Ten-year ban for rugby player

A De La Salle Palmerston player has been given a 10-year ban after being found guilty of assaulting a referee in the Metropolitan Cup match against CBC Monkstown on May 4th.

The five-person Leinster Branch committee found Mark Kavanagh guilty on three counts: misconduct, bringing the game into disrepute and physical abuse of referee Simon Rogan. The ban encompasses all rugby-related activities both on and off the pitch and precludes him from being a member of any rugby club.

Dorothy Collins, honorary secretary of the Leinster Branch IRFU, said: "Physical and verbal abuse of match officials will not be tolerated in Leinster rugby. The sentence confirms that stance and we hope that it will prevent future incidents from occurring."

The incident occurred early in the second half of the quarter-final of the senior seconds competition after Rogan showed Kavanagh a red card for persistent verbal abuse.

De La Salle immediately suspended the player and held their own internal hearing last Tuesday when he was banned for five years. They had no qualms with the Leinster Branch decision. "The club fully support the decision of the Branch disciplinary committee and fully support referees," said De La Salle spokesman Dominic O'Brien. "The behaviour by the individual was totally unacceptable and abuse of referees is totally unacceptable. The player chose not to be present at the hearing but he did alert the club in advance."

Kavanagh had played for De La Salle since the mid-90s, but now the decision has effectively ended his rugby career.