Afoa's ban may derail Ulster's campaign

RUGBY:ULSTER WILL be without prop John Afoa for the Heineken Cup semi-final against Edinburgh on April 28th after he received a four-week ban for a dangerous tackle against Munster in Sunday's quarter-final.

The suspension may well derail the province’s entire campaign. Afoa will also miss the PRO12 fixtures against Connacht tomorrow, Leinster next week and Munster on May 5th.

The independent judicial officer, Jean-Nöel Couraud of France, deemed Afoa’s tackle on Felix Jones at Thomond Park to be dangerous in the mid-range, which starts at six weeks.

Having taken the All Black’s “good character” and exemplary disciplinary record into consideration (he’s never been yellow-carded), Couraud reduced the sanction to three weeks at an ERC hearing in Dublin yesterday.

However, an additional week was added as a “deterrent” against others committing the most topical offence in rugby since last year’s World Cup.

Despite contradictory punishments in that tournament for tip tackles, Irish referee Alain Rolland showed Wales captain Sam Warburton a red card for the hit on French winger Vincent Clerc in the semi-final. A three-week suspension followed.

Law 10.4 (j) states: “Lifting a player from the ground and dropping or driving that player into the ground whilst that player’s feet are still off the ground such that the player’s head and/or upper body come into contact with the ground is dangerous play.”

In real time Afoa was rewarded for the tackle with French referee Romain Poite giving a knock-on advantage to Ulster.

The incident occurred in the 47th minute after Munster winger Simon Zebo carried to the Ulster defensive line, giving Jones a hospital pass a split second before he was tackled by Afoa.

The prop is 30 kilograms heavier than the fullback.

Jones knocked on in contact as Afoa lifted him past the horizontal and, seemingly, Couraud deemed Jones’s head and/or upper body was driven into the ground.

His feet were certainly off the ground.

The-28-year-old All Black was joined at the ERC hearing by Ulster’s director of rugby David Humphreys, team manager David Millar and the solicitor Donal Spring – a former Ireland international.

The initial complaint was made by citing commissioner Peter Larter (England), with the ERC disciplinary officer Roger O’Connor prosecuting the prop.

Ulster indicated there will not be an appeal: “Ulster Rugby is disappointed with the outcome. John Afoa himself is very disappointed, particularly in view of his outstanding disciplinary record where he has never previously received a yellow or red card during his professional career.

“John looks forward to returning to play after [Monday] 7th May.”

The sanction seems particularly harsh considering Ulster must plan without their highly-rated prop for tomorrow’s trip to the Sportsground, Leinster’s visit to Ravenhill on April 20th, the Edinburgh semi-final at the Aviva Stadium before a return to the scene of the offence, Thomond Park. Victory in that last fixture of the regular season could be necessary for Ulster to secure a Pro12 play-off spot.

A league semi-final would be Afoa’s first game back over the weekend of May 11th-13th. Conceivably, Ulster’s season could be over by then.

Adam Macklin is expected to start at tighthead in Galway. The 21-year-old is seen as a promising player but his development was slowed by a serious knee injury in 2010. He only switched from number eight to prop on leaving Methody College three years ago and it’s also worth noting from 18 outings this season he has averaged 12 minutes per game.

Declan Fitzpatrick is the other registered tighthead in the squad but the 28-year-old has been plagued by neck problems and while deemed fit, he hasn’t featured for Ulster since November.

The third option is to switch Tom Court over to tighthead and promote Paddy McAllister – seen as the home-grown prop with the most potential. Court impressively recovered from the mauling he took when scrumming down as Mike Ross’ replacement at Twickenham on March 12th with some solid performances since, albeit, in his natural loosehead slot.

YESTERDAY’S article on the All-Ireland League stated the St Mary’s College RFC trio of Hugh Hogan, Gareth Austin and Matt D’Arcy were educated at Templeogue College. In fact, they went to secondary school at The High School in Rathgar.