De Luca ban reduced at appeal

Edinburgh centre Nick De Luca’s 13-week suspension for a dangerous tip tackle was reduced at an appeal hearing on Wednesday.

The independent Pro12 Appeal Committee, chaired by Simon Thomas (Wales), together with Pat Barriscale (Ireland), allowed the appeal and categorised the illegal tackle, for which De Luca was red-carded in the match against the Ospreys on February 22, as a mid-range offence carrying an entry point of eight weeks.

A further two weeks was added to reflect the need for a deterrent for this type of dangerous tackle and allowed mitigation of three weeks in arriving at a revised sanction of seven weeks.

De Luca is accordingly suspended until midnight on April 15 and not May 26 as originally set.