Leicester Tigers head coach Geordan Murphy banned for three weeks

Leicester Tigers head coach Geordan Murphy has been banned for three weeks after he was proved guilty of verbally abusing match officials.

The incident occurred during the final round of the Gallagher Premiership against Bath Rugby at Welford Road last weekend and was charged with conduct prejudicial to the interests of the game.

As a result, the 41-year-old was proved guilty of two charges - one charge of verbally abusing a match official with an alternative charge of failing to respect the authority of a match official and as a result, Murphy will miss the opening three games in the Premiership for the 2019/20 season.

Apart from the ban, Murphy also was fined £1,500 and was ordered to write a letter of apology to television match official Sean Davey with copies to be sent to other match officials.

"While the disappointment of the club's season is well known, criticising the TMO as Mr Murphy did was both wholly unacceptable and entirely inconsistent with the values of the game," said RFU judicial officer Jeremy Summers.

"Unfortunately match officials continue to be subject to improper attack, and those that find themselves before disciplinary panels in respect of such conduct should expect to be sanctioned appropriately."