A Sports Law Rugby Blog
The highly anticipated decision in EPCR’s misconduct case against Ireland captain, Johnny Sexton was published this week, with the player handed a three-match ban. His club, Leinster Rugby, were also given a €7,500 fine, albeit suspended until the end of…
On 17 November 2021, the long-awaited decision in the World Rugby misconduct case against Springbok Director of Rugby, Rassie Erasmus, and the South Africa Rugby Union (“SARU”) was published (the “Decision”). The case relates to the infamous 62-minute video (available…
In May 2019, World Rugby published its Decision-Making Framework for High Tackles (the “Framework”). It was intended as a “systematic tool” to guide decision-making by referees, citing commissioners and disciplinary panels as to the appropriate sanction for potential acts of…
The following article was co-authored by Kevin Carpenter and I, and published by LawInSport. It has been in the pipeline for some time, but we hope that it provides a comprehensive analysis of the disciplinary decisions of Rugby World Cup…
The Coronavirus pandemic has created an unprecedented crisis for sports administrators. My first article on the legal implications of the pandemic in rugby considered the wage cuts being imposed on players in the English Premiership and the question of whether…
On 11 December 2019, a Judicial Committee (the “Committee”) appointed by the Welsh Rugby Union (“WRU”) handed down its decision in the case of WRU v Robert Howley (the “Decision”). The Committee found that Howley had breached World Rugby Regulation…
Now that the dust has settled, the wider implications of the Saracens salary cap scandal fall to be considered. Part I of this series explained the decision to sanction the club (the “Decision”) for breaching the Premiership Rugby Salary Cap…
With so many disciplinary incidents taking place during this Rugby World Cup, it is hard to keep up. Rather than try to cover them all, I am trying to focus on the most significant during the tournament and will then…
The disciplinary sanctions for foul play have been coming thick and fast at the 2019 Rugby World Cup. After Hodge, Lee-Lo and Matu’u were handed three-week bans for dangerous tackles (previously analysed here), it was hoped that players might take…
The first week of the 2019 Rugby World Cup has not been short of controversy. There’s been some brilliant rugby played, but the decisions of referees have unfortunately dominated the headlines. This article will consider the main disciplinary incidents of…
