Shoguns give White 14-day suspension

BRISTOL SHOGUNS last night banned their England prop Julian White for 14 days after he was sent off during a fiery Zurich Premiership clash against champions Leicester.

White’s club suspension sidelines him for the Premiership trip to Leeds next Sunday, and Bristol’s opening Heineken Cup game against Leinster in Dublin on Friday week.

White, 29, already looked like being an absentee for the Leinster match though, given that he has provisionally been summoned to appear before a Rugby Football Union disciplinary panel next Tuesday. White was dismissed for butting his England colleague and Leicester prop Graham Rowntree following an ugly flare-up.

He also saw red in the same fixture last season, when a fight with Tigers back-row forward Adam Balding landed him a three-week ban.

But White’s latest misdemeanour threatens to prove far more costly. A 20-week suspension is possible, which would destroy his prospects of featuring in England’s November Test series against New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

The ban takes effect from yesterday.