by two weeks taking into account other mitigating factors.
"The committee upheld the citing complaint in that the act of foul play had warranted a red card and found that the offence was at the mid-range of World Rugby's sanctions and selected six weeks as the appropriate entry point.
"There were no aggravating factors and due to the player's clear disciplinary record and some expression of remorse, the committee decided to reduce the sanction by two weeks before imposing a four-week suspension.
"The committee was not satisfied that Lozowski would not have been considered for selection for Saracens' Premiership Cup match against Leicester Tigers on October 27, and as he had already served a two-week suspension for an unrelated offence, it was decided to backdate the suspension to the day of the citing.
"Lozowski is therefore free to play on Monday, November 12."
Lozowski will miss England's opening two autumn international games against South Africa and New Zealand but will be available for the final two games of the series against Japan and Australia.
