Bath prop Beno Obano handed four-game ban
Beno Obano was red carded during Bath's Premiership final defeat to Northampton
©Steve Haag
Bath prop Beno Obano has been handed a four-game suspension following his red-card incident in the recently concluded Gallagher Premiership final against Northampton Saints last weekend.
Obano was sent-off in the 22nd minute of the encounter at Twickenham Stadium for a high tackle on Saints number eight Juarno Augustus and his absence proved decisive as Bath succumbed to a 21-25 defeat as they lost the Premiership title.
The 29-year-old faced an independent disciplinary hearing chaired by Matthew Weaver KC along with Leon Lloyd and Mitch Read in which Obano agreed to foul play but disputed the red card sanction.
However, the committee decided on a sending off and imposed a four-game suspension on Obano. This suspension will be reduced to three games if he completes World Rugby's coaching intervention program.
The specific matches impacted by the suspension have not yet been determined, as the dismissal occurred during the final weekend of the season.
The suspension has cost Obano a place in the summer series squad of England named by Steve Borthwick as they face Japan and then head to New Zealand for a two game series.
“From both a medical and a disciplinary point of view, I wanted to make sure this selection was one that was definitive,” Borthwick said during the squad announcement.
“The squad meets this afternoon, we train tomorrow morning and then we fly Wednesday morning.
“This is a squad that is going to come together in a couple of hours, so I want to make sure we can start our preparation then.”
