McFadden and Budd cited

The Ireland international has been cited by an independent citing commissioner for a dangerous tackle in contravention of law 10.4(e) in the PRO12 match between Leinster and Edinburgh at the RDS in Dublin on Friday, April 15.

The speedster denied committing an act of foul play, but the Disciplinary Committee, chaired by Simon Thomas, alongside Owain James and Roger Morris, viewed video footage of the incident and considered all of the other evidence and listened to representations from and on behalf of the player.

They found that McFadden had committed an act of foul play, by recklessly carrying out a high and dangerous tackle.

The Disciplinary Committee determined that the offending merited a lower-end entry point based on World Rugby's scale of seriousness, which carries a two-week playing suspension. 

The Disciplinary Committee added a week to the entry point suspension (giving three weeks in total) on account of an aggravating factor, namely the need for a deterrence to combat a pattern of offending. 

The Disciplinary Committee determined that there were insufficient mitigating factors to warrant any reduction in the playing suspension, and McFadden was therefore suspended for three weeks.

Taking into account weeks in which the wing was not expected to play, he is suspended from playing rugby up to and including Sunday, May 22. 

Meanwhile, Dean Budd, Benetton Treviso's replacement lock, appeared on Wednesday before an independent PRO12 Disciplinary Committee, having been shown a red card, following two yellow cards, in the PRO12 match between Ospreys and Treviso at Liberty Stadium in Swansea on Friday, April 15.

The Disciplinary Committee, chaired by Mark McParland, along with George Spotswood and Hugh Logan, reviewed all of the evidence and listened to representations made by, and on behalf of, Budd.

The second row acknowledged that he had committed the relevant acts of foul play, and the Disciplinary Committee determined that the two yellow cards, and the resulting red card, had been appropriately issued to the player.

In considering the appropriate sanction the Disciplinary Committee referred to the memorandum distributed by World Rugby in 2015 in respect of this type of case. 

The Disciplinary Committee noted that the second yellow card had been shown to Budd for striking with the arm. 

Taking that and all other relevant factors into account the Disciplinary Committee determined that Budd's actions warranted a playing suspension of two weeks.  

Accordingly, and taking into account weeks in which he is not expected to play, he is suspended from playing rugby up to and including Sunday, May 8.