London Irish prop Will Goodrick-Clarke suspended for three weeks

London Irish prop Will Goodrick-Clarke has been handed a three-week ban following his red-card incident in the recently concluded round-of-16 European Challenge Cup clash against Cardiff Blues.

The 25-year-old was sent off in the 48th minute of the game at Community Stadium for making contact with the head of Blues prop Dillon Lewis.

Goodrick-Clarke faced an independent disciplinary committee comprising of Roderick Dunlop (Scotland), Chair, Antony Wheat (England) and Jamie Corsi (Wales) via a video conference on Tuesday and was proved breaching Law 9.13 that deals with "A player must not tackle an opponent dangerously".

"The Committee upheld the red card decision, finding that Goodrick-Clarke had made contact with Lewis’s head in a dangerous manner. It then determined that the offence was at the mid-range of World Rugby’s sanctions and selected six weeks as the appropriate entry point," read a statement from EPCR.

"Taking into account the player’s guilty plea, timely expression of remorse and good disciplinary record, the Committee reduced the sanction by the maximum amount of 50% before imposing a three-week suspension.

"Goodrick-Clarke is free to play on Monday, 26 April and both he and EPCR have the right to appeal the decision."

Goodrick-Clarke will miss the European Rugby Challenge Cup quarter-final against Bath at Recreation Ground on 9th April along with Premiership games against Northampton and Harlequins.

Meanwhile, Glasgow Warriors' replacement back row TJ Ioane has been suspended for five weeks for a dangerous tackle on Montpellier replacement Yvan Reilhac while Agen wing Jamie-Jerry Taulagi has been banned for 10 weeks for tackling the Benetton centre Marco Zanon in a dangerous manner.